Modifying Panels › Initialization Section › Specify Substitution Variable Names

Specify Substitution Variable Names

When you specify a variable name in a panel definition, the number of characters in the variable name is reserved for the value of that variable. Sometimes, however, you don't want that many character positions reserved for the variable. For example, you only need a six-character field to display a user's stage 1 timeout, and a two-character field to display a user's stage 1 timeout option. But the variable names (UIDXTOU1 and UIDXTOP1) are eight characters long.

To solve this problem, you enter a placeholder variable (the letter Z) in place of the actual variable name. For example, if the plus sign (+) and the number sign (#) are attribute characters, you might have the following data lines in the body section of a panel definition:

+Stage 1 Timeout:  #Z     +
+Stage 1 Option:   #Z +

The letter Z itself takes up one space. Spaces between the Z and the plus sign (+) at the end of the line define the remaining character positions to give you a six-character field for the stage 1 timeout and a two-character field for the stage 1 option.

Now that you have defined the placeholder variables, you must use the .ZVARS parameter in the initialization section so that the software knows what to put in their place when the panel is displayed. The initialization section would look like this:

)INIT
.ZVARS=(UIDXTOU1 UIDXTOP1)

When you specify substitution variables in the initialization section, CA TPX substitutes the value of the first variable in place of the first Z placeholder it finds, the value of the second variable in place of the second Z placeholder, and so on.