Introduction › Panels You'll See When Using DataManager › Windowing › Prompt Windows

Prompt Windows

To use this feature, position the cursor at an input field for which you want information. When you press the global function key (F4), a window containing choices appears. To select a choice, tab the cursor next to the value you want to choose and press Enter. This causes the pop-up window to disappear. Your choice appears in the input field as though you typed it there. You can also cancel the Prompt window without making a selection using F12=Cancel.

Sample Prompt Window

  userid                      CA PMA/DataManager              mm/dd/yy hh:mm:ss
  __      Input  Output  oPtions  Exit  Help
  +__ DMODESE __________ Output Record Definition _____________________________
  º    Panel  Exit  Help                                                       
  º __________________________________________________________________________ 
  º                                                                            
  º  ORD Name  . . . :  +________________                                     
  º  Description . . :  |    CHOICES        More - + ____ Row ____  of 0001   
  º  IRD Name  . . . .  |   +__________+                                      
  º                     |   | IRD Name |                                      
  º Cmd ORD Field     T |   +__________+   Fmt Len Prec   Description         
  º                     º   º TESTIRD1 º                                      
  º _ ________________  |   | TESTIRD2 |    _  __   __  ____________________  
  º _ ________________  |   | JAV      |    _  __   __  ____________________  
  º _ ________________  |   | JAT      |    _  __   __  ____________________  
  º _ ________________  |   | JAQ      |    _  __   __  ____________________  
  º _ ________________  |   +__________+    _  __   __  ____________________  
  º _ ________________  +________________   _  __   __  ____________________  
  º                                                                            
  º    F5=Save   F6=Delete   F7=Bkwd   F8=Fwd   F11=Header                     
  +____________________________________________________________________________
Command ===> ____________________________________________________________
  F1=Help  F3=Exit  F4=Prompt  F9=Command  F10=Action Bar  F12=Cancel  PA1=Susp

Notice that prompt windows can do more than list preset values. F4 can also retrieve values from DataManager's tables. This feature can be an immense help when running DataManager. For example, suppose you are filling in fields on this panel and you can't remember what IRD name to use. Pressing F4 while the cursor rests in that field causes DataManager to list the names of existing IRDs so you can choose one. F7 and F8 let you scroll through this list.

Note: If you request a prompt when the cursor is not on an entry field, nothing happens. All entry fields will either display a choices list or a descriptive message when you press F4.