current_command = 1;
num_tries = 0;
EXECUTE_TASK:
loop {
      num_tries = num_tries + 1;
      EXECUTE_COMMANDS;
      if( task_success or task_abort ) break EXECUTE_TASK;
      if( task_retry and at maximum tries ) {
            break EXECUTE_TASK;
      } else {
            continue;
      }
}

EXECUTE_COMMANDS:
for each command starting at current_command {
      execute current_command;
      if( command failed ) {
            if( action on failure is "abort task" ) {
                  break EXECUTE_COMMANDS, returning task_abort;
            } else if( action on failure is "continue" ) {
                  // no action, continue at next command
            } else if( action on failure is "retry task" ) {
                  current_command = 1;
                  break EXECUTE_COMMANDS, returning task_retry;
            } else if( action on failure is "retry command" ) {
                  // no change to current_command
                  break EXECUTE_COMMANDS, returning task_retry;
            }
      }
      current_command = next command number;
}
return task_success;