HP System Dictionary/XL Utilities Reference Manual - Part 1 SDDBD (32256-90003)

108 Chapter12
Loading VPLUS/V Definitions
VPLUS/V Forms File
Each field is related to its form through the FORM contains ELEMENT relationship. The
attributes field-enhancement, field-type, display-length, element-type, field-number,
decimal, and byte-offset are initialized for the relationship.
Compatible and Incompatible Elements. For elements, a compatible definition is
defined as an old definition of the same name such that its values for those attributes
specified in the COMPATIBILITY-LEVEL option of the VPLUS command match those of
the new definition. Furthermore, if the CHECK-ELEM-TYPE parameter of the VPLUS
command is ON, the element-type attribute values must also match, regardless of the
value of the COMPATIBILITY-LEVEL parameter. If these conditions are not met, the old
definition is said to be incompatible with the new.
SDVPD considers an incompatible element as a conflicting entity. Hence, the SKIP,
REPLACE, TERMINATE, and NEW options are effective when incompatible elements are
found.
While loading element definitions, if a compatible element is found, SDVPD issues the
following message:
Compatible definition for element ! used (SDWARN 3003)
and uses this definition to create any relationship involving the element.
On the other hand, if an incompatible definition is found, SDVPD issues:
Incompatible definition exists for element ! (SDWARN 3004)
Skip, Replace, enter New name, or Terminate (S/R/N/T)? >
If the user responds with “S”, the new element is not added and the old element is used in
creating the subsequent FORM contains ELEMENT relationship. If “T” is specified, then
the loading process terminates immediately. If the user specifies “N”, the following prompt
is displayed:
New primary element name >
The new element name must be unique. The new name becomes the entity name for the
element, while the original field name is entered as a vplus-alias attribute for both the
element entity definition and the FORM contains ELEMENT relationship.