Attributes for Fields

Map Design Considerations › Designing Map Fields › Attributes for Fields

Attributes for Fields

What is an Attribute?

An attribute is a characteristic of a map field provided by the terminal. Different characteristics can be assigned to fields on a map. For example, the BRIGHT attribute is assigned to fields that should be displayed at an intensity that is brighter than normal. The BLINK attribute is assigned to fields that should blink at runtime.

When are Attributes Specified?

The General Options screen is used to assign attributes to map fields that are applied during error cycles in the runtime system.

All other attributes are assigned to the fields using the field definition screens. If the developer does not specify attributes for a field, default attributes are used for the field.

The field attributes defined using the online compilers can be overridden by the program and dialog processes that use the map.

Note: For more information about commands that modify map attributes, see the CA ADS Reference Guide or the CA IDMS Navigational DML Programming Guide.

When do Attributes take Effect?

The attributes for a field take effect when the field is mapped out to a screen at runtime. An attribute byte is a single-character, nondisplayable byte positioned at runtime at the coordinate immediately preceding a map field. Runtime mapping uses information contained within the attribute byte to determine the appearance and characteristics of the field.

Attributes on 3270s and 3279s

Attributes provided by 3270- and 3279-type terminals are listed in the following table:

Attribute	Description
ALPHANUMERIC/ NUMERIC	An ALPHANUMERIC field can contain any characters. A NUMERIC field can contain periods and minus signs, as well asnumbers in the range 0-9.
PROTECTED/ UNPROTECTED	A PROTECTED field does not accept data from a terminaloperator. An UNPROTECTED field accepts data from the operator.
SKIP/NOSKIP	SKIP specifies that the operator cannot tab to the givenfield. NOSKIP specifies that the operator can tab to the start of the field; the field must be UNPROTECTED.
DETECTABLE/ NONDETECTABLE	DETECTABLE specifies that the field is selector-pen (light-pen)detectable. NONDETECTABLE specifies that the field is not detectable with a selector-pen.
DISPLAY/BRIGHT/ DARK	DISPLAY specifies that the contents of a field appear on the screenat normal intensity. BRIGHT specifies that the contents of a field appear at high intensity. DARK specifies that the contents of a field are not visible on the screen at runtime.
MDT/NOMDT	MDT specifies that a field is marked as modified (the modified datatag is set on), whether or not a terminal operator enters data in it. NOMDT specifies that a field is marked as modified only if an operator enters data in it. On a mapin operation, only those fields with MDT set on are automatically moved into program variable storage.
DELIMIT/ NODELIMIT	DELIMIT inhibits entry of data that contains more characters than specified by the external picture for the field. NODELIMIT does not inhibit entry of excess characters. The operator can enter characters in a field up to the space before the next map field.
SKIP DELIMIT	At runtime, when the operator enters data in the last character position of the field assigned the SKIP DELIMIT attribute, SKIP DELIMIT causes the cursor to tab automatically to the next UNPROTECTED field.

Attributes on a 3279 ONLY

The following map field attributes are available on 3279-type terminals only.

Note: Three of these attributes, BLINK, REVERSE VIDEO, and UNDERSCORE, are mutually exclusive. For example, neither REVERSE VIDEO nor UNDERSCORE can be assigned to a field for which the BLINK attribute is defined.

Attribute	Description
BLINK/NOBLINK	BLINK specifies that the field blinks. NOBLINK specifies that the field does not blink.
NORMAL VIDEO/ REVERSE VIDEO	NORMAL VIDEO specifies that the color of the field and of thebackground are not reversed. REVERSE VIDEO specifies that the colors are reversed.
UNDERSCORE/ NOUNDERSCORE	UNDERSCORE specifies that the field is underscored. NOUNDERSCORE specifies that the field is not underscored.
BLUE/RED/PINK/ GREEN/TURQUOISE/ YELLOW/WHITE/ NOCOLOR	Any one of these color attributes can be assigned to a field. NOCOLOR specifies that the default display color for the terminal is used.

Default Values for Attributes

Literal Fields	Variable Fields
ALPHANUMERIC	ALPHANUMERIC
PROTECTED	UNPROTECTED
SKIP	NOSKIP
NONDETECTABLE	NONDETECTABLE
DISPLAY	DISPLAY
NOMDT	NOMDT
NOBLINK	NOBLINK
NORMAL VIDEO	NORMAL VIDEO
NOUNDERSCORE	NOUNDERSCORE
NOCOLOR	NOCOLOR