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This chapter introduces some of the more advanced system features available with Dialog System.
Topics include:
When writing applications for production use on more than one desktop resolution size, it is possible to implement COBOL program and screenset changes which fully enable window, control and font mapping support based on the current resolution. This section covers the three areas that need to be implemented:
This feature is enabled by a CALLOUT to "dsrtcfg" with a flag of 9 and an identifier that tells Dialog System what resolution the screenset was DEFINED under.
The Dialog System run-time uses Panels V2 generic coordinates, which provides a basis for cross-resolution support and compatibility with differing graphics adapters. This results in differing coordinate values for what otherwise appears to be the same resolution setting.
To check the identifier you need to supply for your definition platform, a verification program is supplied with Dialog System: this displays a message box detailing the resolution identifier you need to use to implement the changes. This is executed as follows:
runw dsreschk
This program displays:
Code the following dialog in your SCREENSET-INITIALIZED or other dialog table which will be executed before the windows creation:
CLEAR-CALLOUT-PARAMETERS $NULL
CALLOUT-PARAMETER 1 CONFIG-FLAG $NULL
CALLOUT-PARAMETER 2 CONFIG-VALUE $NULL
MOVE 9 CONFIG-FLAG
MOVE resolution id CONFIG-VALUE
CALLOUT "dsrtcfg" 3 $PARMLIST
CONFIG-FLAG and CONFIG-VALUE should be C5 4
byte data fields.
Once implemented, all windows, dialog boxes and their child controls will be resized in proportion to the current resolution. See the topic Multiple Resolution and Dynamic Window Sizing in the Help.
In addition to enabling multiple resolution support in each of your screensets, the objects you create need to be allocated a font style so that their font used at run time may be adjusted depending upon the resolution on which your production application runs.
When you specify a font using Fonts on the Edit menu, you can specify both a typeface and a style name for that font. The style name is a user-defined name that represents the specified typeface, pointsize and attributes. This style name enables your fonts to be increased or decreased in size appropriate to resolutions used at run time.
Select the font typeface, pointsize and attributes required, and enter your required style name in the Selection box provided. For example, My-Style.
Click Apply to apply the selected font style to the current object (or group of objects).
When you specify a binary font side file (with a .dfb extension) using Resource Files on the Options menu, Dialog System looks up the style name in the binary font side file at run time and uses the details of that font for the resolution platform in use. If the style is not found in the side file, the default font is used.
Assume that you want to use a style created under 1024*768 resolution and transfer that to the 640*480 resolution. You have specified a binary font side file (with a .dfb extension) and saved the screenset. When you save the screenset, a textual version of the font side file (.dft file) is created (or appended to) and contains:
[NT]
FONT-RECORD
STYLENAME My-Style
ATTRIBUTES BITMAPPED, PROPORTIONAL
POINTSIZE 12
TYPEFACE "Roman"
END-RECORD
In order to transfer the screenset and binary font side file to the production environment, you need to edit the .dft side file to incorporate a new definition for running under each possible resolution. The file now contains:
[RESOLUTION1]
FONT-RECORD
STYLENAME My-Style
ATTRIBUTES BITMAPPED, PROPORTIONAL
POINTSIZE 12
TYPEFACE "Roman"
END-RECORD
[RESOLUTION2]
FONT-RECORD
STYLENAME My-Style
ATTRIBUTES BITMAPPED, PROPORTIONAL
POINTSIZE 8
TYPEFACE "Roman"
END-RECORD
Notes:
Having added the new section marker and attributes, you need to convert the side file to binary format:
run dsfntgen /t appstyle.dft /b appstyle.dfb /c
This creates the binary side file. Now you need to set the environment variable:
set DSFNTENV=RESOLUTION2
Dialog System automatically selects the new font attributes for that font style definition. DSFNTENV is set to RESOLUTION2 under 640*480 resolutions where smaller fonts are required as there is less available display space.
If DSFNTENV is not set, then no mapping is performed and the default values, stored in the screenset, are used. Provided your screensets are consistent in use of style names you can use just one font side file for applications consisting of many screensets.
You can place the setting of the required DSFNTENV environment variable under control of your COBOL program. This section explains how this is achieved, but you first need to determine the resolution that the application is currently running in.
