Creating a Panel Definition › Changing Panel Parameters

Changing Panel Parameters

The Panel Parameter fill‑in provides default settings similar to the panel session options, but they apply only to the current panel definition. If you make no changes to the Panel Parameter fill‑in, the settings default to the panel session option settings. If you change the values on the Panel Parameter fill‑in, the changes apply to the current panel only. You can override field defaults set for the panel on the Panel Parameter fill‑in for any individual fields on the Input Rules, Output Rules, or Extended Field Definition fill‑in.

To change the parameters for a specific panel definition, enter the command PARM from the command line. The Parameter fill‑in displays as shown in the following illustration:

=>

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IDEAL: PANEL PARAMETERS       PNL ADRMPNL1 (001) PROD       SYS:DOC     FILL‑IN

Input  fill character  S        (S=space, L=lowval, Z=zeros, U=_, other=itself)
 Output fill character  U        (S=space, L=lowval, U=_,          other=itself)
 Non-display character  S        (S=space, other=as specified)
 Error fill character   *        (as specified)
 Case translation       U        (U=upper, M=mixed)
 Required               N        (Y=yes, N=no)
 Error handling         B        (N=none, *=fill w/errorfill, H=high intensity,)
                                (B=both: H if illegal value & * if rqd missing)
 
Edit-rule error proc    _       (C=clarify command, A=application)
 Process appl on scroll  _       (Y=yes, N=no)
 Hardware insert         _       (Y=yes, N=no)
 Allow eof               _       (Y=yes, N=no)
 Help panel name   ________      Version ___
Prefix panel name ________      Version ___
Suffix panel name ________      Version ___

PF1=HELP, PF3=CLARIFY   _       (Y=yes, N=no)
 PF7=SCR -, PF8=SCR     N        (N=no, Y=opt Y, Z=opt Z)
 PF10=SCR TOP, PF11=SCR BOT       (Option Y)
 PF10=SCR LEFT,PF11=SCR RIGHT     (Option Z)
 
Panel Width             80      (a value between 80 and 236)

You can change any of the parameters on the Panel Parameter Fill‑in:

Input fill character

The character that pads unused positions after you enter a value and justify it in an alphanumeric field. Valid values for this parameter are:

• S-Spaces are entered in unused positions of the entry field. This prevents unused portions of the field or empty fields from receiving unpredictable values.
• L-Low values (the lowest value in the alphanumeric collating sequence) are entered in unused positions of the entry field. If you specify L, you can use the insert key to insert characters in the field.

  L is the default for this parameter.

• Z-Zeros are entered in unused positions of the entry field. This value is used automatically for numeric fields.
• U-Underscores are entered in unused positions of the entry field. If you use underscores as the input fill character, the value, complete with any underscore fill characters, is sent to the application.
• Other-The value specified here is entered in unused positions of the entry field. An example of a value that could be used is the asterisk (*). As with the underscore, the value is sent to the application with any asterisk fill characters.

Output fill character

The character that fills blank data entry fields when the panel displays (with a TRANSMIT or REFRESH statement). The output fill character also fills the field when the application moves low values into the field or when the application user presses the Erase EOF key to clear a field. (The function $LOW moves low values into a field.) The output fill character is removed when the panel is transmitted to the application.

Valid values are:

• S-Spaces display in this field when no value was moved to the field before the panel was transmitted. If spaces display as the output fill character, there is no indication that an input field is present until the cursor moves to the field.
• L-Low values display in this field when no value was moved into the field before the panel was transmitted. If you specified L, the application user can insert characters in this field using the Insert key.
• U-Underscores display in this field when no value was moved into the field before the panel was transmitted. Use this value when you want to indicate the field length to the application user.

  U is the default for this parameter.

• Other-The value specified here displays in this field when no value was entered before the panel is transmitted. An example of a value that could be used is the period (.).

