Pathway/iTS SCREEN COBOL Reference Manual (G06.24+, H06.03+, Pathway/iTS 1.0+)

Data Division
Compaq NonStop™ Pathway/iTS SCREEN COBOL Reference Manual—426750-001
5-58
Field-Characteristic Clauses
When a user presses the Tab key twice to bypass a field, the MDT (modified data tag)
does not get set. In such situations, use the WHEN ABSENT CLEAR clause to force
blanks in a field. The WHEN ABSENT CLEAR clause, in conjunction with the
CONVERT BLANKS clause, allows the USER CONVERSION clause to be invoked.
Refer to the Compaq NonStop™ Pathway/iTS TCP and Terminal Programming Guide
for details regarding user conversion procedures.
VALUE Clause
The VALUE clause specifies the initial value of a screen field. The initial value is
displayed during a DISPLAY BASE or OVERLAY statement, during a RESET DATA
statement, and during screen recovery. The VALUE clause is required for literal screen
fields.
nonnumeric-literal
is the character form of the specified value. The nonnumeric-literal must
not be longer than the size specified for the field in the PICTURE clause; if it is
shorter, the nonnumeric-literal is left-justified and padded with the fill
character.
The value does not have to be valid according to conversion and checking restraints for
input fields. However, if the value is not valid and the value is entered at the terminal
during ACCEPT statement processing, the field is in error.
The VALUE clause cannot be used for a field using the OCCURS clause.
When the VALUE clause is used with a field that allows only double-byte data, the
literal string provided must follow the same rules defined for a VALUE clause
associated with a Working-Storage PIC N field.
The following example illustrates the VALUE clause:
SCREEN SECTION.
01 ORD-DETAIL-SCRN SIZE 12, 40.
05 FILLER AT 1, 12 VALUE "ORDER DETAIL ENTRY".
05 FILLER AT 2, 1 VALUE "CUSTOMER".
05 ENTRY-GROUP AT 5, 4.
10 FILLER AT @, @ VALUE "ITEM".
10 FILLER AT @, @ + 9 VALUE "QUANT".
WHEN ABSENT or BLANK Clause
The WHEN ABSENT or BLANK clause controls the disposition of Working-Storage
associated by TO or USING clauses with absent or blank fields.
VALUE nonnumeric-literal