Creating a Panel Definition › Designing the Panel Layout › Panel Size

Panel Size

The size of the region where a panel is defined has no effect on the size of the region of the screen where the panel eventually displays during execution. A panel that exceeds the region size can be scrolled forward and backward, left and right.

A panel can be of fixed length with a specific number of lines; or be of variable length with the length of the panel dependent on the number of times a repeating group can display in the screen region.

A fixed‑length panel can be any number of lines in length. However, if a panel is longer than the region size at execution time, only as much of the panel as fits the region displays. Therefore, if a panel is defined that is known to be larger than the target region size, set the option for PF781011 (PF7/19, PF8/20, PF10/22, and PF11/23) to Y or Z for scrolling the target panel at execution time. See the section titled Changing Panel Parameters in this chapter for more information.

A variable panel is one whose size expands to fill the region of the screen at execution time. The number of occurrences of the variably‑occurring group of fields depends on the size of the target region.

Wide Panel Considerations

The following considerations assist in the layout and testing of panels that exceed the width of the terminal presentation area.

• In null‑fill mode, when adding fields outside the presentation area in a wide panel layout:
  1. Place the field (the new‑field symbol followed by the field data) in the left‑most part of the panel layout.
  2. Insert spaces to the left of the field until the field is flush right with the screen boundary.
  3. Scroll the panel to the right and insert spaces to the left of the field until it is in the desired position.

  This technique also extends a field to column 80 in an 80‑column panel.

• In blank‑fill mode, when adding fields outside the presentation area in a wide panel layout, scroll the panel to the right and place the field directly at the location.
• The summary table for a panel layout only shows the fields that exist in the presentation area of the layout. Fields that do not display are accounted for in the numbering routine. You must scroll to the left or right to access these fields for summary display or fill‑in.
• When you specify a field outside the presentation area in a FIELD n command, the scale line and field are shifted into view along with any fields that precede and follow the specified field on the line.
• The CLARIFY panel, which displays errors encountered when testing a panel facsimile, is the same width as the panel. It can be scrolled horizontally to view errors in fields that do not display. The scroll only affects the data portion of the panel.
• If required fields are defined in the off‑screen portion of a wide panel, scrolling is required before the panel is transmitted. To ensure that the entire panel is viewed before being transmitted, place at least one required field in the far‑right portion of the panel.

Example

The following example illustrates entering new fields using the plus sign (+) as the new‑field symbol and the semicolon (;) as the end‑field symbol (fields in the first line end implicitly at the beginning of the next field). In this example, the screen is null‑filled. You must type a blank to retain a line that does not have a defined field. Blanks are also typed between fields to provide spacing.

=>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IDEAL: PANEL LAYOUT NULL       PNL ADRMPNL1 (001) TEST       SYS: DOC   FILL‑IN
 Start ¬  End ;   New +  Rep @   Del *   Move >   Copy ¢   Dest !   Width  80
........1........2........3........4........5........6........7........
 ==================================  T O P  ====================================
     ORDER#______CUSTOMER #____ORDER DATE________;

     EMPLOYEE NAME____________________________________;

     ADDRESS__________________________________________;

     QTY; ITEM NO; ITEM DESC;     PRICE;   AMOUNT;
 
     ___; _______; _____________; _______; _______;





===============================  B O T T O M  =================================

The panel layout data is transmitted when you press the Enter key, when you press any PF key (except PF keys assigned for HELP or CLARIFY), or when a scroll, if specified, is performed.

After the data is transmitted:

• The panel layout redisplays with the new‑field symbols changed to start‑field symbols (shown as the not sign (¬) in the following examples).
• Unused lines at the bottom of the panel layout are deleted.
• Each new field is added to the field summary table in the appropriate sequence.

=>  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IDEAL: PANEL LAYOUT NULL       PNL ADRMPNL1 (001) TEST   SYS: DOC       FILL‑IN
 Start ¬   End ;   New +  Rep @   Del *   Move >   Copy ¢   Dest !   Width  80
.........1.........2.........3.........4.........5........6.........7......... 
==================================  T O P  ====================================
     ¬ORDER#¬______¬CUSTOMER #¬____¬ORDER DATE¬________;

     ¬EMPLOYEE NAME¬____________________________________;

     ¬ADDRESS¬__________________________________________;

     ¬QTY; ¬ITEM NO; ¬ITEM DESC;     ¬PRICE;   AMOUNT;
 
     ¬___; ¬_______; ¬_____________; ¬_______; ¬_______;

===============================  B O T T O M  =================================