Non‑display character

The character displayed when the transmitted character is not supported for display. CA Ideal supports all standard 327x characters, including A‑Z, a‑z, 0‑9, and special characters such as punctuation, arithmetic operators and symbols, national characters, braces, and spaces. Valid values are:

• S-Spaces display when the character is not a displayable character. Only the non‑display character is replaced with a space.
• Other-The value specified here displays when the field contains a non‑display character.

Error fill character

The character that highlights a field that contains an error detected during panel validation. The specified character fills the field when the panel redisplays after validation of the field values.

Case translation

The entry mode for characters the application user entered on the panel. Valid values are:

• U- Translates all entries to upper case before the values are sent to the application. Specify U if you do not want to allow lowercase characters in the file, for example, in files that applications use that do not expect to find lowercase values and do not test for lower case or mixed case values.
• M-Sends all entries to the application as the user entered them. Values could be in uppercase, lowercase, or mixed upper and lower case, depending on how the application user entered them. If you specified M for the case translation parameter, be sure that the program tests for lower and mixed case values and upper case values.

Required

Specifies whether the application user must supply field values or they can be omitted. This parameter applies to all fields on the panel except where it is overridden by the field definition for a specific field. Valid values are:

• Y-Specifies that the application user must supply a field value.
• N-Specifies that the application user can omit a field value. This option is usually specified when a default value is used for the field, although the resulting field value could simply reflect the input fill character.

Error handling

Specifies how a field entry is highlighted when an error is detected during panel validation. Valid values are:

• N-No highlighting is used when a field error is detected.
• *-Moves the error fill character to the field in error, one field at a time. If the Error fill character parameter is not defined, the field is filled with asterisks in low intensity.
• H-Displays the invalid field entry in high intensity.
• B-Both high intensity and the error fill character highlight errors. If the field contains a value that does not conform to the specified edit rules, the field entry displays in high intensity. If a required field is missing, the error fill character is moved to the field, which then displays in high intensity.

Edit‑rule error proc

Specifies how to handle invalid data entered into panel fields. (Invalid data is data that does not fit the attributes defined for the field on the attribute definition tables or the Extended Field Definition fill‑in.) Valid values are:

• C-When CA Ideal detects invalid data in a panel field and the highlighted error displays, the application user can enter the CLARIFY command or press the corresponding PF key to display a panel that explains the specific violations of the editing rules for the detected error. This panel is a CA Ideal panel, not an application panel.

  If you specify C, all panel fields must pass the editing rules or be corrected by the application user before CA Ideal sends the data to the application.

• A-When CA Ideal detects invalid data in a panel field and the highlighted error displays, the panel can still be sent to the application without correcting the error. The application can override the error, provide an emergency escape, and issue its own error help message. (The functions $PANEL‑ERROR and $PANEL‑FIELD‑ERROR, which are used in error handling for panel errors, are explained in the Programming Reference Guide.) If the application program does not issue an error message, a run‑time error occurs when the field is next accessed.

  If you specify A, the CLARIFY command does not display the CA Ideal CLARIFY panel.

Process appl on scroll

Specifies whether control is passed to the application when a scroll command is entered (or a scroll PF key is pressed). Valid values are:

• Y-Passes control to the application when a scroll command is entered. Use this value for a panel defined for a browsing application when the application controls the data to display.
• N-Does not pass control to the application when a scroll command is entered. Use this value for a data input panel when you want to avoid passing incomplete data to the application.

Hardware insert

Specifies whether trailing blanks in a field are converted to nulls when the panel is transmitted. Valid values are:

• Y-Converts trailing blanks to nulls. This allows an application user to insert characters with the hardware insert key.
• N-Does not convert trailing blanks to nulls. An application user must delete characters such as trailing blanks before any characters can be inserted in the field with the hardware insert key.

