The ARC Macro Language (AML) is a proprietary high-level algorithmic language for generating applications in ArcInfo. It was designed by ESRI in 1986 specifically for their command line-driven ARC/INFO geographical information system. AML's syntax was based on CPL (the shell language of the PRIMOS operating system) because the majority of ARC/INFO installations at that time ran on Prime computers. The macro language features include the ability to create onscreen menus, use and assign variables, control statement execution, and get and use map or page unit coordinates.
Although the language is still supported by ESRI in modern ArcInfo Workstation environments, the language has been superseded by the geoprocessing framework, which is part of the ArcGIS suite and allows programming access using ArcObjects through VBA or Python.
Famous quotes containing the words arc and/or language:
“You say that you are my judge; I do not know if you are; but take good heed not to judge me ill, because you would put yourself in great peril.”
—Joan Of Arc (c.1412–1431)
“Our goal as a parent is to give life to our children’s learning—to instruct, to teach, to help them develop self-discipline—an ordering of the self from the inside, not imposition from the outside. Any technique that does not give life to a child’s learning and leave a child’s dignity intact cannot be called discipline—it is punishment, no matter what language it is clothed in.”
—Barbara Coloroso (20th century)