Overview
DotTalk++ is not just an educational scripting language. In the local project it is the canonical runtime surface for x64base work.
It owns or exposes:
- interactive commands and DotScript automation.
- table opening, work areas, cursor movement, record inspection, and mutation commands.
- HELP, command reflection, function references, and
CMDHELPCHK. - relation-aware browsing through
ERSATZ/RBROWSE. - table listing and browsing through
SMARTLIST,SMARTBROWSE,SM,SMART,SIMPLEBROWSE,SB,BROWSE,BROWSER, andBROWSETUI. - workspace save/load behavior and relation state.
- metadata validation, data dictionary work, and generated reports.
- TUI, wxWidgets, and Python/Tk GUI lanes over the same runtime concepts.
The optional native pydottalk module binds selected x64base engine objects for
Python use; it does not expose the full DotTalk++ command shell. The separate
pydottalk_api and pycrud prototypes belong to the Laboratory Campus GUI and
API teaching lane. See Python Integration.
DotScript relationship
DotTalk++ is the interactive shell and canonical command runtime. DotScript is the productized script language built from the same command surface. DotScript covers command files, variables, comments, line continuation, IF / ELSE / ENDIF, LOOP / ENDLOOP, WHILE / ENDWHILE, UNTIL / ENDUNTIL, SCAN / ENDSCAN, one-level subscript nesting, CSV import/export workflows, and repeatable automation.
See DotScript and DotScript Language Guide.
Status
DotTalk++ is active beta. Some areas are runtime-proven and others are canaries or integration surfaces. Site copy should preserve those boundaries instead of flattening everything into "complete".
Runtime footprint
The current Windows release build is intentionally more than a thin launcher.
dottalkpp.exe carries the command shell, DBF runtime surface, scripting,
SelfDoc/HELP, metadata, workspace, relation, browser, and TUI hooks. SQLite and
LMDB are kept as separate DLL dependencies rather than being folded into the
executable.
See Runtime Footprint and Dependencies.