Allow EOF

Specifies the default value for Allow EOF in the Extended Field Definition, which controls whether you can use the Erase EOF key when a field is defined with a minimum or maximum range check. If you press the Erase EOF key when the cursor is positioned in a field, the input fill character is inserted from the cursor position to the end of the field. Valid values for this parameter are:

• Y-Allows the use of the Erase EOF key in the field, even if the input fill character violates the range specified for the field. However, if the input fill character violates the range specified for the field, a validation error results.
• N-Does not allow the use of the Erase EOF key, regardless of the value of the input fill character.

Help panel name ... Version ...

Identifies a panel that can display at runtime to explain the panel. The help panel is identified by name and version. The application user displays this help panel by pressing the PF1 or PF13 function key or by entering the command HELP on the command line. The help panel does not become the current panel when it displays.

A help panel, like any panel, is defined using CA Ideal. However, the following additional rules apply to help panel definitions:

A help panel cannot contain a variably‑repeating group (an asterisk (*) in the Occ column of the Field Summary Table).

A help panel should contain only text fields. If an unprotected field is defined in a help panel and if data is entered in that field when the panel displays, the data is ignored.

You can define as many help panels as are necessary for an application panel. If more than one help panel is required, link the panels in a linear fashion; specify the second help panel as the help panel on the Parameter fill‑in for the first help panel, specify the third help panel on the Parameter fill‑in for the second help panel, and so on.

The following diagram shows the mode to link help panels:

When more than one help panel exists, mention the existence of an additional help panel in the text of each help panel, except the last panel.

For more information about creating help panels, see the Working in the Environment Guide.

Prefix panel name ... Version ...

Suffix panel name ... Version ...

Specifies the name and version number of a prefix or suffix panel displayed as part of the application panel.

Prefix and suffix panels contain information that is common to many application panels, such as company logos, common footnotes, copyright information, and so on. Prefix and suffix panels make it unnecessary to repeat information on every panel that has material in common. There is no limit to the number of panels that can share a common prefix or suffix panel.

Note: These are text only panels. The fields on a prefix or suffix panel are restricted to protected or skipped fields. The program or application user cannot update them.

Prefix and suffix panels display as part of the application panel during execution of the application and when the panel displays for testing or printing.

PF1=HELP, PF3=CLARIFY

Specifies whether the standard CA Ideal help key assignments apply for this panel. Valid values are:

Y-Standard help key assignments apply; PF1/PF13 provide help and PF3/PF15 display the CLARIFY screen if the Edit‑rule error proc parameter is set to C (for CLARIFY).

N-The application program determines PF key assignments, which receives control when you press the PF1 or PF3 key.

When you specify Y, this also means that PF2/PF14 returns from the help
display.

PF7=SCR ‑, PF8=SCR +

PF10=SCR TOP, PF11=SCR BOT

Specifies whether the scrolling functions for this panel are assigned to the standard CA Ideal scroll PF keys. Valid values are:

Y Standard scrolling assignments apply:

PF7/19 SCROLL BACKWARD (SCR ‑)

PF8/20 SCROLL FORWARD (SCR )

PF10/22 SCROLL TOP

PF11/23 SCROLL BOTTOM

Z Standard scrolling assignments for wide panels apply. This option is only available if the panel session options allow creation of wide panels.

PF7/19 SCROLL BACKWARD (SCR ‑)

PF8/20 SCROLL FORWARD (SCR )

PF10/22 SCROLL LEFT

PF11/23 SCROLL RIGHT

N The application program determines PF key assignments for the above keys, which receives control when you press one of these keys.

Width Specifies the width of the panel. This option is only available if the panel session options allow creation of wide panels. Valid values are numbers between 80 and 236, inclusive.

Where to Go from Here

When you make the changes to the Panel Parameter Fill‑in, you can either enter a command on the command line or press the appropriate PF key to continue with the next fill‑in as shown in the following table:

If you did not create a layout with at least one field, you cannot display the Input Rules, Output Rules, Field Summary table, or the Extended Field Definition fill‑in.