Do this by using the following code:
* Determine resolution & set DSFNTENV accordingly
MOVE LOW-VALUES TO P2I-Initialization-Record
MOVE P2I-Current-Environment TO P2I-Environment
MOVE 0 TO P2I-Name-Length
MOVE Pf-Initialize TO P2-Function
CALL "PANELS2" USING P2-Parameter-block
P2I-Initialization-Record
END-CALL
IF P2-Status NOT = 0
DISPLAY "Warning: Unable to start PANELS2. Error No = "
P2-STATUS
STOP RUN
END-IF.
You should include the copyfiles pan2link.cpy, and pan2err.cpy in your program's Working-Storage section to obtain the required variables and Panels V2 interface record.
You can then test the values returned in P2I-Screen-Width
and P2I-Screen-Height, and using the following code and
COBOL reserved words, set the environment variable to point to the font
side file section marker required.
IF P2I-Screen-width = 640
AND P2I-Screen-Height = 480
DISPLAY "DSFNTENV" UPON ENVIRONMENT-NAME
DISPLAY "RESOLUTION2" UPON ENVIRONMENT-VALUE
END-IF
IF P2I-Screen-width = 1024
AND P2I-Screen-Height = 768
DISPLAY "DSFNTENV" UPON ENVIRONMENT-NAME
DISPLAY "RESOLUTION1" UPON ENVIRONMENT-VALUE
END-IF
This environment variable should be established before your first call to Dialog System and will remain in existence until termination of the COBOL run unit.
It is possible to refine targeted production platform resolutions further (for example, 800*600 - Large fonts) by adding the following code BEFORE the call to Panels V2:
ADD P2I-Generic-Coordinates TO P2I-Environment
This will alter the returned coordinates to be in line with the values returned by the DSRESCHK program. You then need to adjust your subsequent IF statements to reflect the supported production resolutions.
You have now implemented multiple resolution support in your screenset, enabled all screenset object fonts to be remapped at run time, and established the correct environment variable according to the current production resolution platform.
Provided the layout of your windows has been well designed, your screenset should now be fully portable across different resolutions.
Your calling program can display error messages using the Dialog System error message file handler and its display capabilities. You might want to do this if you need to perform some complex validation that Dialog System is not designed to perform.
The error message is stored in an error message file as normal. The simplest method is to use the error message file that the screenset is using. Alternatively, you can use one or more other error message files, but you must explicitly open and close them.
To use the Dialog System error message file handler at run time, your program needs to:
This fragment of code illustrates the procedures:
1 working-storage section. 2 ... 3 01 error-file-linkage. 4 03 short-file-name pic x(8). 5 03 file-access pic xx. 6 03 filler pic x(6). 7 03 errhan-code pic xx. 8 9 01 error-file-data. 10 03 error-record-number pic 9(4) comp. 11 03 error-record-contents pic x(76). 12 ... 13 procedure division. 14 ... 15 initialize ds-control-block 16 initialize data-block 17 move "N" to ds-control 18 move data-block-version-no to ds-data-block-version-no 19 move version-no to ds-version-no 20 move "custom" to ds-set-name 21 call "dsgrun" using ds-control-block 22 data-block 23 ... 24 move "E" to ds-control 25 call "dsgrun" using ds-control-block 26 data-block 27 ... 28 move "CUSTERR" to short-file-name 29 move "R" to file-access 30 move 101 to error-record-number 31 call "dserrhan" using error-file-linkage 32 error-file-data 33 ...
01 error-file-linkage.
03 short-file-name pic x(8).
03 file-access pic xx.
03 filler pic x(6).
03 errhan-code pic xx.
01 error-file-data.
03 error-record-number pic 9(4) comp.
03 error-record-contents pic x(76).
You need to define these records in the Working-Storage Section.
initialize ds-control-block
initialize data-block
move "N" to ds-control
move data-block-version-no to ds-data-block-version-no
move version-no to ds-version-no
move "custom" to ds-set-name
call "dsgrun" using ds-control-block
data-block
Initial call to Dialog System.
move "E" to ds-control
call "dsgrun" using ds-control-block
data-block
If you intend to use the error message file the screenset uses, you must
make sure that it is open by calling Dialog System in the normal way, but
with the parameter "E" in ds-control. Dialog
System immediately returns control to the program having opened the file
and replaces the parameter "C" (ds-continue) in
ds-control.
ds-err-file-open is a pre-defined value for ds-control.
It is defined in the Control Block as:
05 ds-err-file-open pic x value "E".
