Defining Dialogs Using ADSC › Summary

Summary

Developers and users can execute a preliminary (that is, prototype) application early in the development cycle. The prototype can be used to test the user interface of the application and to provide a milestone in the application development cycle. In this chapter, you completed and executed the prototype of the Department application. By executing the prototype, you were able see how a user might use the application.

You created the Department application prototype by defining application components as described below:

1. You defined the application structure as described in Defining an Application Structure Using ADSA. The application structure consists of:
   • Functions, which represent the units of work to be performed by the application. You defined menu, system, and dialog functions for the Department application.
   • Responses, which establish runtime paths between the application functions.
   • Task codes, which establish entry points into the application.
2. You defined a map, or screen display, as described in Defining a Screen Display Using MAPC. The map you created will be displayed by the dialogs in the Department application.
3. You defined skeleton dialogs for the ADDDEP, MODDEP, and DELDEP dialog functions in this chapter. Defining skeleton dialogs allowed you to execute the application and test flow of control and screen displays. In later chapters, you will create modules of process code for the ADDDEP, MODDEP, and DELDEP dialogs.

Changes to the Application

Based on tests made using the prototype, users and developers often suggest modifications to the application. For example, users who test out the Department application probably would request that a path be defined that leads directly from ADDDEP to the MODDEP function.

Other changes to the application may be suggested to make the application conform to site conventions. For example, one convention is to use the [PF3] to leave an application Both of the above changes to the Department application can be made by using the application compiler (ADSA), as detailed in the next chapter.

Users also can suggest changes to maps. For example, users might request that key data be displayed in bright intensity and that error messages for variable fields provide specific information. MAPC is used to make changes to maps, as described in Chapter 11.