Introduction to Pathmaker

Operating a Pathmaker Application
Pathmaker Applications
2–8 067867 Tandem Computers Incorporated
Figure 2-3 shows an example of a requester screen containing a data entry error. The
underlined areas represent unprotected fields where data is entered or displayed.
Text in italics represents data entered by the end user. In this example, the employee
number field must contain a valid number before an insert (F10) can be initiated.
Figure 2-3. Preliminary Input Validation
Department 905 Employee Information Page 1/2
F1-Previous Page F3-Help F5-Read Next F12-Delete
F2-Next Page F4-Read First F10-Insert F14-Update
SF16-Exit
Employee Name
Employee Number
Street
City State Zip
Telephone
123 Main
Salt Lake City Utah 84111
555-2631
001 Data Entry Error Found
023
Joe Blake
Displaying Defaults If default values have been defined for any data field on the end user’s screen, those
values are displayed when the screen initially appears on the terminal or when the
end user presses the appropriate function key (if available) prior to entering data. The
purpose of default values is to make data entry quicker and easier for the end user by
automatically filling in data entry fields with the most commonly used values or with
blanks and zeros, as appropriate.
Receiving Data and
Messages
Whenever a requester receives data from a service it has invoked, each field is
displayed according to the field’s video attributes, picture, length, and data type.
After a service has been invoked, a message (usually coded by the application
developer) will be displayed in the message area at the bottom of the screen indicating
either that the service was successful or that an error occurred (with a description of
the error). The Pathmaker product highlights such errors by displaying the message in
reverse video. In some cases, a message will be displayed to the end user after a
requester returns from a lower level requester.