Thus, an alternative to line 24 is:
move ds-err-file-open to ds-control
move "custerr" to short-file-name
Moves the name of the error file (not including the extension .err)
to the data item short-file-name.
move "R" to file-access
"R" is for Read.
move 101 to error-record-number
Moves the number of the error message you want to display.
call"dserrhan" using error-file-linkage
error-file-data
This call reads the error message file. If the call is successful, it
returns with errhan-code equal to "OK" and the
error message in error-record-contents. If the file is not
found, the value "NF" (Not Found) is placed in errhan-code.
If the file is in use or if you tried to open more than 16 files, the
value "FU" (File in Use) is placed in errhan-code.
You do not need to close the error file because Dialog System does this
automatically.
You now need to put the error message in a data item in the Data Block so Dialog System can display it. One way to do this is to set up a procedure that displays a message box, using the data item as its argument, then call Dialog System requesting that procedure.
For example, if you have a message box named ERR-DISPLAY-MB,
define a procedure with the following dialog:
DISPLAY-ERR-MSG
INVOKE-MESSAGE-BOX ERR-DISPLAY-MB ERR-MSG-EF $REGISTER
Then in your program, request this procedure when you return to Dialog System with a statement such as:
move "display-err-msg" to ds-procedure
where display-err-msg is the name of the procedure and
ds-procedure is a data item in the Control Block. On entry
to Dialog System, this procedure is executed.
To use an error message file other than the one specified by your screenset, at run time your program needs to:
The only difference between using an alternative message file and the Dialog System error message file is that you must explicitly open and close the alternative file.
The following fragment of code illustrates the procedures:
1 working-storage section. 2 ... 3 01 error-file-linkage. 4 03 short-file-name pic x(8). 5 03 file-access pic xx. 6 03 filler pic x(6). 7 03 errhan-code pic xx. 8 9 01 error-file-data. 10 03 error-record-number pic 9(4) comp. 11 03 error-record-contents pic x(76). 12 ... 13 procedure division. 14 ... 15 move "ALTERR" to short-file-name 16 move "NI" to file-access 17 move "C:\CUST\ALTERR.ERR" to error-file-data 18 call "dserrhan" using error-file-linkage 19 error-file-data 20 ... 21 move "ALTERR" to short-file-name 22 move "R" to file-access 23 move 101 to error-record-number 24 call "dserrhan" using error-file-linkage 25 error-file-data 26 ... 27 move "ALTERR" to short-file-name 28 move "NC to file-access 29 call "dserrhan" using error-file-linkage 30 error-file-data 31 ...
01 error-file-linkage.
03 short-file-name pic x(8).
03 file-access pic xx.
03 filler pic x(6).
03 errhan-code pic xx.
01 error-file-data.
03 error-record-number pic 9(4) comp.
03 error-record-contents pic x(76).
Again, you need to define these records in the Working-Storage Section.
move "ALTERR" to short-file-name
Identifies the alternative file.
move "NI" to file-access
"NI" is the file access code to open a new file .
move "C:\CUST\ALTERR.ERR" to error-file-data
Specifies the path and name of the error file to be opened.
call "dserrhan" using error-file-linkage
error-file-data
Reads the error file with the call statement. If the call is successful,
it returns with errhan-code equal to "OK" and the
error message in error-record-contents. If the call is unsuccessful,
errhan-code is "NF" for Not Found. If the file is
already open or you try to open more than 16 files, errhan-code
is "FU" for "File in Use".
move "ALTERR" to short-file-name
Specifies the file to close.
move "NC to file-access
"NC" is the close file code.
call "dserrhan" using error-file-linkage
error-file-data
This call closes the file. errhan closes the file and
returns to the program.
You now need to display the error message. Refer to the section Using the Dialog System Error Message File Handlerabove for a method to do this.
When the user needs to enter the name of a file, it is useful to provide a prompt that displays the files currently available on the system. The user can then browse around the drives and directories on his system and select an existing filename or enter the name of a new one.
For example, Dialog System uses this file selection facility when you generate a copybook for a screenset and specify the filename to use.
This section describes how to provide this facility from your Dialog System applications using the Dsdir Dialog System extension. Dialog System Extensions (DSX) is the term given to dialog functions implemented by using the CALLOUT dialog function. Dialog System extensions are supplied to enable you to perform many regular programming tasks, such as calling on-line help or providing a file selection facility. For more information about Dialog System extensions, see the topic Dialog System Extensions in the Help.
A sample application, Dirdemo, illustrates how you can use the Dsdir Dialog System extension in your applications. You can run the application to see the facilities that are available with the Dsdir Dialog System extension.
