HP 3000 Manuals

HP Data Entry and Forms Management System (VPLUS/V)

ENTERING PROCESSING SPECIFICATIONS 

After defining the field attributes on the Field Menu (as described in
Section 3), if you want to define additional processing, press FIELD 
TOGGLE. You can then enter the processing statements in the lower
(nonformatted) area of the Field Menu.  (Refer to Figure 4-1 for an
illustration of the Field Menu that includes processing specifications.)
When additional field processing is requested, FORMSPEC performs the
following steps:

   1.  Leaves the Field Menu on the screen with its current values for
       the field attributes.

   2.  Places the terminal in nonformatted block mode.  This allows you
       to type anywhere on the screen, not just in unprotected fields,
       and use the full terminal capabilities for block mode entry (refer
       to your terminal manual for details.)

   3.  Positions the cursor at the beginning of the first line on which
       you can enter the processing specifications.


          Figure 4-1.  Field Menu With Processing Specifications 

You can then enter any of the processing statements described in this
section.  They can be typed on any line in the processing specifications
area, and must conform to the specified syntax rules.  When you have
typed all the specifications for this field, press ENTER. When ENTER is
pressed, the field attributes are checked first.  If there are no errors,
the processing specifications are checked for syntax errors.  When the
Field Menu passes these checks, the next menu is displayed.  You can
continue with field definitions or go back to change previously defined
fields.

Special Cases 

If a processing specification statement line extends to the 80th column,
the line is expanded to two lines when you return to the Field Menu.
This may in turn result in processing specification truncation due to
either terminal memory overflow or FORMSPEC internal buffer overflow.

In nonformatted mode, it is possible to accidentally clear or delete any
field attributes with a key such as CLEAR DISPLAY or DELETE LINE. Doing
this is only a problem if the values for the field attributes have not
yet been recorded by pressing ENTER. To recover, press REFRESH and then
reenter any changed values for the field attributes.

While in the processing specification area of the Field Menu, recovering
from accidentally pressing BREAK or from system problems requires a
special recovery procedure.  Refer to Appendix G.

Correcting Existing Specifications 

Whenever you return to a Field Menu, the terminal is in formatted mode
with the cursor positioned to the first unprotected field in the upper
part of the screen.  To change the field attributes, TAB to the field you
want to change and type in the new value.  To change the processing
specifications in the lower part of the screen, you must press FIELD 
TOGGLE to put the terminal in nonformatted mode.  The cursor is then
positioned to the beginning of the processing specification area.

If you want to change a field attribute in the upper part of the Field
Menu when you are in the lower part entering processing specifications,
you must press FIELD TOGGLE to return to formatted mode.  The cursor is
then positioned at the first unprotected field in the upper part of the
menu, and you can then change the field attributes.

MPE/iX 5.0 Documentation