RPG IV

Interactive Programs: Advanced Techniques - Chapter 12

Objectives
Use Subfiles Use on-line help

Subfiles
A collection of records that is handled as a unit for screen I/O Subfiles consist of the Subfile Record Format and the Subfile ControlRecord Format

Subfile Record Format

The subfile record format describes the fields that are to appear on the screen A new record-level keyword is required, SFL(subfile), which identifies this format as a subfile

Subfile Control-Record Formats

The subfile control-record format must immediately follow the subfile record format This record format controls the display of the subfile records through the use of special record-level keywords Column headings are also included in this record format

Subfile Control-Record Keywords

SFLCTL SFLDSP SFLSIZ SFLDSPCTL SFLCLR

Loading the Entire Subfile

Define the subfile size large enough to hold the maximum expected number of records Easiest to code but results in the slowest initial response time Once the display begins, however, paging through the subfile is fast

Loading the Entire Subfile(cont.)

This method is least appropriate when there are large number of records to be loaded and the user is likely to want to see most of them SFLSIZ must be large enough to hold all the data

File Spec Modifications

Code SFILE in the Keywords area Code the subfile record format name, a colon, and the field to be used to store the relative record number as parameters

Logic for loading Entire Subfile

Chain to the file and write them to the subfile Load the subfile until there are no more records Then the subfile can be displayed by executing the subfile control-record format Because SFLPAGE is less that SFLSIZ, the system will handle any user request to roll up or roll down Upon return the program should either end or request another course

Loading Subfile Page at a Time

Variation #1- Subfile one greater than page
Subfile Size One greater than Page The system will automatically expand a subfile, regardless of its stated size, as your program adds more records to it When the user attempts to roll up past the last page in the subfile, however, control returns to the program, which must load an additional page

Loading Subfile Page at a Time

Variation #1 - Continued
ROLLUP keyword must be associated with an indicator to allow the system to send control back to the program You must also add the SFLEND keyword If the SFLEND indicator is off, the system displays a + sign and returns control to your program to load the next page If the SFLEND indicator is on, the + sign is not displayed, and control is not returned to your program for additional loading

Loading Subfile Page at a Time

Variation #1 - Continued
Thus your program should turn on the SFLEND indicator when no additional records remain The third keyword needed is SFLRCDNBR coded within the subfile control-record format opposite a hidden field The value of the hidden field determines which page of the subfile is displayed

Logic for Variation #1

Each time control returns to the program from the screen, if the return was triggered by the roll key, the program must load the next page of the subfile and return back to the screen When there are no more records left to load, the program should turn on the SFLEND indicator to disable rolling past the last subfile page

Logic for Variation #1 cont.

To determine whether additional pages can be built, the program needs to read one additional record after loading an entire subfile page before displaying the new page The load subroutine only writes out 15 records to the subfile, that is one page

Loading Subfile Page at a Time

Variation #2- Subfile much bigger than page
This method of building subfile a page at a time, setting size much bigger that page, is really just a variant of loading the entire subfile at once However, like variation #1, this method builds the subfile just a page at a time, instead of putting all the appropriate records in the subfile prior to any display

Loading Subfile Page at a Time

Variation #2- Continued
This method is appropriate when a large number of records need to be stored in a subfile, because the large specified size allocates adjacent disk space for faster access You should probably not use this method if the expected subfile exceeds 100 records

Loading Subfile Page at a Time

Variation #2 - Continued
In the display file, you merely need to change the subfile size ad move ROLLUP keyword from the subfile control-record format to the subfile record format The program logic is the same as Variation #1

Loading Subfile Page at a Time

Variation #3- Subfile size equals page
Setting subfile size equal to page is most appropriate when the user is likely to want to roll through a large number of records Rolling forward requires replacing the existing page with the next page through loading; because rolling backward requires replacing the existing page with records already read, program logic required by this technique is more complicated

Loading Subfile Page at a Time

Variation #3- Subfile size equals page
With this method, the subfile stores only one page of records As an alternative to enabling ROLLDOWN, programmers require users to restart the subfile at the beginning In the DDS the subfile size equals page and keyword SFLRCDNBR is not used

Logic for Variation #3

First, before each loading of the subfile, the subfile must be cleared, since the new records should completely replace the previously displayed records Second, the program must check the roll-key indicator and indicator 04 upon return from the screen to determine whether to build the next page of the subfile or to restart at the beginning of the subfile

Subfiles and Change

READC (Read next Changed record) Used only with subfiles Used in a loop, reads only those records from a subfile that have been modified during a prior EXFMT operation Subfile fields need to have different names than the database Change usage on fields to B in the display

On-Line Help
Help is evoked by pressing the HELP key The help text may reside in an Office Vision/400 document, in records within a separate display file, or as records with the display file used in the interactive application First, you need to include the keyword HELP, at either the file or records level, to enable the Help key

Global Help
With the Help key enabled, pressing it will display help information associated either with the entire display or with a specific area of the display For the entire display, you need in addition to the keyword HELP, a filelevel keyword HLPRCD, coupled with the name of the record format containing the help text

Cursive-Sensitive Help
The HLPARA (Help area) associated with the help specification defines a rectangular area on the screen; if the cursor is within this area and the user presses the Help key, the help text is displayed In addition to the HLPARA, the help specification includes keyword HLPRCD to designate which record should be displayed

Points to Remember
To define subfiles within DDS requires two kinds of record formats One that defines the fields within the subfile and describes the field locations within a screen line And a second format, called a subfile control-record format, that actually manages the displaying of the subfile information

Points to Remember cont.

Several required keywords are used with subfiles Record-level keyword SFL identifies a record format as a subfile record, while record-level keyword SFLCTL identifies a format as a subfile control-record format

Points to Remember cont.

Several different techniques exist for loading and displaying subfiles The AS/400 allows you to associate on-line help with an entire screen or with specific areas of the screen that the user can access through the Help key