You can run the Dirdemo sample directly from the Dialog System definition software. There is no COBOL program with this sample. Load the screenset dirdemo.gs and run it through the Screenset Animator. For information on running a screenset, see the chapter Using the Screenset. Alternatively, you can run the Dirdemo sample using Dsrunner. See the chapter Multiple Screensets for more information on Dsrunner.
The program displays two prompts:
If you enter text into the filename field, initially only files matching that filename are displayed. You can include the "*" and "?" wildcard characters in the filename. For example, enter *.gs to see a list of all Dialog System screensets. If you leave this field blank, a default of *.* is provided.
The contents of the window title field are displayed as the title of the file selection facility. For more information, see the description of Dsdir in the topic Dialog System Extensions in the Help.
To use the file selection facility window select one of the options on the pulldown menu:
| Open | Select a file to be opened. The user can select only a file that already exists. |
| Save | Select a file to be saved. The user can select any file that already exists (or supply the name of a new file). |
| Check | Check whether or not the file entered in the filename field actually exists. When this function is selected, wildcard characters are not accepted in the filename field. |
| Exit | Exit. |
None of the options in this menu actually opens a file. Once the user has selected a file, you can decide which function to use.
To call the Dsdir Dialog System extension, you must define the following in the screenset's Data Block, in addition to any other data that the screenset uses:
DSDIR-PARAMS 1
DSDIR-FUNCTION X 4.0
DSDIR-RETURN-CODE C 2.0
DSDIR-FILENAME X 256.0
To set your own title for the file selector window, you also need to add the following to the screenset's Data Block:
DSDIR-PARAMS2
DSDIR-TITLE X 256.0
These fields are described in the section about the Dsdir Dialog System extension in the topic Dialog System Extensions in the Help.
The Dirdemo sample calls the Dsdir Dialog System extension whenever a file is required to be selected.
The dialog (attached to the main window) to do this is:
1 DO-DSDIR-CALL 2 CLEAR-CALLOUT-PARAMETERS $NULL 3 CALLOUT-PARAMETER 1 DSDIR-PARAMS $NULL 4 CALLOUT-PARAMETER 2 DSDIR-PARAMS2 $NULL 5 CALLOUT "Dsdir" 0 $PARMLIST 6 ... 17 @OPEN-PD 18 MOVE "open" DSDIR-FUNCTION(1) 19 EXECUTE-PROCEDURE DO-DSDIR-CALL 20 @SAVE-PD 21 MOVE "save" DSDIR-FUNCTION(1) 22 EXECUTE-PROCEDURE DO-DSDIR-CALL 23 @CHECK-PD 24 MOVE "chek" DSDIR-FUNCTION(1) 25 EXECUTE-PROCEDURE DO-DSDIR-CALL
DO-DSDIR-CALL
This procedure makes the call to the Dsdir Dialog System extension.
CLEAR-CALLOUT-PARAMETERS $NULL
CALLOUT-PARAMETER 1 DSDIR-PARAMS $NULL
CALLOUT-PARAMETER 2 DSDIR-PARAMS2 $NULL
Defines the parameters required for the CALLOUT. Because more than one
parameter is required when the file selector window title is specified,
all the parameters must be defined before you make the CALLOUT. The
CLEAR-CALLOUT-PARAMETERS function is used to ensure that any
previously defined parameters are removed before the new parameters are
defined.
CALLOUT "Dsdir" 0 $PARMLIST
This line calls the Dialog System extension using the previously defined parameters. The file selector window is displayed, and the user can select a file. When the user has selected a file, or cancelled the file selection, control is returned to your screenset.
@OPEN-PD
The user selected the Open option on the pulldown menu.
MOVE "open" DSDIR-FUNCTION(1)
This line sets up the parameter that tells the Dialog System extension to allow the user to select a file to open. In this mode, the user can only select files that already exist.
EXECUTE-PROCEDURE DO-DSDIR-CALL
Carries out the procedure that calls the Dialog System extension.
@SAVE-PD
MOVE "save" DSDIR-FUNCTION(1)
EXECUTE-PROCEDURE DO-DSDIR-CALL
The user selected the Save option on the pulldown menu. In save mode, the user can select any file, or specify the name of a new file.
@CHECK-PD
MOVE "chek" DSDIR-FUNCTION(1)
EXECUTE-PROCEDURE DO-DSDIR-CALL
The user selected the Check option on the pulldown menu. The
chek function requests the Dialog System extension to check
for the existence of the supplied filename. The file selector window is
not displayed.
As well as defining menu items at definition time, you can define dialog to add, delete, or change menu items at run time. For example, you can add a list of recently opened files to your menu, or a list of open windows in a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) application.
