The HTML Generation Process

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The HTML Generation Process

HTML skeletons are generated from the display file DDS, which is itself, generated from data in the model. Each skeleton that is generated is given a unique name in the format Hnnnnnnn (where nnnnnnn is a unique number greater than 0001025) and is created as a source member in the YMLSSRC MLS source file in the Y2WEB Web Option product library.

The HTML generator is data-driven-that is, the generator program has been written so that the generation process is controlled by data held externally to the program. While some of the HTML that is generated is screen-specific (such as the actual fields on a screen and screen titles), much of it is generic (such as screen/font colors and page headings/footings). This has two advantages:

You can change the HTML code so that all skeletons are generated with the same look-and-feel, possibly including your own corporate logos, internal website links, and so on.
You can use the HTML generator with different sets of data to generate other markup languages in the future (for example, Extensible Markup Language-XML).

Most of the generic HTML code generated is held in the YMLSSYNRFP Markup Language Skeleton Syntax file; changes made to data held in this file affect all skeletons that are generated. This file is owned by the YMLSHDRRFP MLS Header file, which is actually referenced by the HTML generator itself. As the generator parses the DDS source member for a display file, it determines the type of object (field, record format, and so on) it is processing, and uses the data held in YMLSHDRRFP and YMLSSYNRFP to generate the correct type of data for that object.

All generated HTML files include the following sections (each of which corresponds to a record on YMLSHDRRFP, which itself corresponds to one or more records on YMLSSYNRFP) generated in order:

*HTML-This section consists of the HTML element, which is generated at the top of each skeleton.
*HEAD-This section consists of a number of lines, covering the HEAD element of the HTML skeleton. The HEAD element contains several sub-elements, such as TITLE, STYLE, SCRIPT, and META.
*BODY-This section consists of the <BODY> start tag, whose attributes control the background color of the page, various default colors for hypertext links, and so on.
*HEADER-This section consists of a number of lines (maximum 100) that can be used to provide a standard header for the top of every HTML page. Typically, this section would contain HTML tags to display company logos, hyperlinks (perhaps to pages on the company website), and anything else that you wish to display on all HTML pages. This section can contain certain Web Option tags, such as System tags, Exit program tags, and User-defined text tags.
*FORM-This section consists of the data, HTML tags, and Web Option tags that describe the specific screen for which the skeleton is being generated.
*FOOTER-This section, like the *HEADER section, consists of up to 100 lines of HTML which can be used to provide a standard page footer for every HTML skeleton.

In terms of basic layout, every generated HTML skeleton uses the following format:

*HEADER
(generic)

*FORM
(screen-specific)

*FOOTER
(generic)

The *HEADER and *FOOTER sections in YMLSSYNRFP are shipped with data and includes an example company logo, text, and sample hyperlinks.

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