MAIN MENU [ HP Data Entry and Forms Management System (VPLUS/V) ] MPE/iX 5.0 Documentation
HP Data Entry and Forms Management System (VPLUS/V)
MAIN MENU
The Main Menu, as shown in Figure 3-18, is the main control menu for all
FORMSPEC operations. If the forms file is new, you usually select A for
Add a form. FORMSPEC then displays the menus that allow you to define
your forms file, as described in "Ease of Forms Design". If the forms
file already exists, you may enter any selection depending on what you
want to do, such as add new forms to the file, select a particular menu
in order to change it, delete a form, and so forth. Most of the options
available on the Main Menu are also available using FORMSPEC in batch
mode. (See Section 7 for more information.)
After modifying the forms file, you must compile it before it can be
executed with the modifications. Only those forms of the existing file
which have been changed are actually recompiled, unless a global
attribute of the forms file, such as a save field, has been modified.
Click here to view figure.
Figure 3-18. Main Menu
Fields
A--Add a Form To add a form, simply type A in the selection box and
press ENTER. In response, FORMSPEC displays a Form Menu,
as shown in Figure 3-19, so you can define the form.
For details of form definition using this menu, see the
description below under "Form Menu".
S--Add a Save If you specify S in the selection box and press ENTER, a
field blank Save Field Menu is displayed. This menu, as shown
in Figure 3-25, allows you to specify a save field
description. If you want to modify a save field, you
use PREV or NEXT to locate the particular Save Field
Menu specification. For more information, refer to the
"Save Fields Menu" description.
T--Terminal/ If you specify T in the selection box and press ENTER,
Language the Terminal/Language Selection Menu is displayed. This
Selection Menu menu, as shown in Figure 3-26, allows you to specify the
terminal or set of terminals as well as the native
language (if utilizing Native Language Support) with
which the forms file will be used. For more information
regarding Native Language Support, see Section 8.
(Refer to "Terminal/Language Selection Menu" below for
detailed information.)
G--Go to Type G in the selection box, but do not specify a form
Globals Menu or field name. Press ENTER. The Globals Menu, as shown
in Figure 3-23, is displayed so you can make changes to
the global characteristics of the forms file. It
provides access to the Data Type Conversions Menu.
(Refer to "Globals Menu" for detailed information.)
G--OR Go to To display the Form Menu for a specific form, type G in
form the selection box, specify the form name, and press
ENTER. (You can also locate the Forms Menu with PREV
FORM or NEXT FORM. When the Form Menu is displayed, you
can then change any specification on the menu. (Refer
to "Form Menu" below for a discussion of the form
description.)
G--OR Go to The Field Menu for a specific field can be located by
field typing G in the selection boxes then specifying both the
form and field name, and pressing ENTER.
You can display or change field descriptions either on
the Field Menu or directly during the form layout. The
field attributes (except for length and number) and
processing specifications can be entered and changed
directly on the Field Menu. Any new fields are added,
existing fields deleted, or the number or length of
fields are changed by changing the form layout. (For
details, refer to the "Ease of Forms Design" discussion
earlier.)
L--List Forms Type an L in the selection box, specify the form name
File OR List and press ENTER to print a description of any form in
form your forms file. If you want to list all the forms in
the file with a description of the file in general,
simply type L but do not specify a form name. Press
ENTER. Refer to the example listing in Figure 3-13. The
listings are printed on the standard list device
(;DEV=LP, usually, the line printer) if there is no
overriding MPE :FILE command. Consult Appendix E for
information on the file equations and the JCW that
VPLUS/V uses when listing forms files.
D--Delete Save To delete a save field, specify D in the Main Menu
Field selection box, specify the save field name, and press
ENTER. The field will be deleted. You should be sure
there are no references to the deleted field in the
processing specifications of any other field (refer to
Section 4).
D--Delete Form You can delete an entire form from the forms file by
typing D in the selection box on the Main Menu,
specifying the form name, and pressing ENTER. If the
form has an ARB associated with it, the ARB is deleted
at the same time.
C--Copy new To copy a form, type C in the selection box. Then
form name from specify the name you want to give the new form, the name
form from Forms of the existing form to be copied, and, if the form to
file (opt) be copied is not in the current file, the name of the
file containing this form. Press ENTER. If the form has
an ARB associated with it, the ARB will also be copied.
X--Compile You can compile the current forms file by typing X in
Forms File the selection box on the Main Menu and pressing ENTER.
If the forms file has already been compiled, only new
and modified information is recompiled unless a global
attribute such as a save field, an item on the
Terminal/Language Selection Menu, or an item on the
Globals Menu has been modified. The new compiled
version replaces the previous version. There is never
more than one compiled version of a forms file at a
time. You may however modify the source version without
affecting the compiled version. For example, if the
compiled version is being used for data entry, it is not
altered in any way as you modify the source version.
When the source is completely modified, you can compile
it and use the newly compiled version for data entry.
In that case, the previous compiled version is lost.
X--Compile To compile to a fast forms file, type X in the Main Menu
Optional: Fast selection box exactly as you would for any compilation
Forms File (or recompilation), but also supply the fast forms file
name and press ENTER.
R--Relate child Form family relationships can be created by typing an R
form to parent in the Main Menu selection box, and the names of the two
form forms which are to be "related" in the Relate fields and
pressing ENTER. The forms must already exist and their
form layouts must be identical. The forms must be
distinct forms; that is, one form cannot be both the
parent form and the child form. Furthermore, the child
form cannot already be a child form or a parent form.
Thus, it is also possible to relate forms which were
never previously related. Family forms and their
characteristics are fully discussed under "Form
Families" earlier in this section.
B--Go to ARB To create, modify or delete an application-ready buffer
Menu (ARB), type B in the Main Menu selection box, and the
name of the associated form in the ARB Menu field, and
press ENTER. The form must already exist in the forms
file and the data type conversion record must have been
set up using the Globals menu. Construction of an ARB
is discussed in detail later in this section.
MPE/iX 5.0 Documentation
HP 3000 Manuals