All the options for defining a menu bar at definition time can also be used at run time, except that you can only add new items to an existing menu bar, and you cannot add menu choices to context menus.
You add menu choices to a menu bar using the ADD-MENU-CHOICE dialog function. One of the parameters for this function is a text string that specifies all the options for the menu item. The following example shows all the options specified in their correct places, although in practice, you should never define a menu item like this:
GET-MENU-CHOICE-REFERENCE MAINWIN EDITMENU PARENT-REF ADD-MENU-CHOICE PARENT-REF "~item>" $EVENT-DATA GET-MENU-CHOICE-REFERENCE MAINWIN $EVENT-DATA PARENT-REF ADD-MENU-CHOICE PARENT-REF "*~choice@item&ctrl+c" $EVENT-DATA
Where:
| PARENT-REF | This parameter specifies which menu (or sub-menu) this new item will be added to. The value of this parameter must be obtained using the GET-MENU-CHOICE-REFERENCE function. The value can never be zero. |
| * | The asterisk causes the menu item to be created with the checkmark type set to off (the default is none). The asterisk must appear as the first character of the text parameter, otherwise it will be assumed to be part of the menu text. If you intend the asterisk to be part of the menu text, add a space before it. |
| ~ | The tilde causes the next character to be defined as the mnemonic character for the menu choice. You are not warned if you define menu choices with duplicate mnemonic characters (unlike when defining a menu choice at definition time). The tilde character can appear anywhere in the choice text. |
| > | The greater than symbol, if it appears as the last character of the text parameter, signifies that when the menu item is selected, a submenu of choices is to be displayed. If you specify that a menu choice is to display a submenu, the checkmark state and shortcut key settings are ignored. |
| choice | The text up to the @ (at) defines the text that is displayed in the menu bar (the choice text). |
| @item | The '@' signifies that the next text (up to the next @, space, & or >) is the name of the menu item. Normal Dialog System object naming rules apply to the menu item name. If there is a procedure defined in the screenset with the same name as the menu item, selecting the menu item causes the procedure with that name to be executed. The menu item name is optional. |
| &ctrl+c | The ampersand signifies that the next text (up to the next @, space, & or >) is the shortcut key for the menu item. You can specify the shortcut key either in the format you use when you define a menu choice in menu bar definition (such as CTC), or in the format that the shortcut key will be displayed on screen (for example, Ctrl+C). |
When you create a menu bar item using this function, the ID of the created menu bar item is returned. You can then use this ID with functions such as DISABLE-MENU-CHOICE to manipulate the menu item further.
You can delete menu items using the DELETE-MENU-CHOICE function. The items that you delete can be menu items defined in menu bar definition, or menu items added using the ADD-MENU-CHOICE function.
Also, you can update the text of menu items by using the UPDATE-MENU-TEXT function.
See the relevant functions in the Help for more details, including examples of using the functions.
The Dialog System call interface can be used by your calling program to provide more sophisticated ways of using Dialog System. For example:
Using these features, you can divide your user interface into logical components that are used as required, use multiple copies of the same screenset, and group all your error messages into a single file. See the chapter Using the Screenset for details.
This section discusses the Helpdemo screenset in detail. The Helpdemo screenset:
You might want to run the screenset while you read this section.
You can run the Helpdemo sample directly from the Dialog System definition software. There is no COBOL program with this sample.
Load the screenset helpdemo.gs and run it through the Screenset Animator.
For information on running a screenset, see the section Testing the Screenset in the chapter Using the Screenset.
Alternatively, you can run the Helpdemo sample using Dsrunner. See the chapter Multiple Screensets for more information on Dsrunner.
To call the Dsonline Dialog System extension, you must define the following in the screenset's Data Block, in addition to any other data that the screenset uses:
DSONLINE-PARAMETER-BLOCK 1
DSONLINE-FUNCTION X 18.0
DSONLINE-RETURN C 2.0
DSONLINE-HELP-FLAGS C 2.0
DSONLINE-HELP-CONTEXT 9 18.0
DSONLINE-HELP-TOPIC X 32.0
DSONLINE-HELP-FILE X 256.0
The meaning of each of these fields is given in the description of the Dsonline Dialog System extension in the topic Dialog System Extensions in the Help.
The Helpdemo sample calls the Dsonline Dialog System extension whenever help information is required. Help might be required for a particular field, or when the user selects an option on the Help menu.
