Pathmaker Programming Guide

Controlling Default Screen Layout
Creating Requesters
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You can create an initial requester either with or without formal parameters. An initial
requester without formal parameters might be the first requester for the entire
application; therefore, the Pathmaker product creates a PROGRAM entry in the
Pathway configuration for this application for each initial requester without formal
parameters. In Pathway, PROGRAMs allow you to run your application from
nondedicated terminals. Section 10 of this manual has an example of using the
PATHCOM command RUN PROGRAM to start your Pathmaker application.
An initial requester with formal parameters must be called by a requester coded
outside of the Pathmaker environment. You could, for example, code a logon screen
that calls the Pathmaker initial requester, passing security information with the call.
The Pathmaker product only includes the formal parameters in the linkage section of
an initial requester with parameters.
Controlling Default
Screen Layout
There are two mechanisms by which you can change the appearance of the default
screen that the Pathmaker product creates. You can:
Specify information in a DDL clause that affects the appearance of the default
screen
Specify information within the Pathmaker full screen interface (or PMADL) that
will change the attributes on the default screen
DDL Clauses That Affect
Default Screen Layout
Table 5-5 lists and describes the DDL clauses that affect the appearance of the default
screen that the Pathmaker product creates.
Table 5-5. DDL Clauses Affecting Default Screen Layout
DDL Clause Description
EDIT-PIC Specifies a default format for field values that are displayed on an application
screen. The EDIT-PIC must be a valid SCREEN COBOL picture string. The
Pathmaker product uses the EDIT-PIC to construct the PICTURE clause for
this field during requester generation.
HEADING Specifies the prompt text for a data field. When used in conjunction with
HEAD on the Requester Definition screen, the text specified in this clause is
displayed on the default screen.
NonStop SQL has an equivalent DDL clause. Refer to Table 2-4 in Section 2
for a description of the NonStop SQL DDL HEADING clause.
OCCURS Declares that a group or field is repeated a fixed number of times. All
occurrences of the data field are displayed on the default screen.
OCCURS
DEPENDING ON
Declares that a group or field is repeated a variable number of times
depending on the current value of an integer variable.
VALUE Defines an initial value for a field or group; overwrites an initial value in an
item referred to by another item. When used in conjunction with Initial
Values on the Requester Definition screen, the screen displays the value
specified in this clause when the resulting application is run.