Indirect Parameter Input

It is possible that the length of a parameter value can become large (indeed quite huge). In this case, it is convenient to store the parameter value in a file and then to use the file name in place of the parameter value.

To do this, the file name should be preceded by an `at' sign (@). For example, assuming the file name contains the text chicyg , then

   % histo in=@name

is equivalent to

   % histo in=chicyg

These @ files can be nested, and multiple @ files can appear on a line (separated by commas). Indeed an @ file and other parameter values can be intermixed, separated by commas.

The @ file can contain many lines. An end-of-line is treated like a comma.

As described in Section 2.6, parameter input can also be made easier by using the -f flag when Miriad commands are given directly from the shell.