The dialog (attached to the main window) to do this is:
1 F1 2 MOVE 1 DSONLINE-HELP-CONTEXT(1) 3 BRANCH-TO-PROCEDURE CONTEXT-HELP 4 @HELP-CONTENTS 5 MOVE "cont" DSONLINE-FUNCTION(1) 6 BRANCH-TO-PROCEDURE CALL-ON-LINE 7 @HELP-INDEX 8 MOVE "indx" DSONLINE-FUNCTION(1) 9 BRANCH-TO-PROCEDURE CALL-ON-LINE 10 @EXIT-F3 11 SET-EXIT-FLAG 12 RETC 13 CONTEXT-HELP 14 MOVE "ctxt" DSONLINE-FUNCTION(1) 15 BRANCH-TO-PROCEDURE CALL-ON-LINE 16 CALL-ON-LINE 17 MOVE "helpdemo.hlp" DSONLINE-HELP-FILE(1) 18 MOVE 0 DSONLINE-HELP-FLAGS(1) 19 CALLOUT "dsonline" 0 DSONLINE-PARAMETER-BLOCK
F1
The user pressed the F1 key. Every entry field in this example has individual control dialog for the event caused by the F1 key, so if this dialog processes the event, it means that the focus is not on one of the entry fields. When this event is processed, general help is provided.
MOVE 1 DSONLINE-HELP-CONTEXT(1)
Set the context number to be displayed. The context numbers are defined
in the On-line help file. If you do not specify context numbers, the
On-line help file builder (ohbld) provides them for you. In this example,
1 is the context number for general help.
BRANCH-TO-PROCEDURE CONTEXT-HELP
Branches to the procedure that displays the help. Because all context help is displayed in the same way, a procedure is used, to avoid repeating dialog.
@HELP-CONTENTS
The user selected Contents on the Help menu.
MOVE "cont" DSONLINE-FUNCTION(1)
The Dsonline Dialog System extension can do several different things. To
tell it what to do, you must provide it with a function name (a four
character string). The cont function requests that the
contents of the On-line help file are displayed.
BRANCH-TO-PROCEDURE CALL-ON-LINE
Branches to the procedure that calls the Dialog System extension.
@HELP-INDEX
MOVE "indx" DSONLINE-FUNCTION(1)
BRANCH-TO-PROCEDURE CALL-ON-LINE
The user selected Index on the Help menu. The indx
function requests that the index for the On-line help file be displayed.
@EXIT-F3
The user selected Exit on the File menu, or pressed the F3 key.
SET-EXIT-FLAG
The exit flag is a flag that Dsgrun returns to the calling program when a RETC is executed. The exit flag tells Dsrunner that the screenset has finished processing.
RETC
Return to the calling program (in this example, either Dialog System or Dsrunner).
CONTEXT-HELP
MOVE "ctxt" DSONLINE-FUNCTION(1)
BRANCH-TO-PROCEDURE CALL-ON-LINE
This procedure is used to display context help. The ctxt
function requests that context-sensitive help be displayed. The CALL-ON-LINE
procedure is used to call the Dialog System extension.
CALL-ON-LINE
MOVE "helpdemo.hlp" DSONLINE-HELP-FILE(1)
MOVE 0 DSONLINE-HELP-FLAGS(1)
CALLOUT "dsonline" 0 DSONLINE-PARAMETER-BLOCK
This procedure calls the Dsonline Dialog System extension. It sets up the name of the help file in the parameter block, and turns off all the flag settings for the On-line Help system (see the Dsonline Dialog System extension in the topic Dialog System Extensions in the Help for information about the flags).
As well as the dialog on the main window, each entry field in the window has dialog. Each entry field sets a different context number, but otherwise, the dialog is the same.
For the Product Code entry field, the dialog is:
1 F1 2 MOVE 2 DSONLINE-HELP-CONTEXT(1) 3 BRANCH-TO-PROCEDURE CONTEXT-HELP
This dialog is similar to that for the F1 key on the main
window, but uses a different context number, where 2 is the
context number for help about this entry field.
See the chapters Using the Screenset and Multiple Screensets for further information about controlling the use of screensets and using multiple screensets and multiple instances of screensets.
The chapter Multiple Screensets also contains a detailed description of the call interface. The topic The Call Interface in the Help also provides information on the Control Block, including the Event Block, the Data Block, use of the Screenset Animator, version checking, and the values the calling program returns to Dialog System.
Copyright © 2000 MERANT International Limited. All rights reserved.
This document and the proprietary marks and names
used herein are protected by international law.
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