SELECTER: file or library screen selection program

Description

Displays files in a library or libraries on a volume, allowing the user to select a file or library. Passes the item selected back to the calling program or procedure.

Categories

Program Development

Related files

SELECTER: Object file for selection program.

User Instructions

SELECTER allows the program or procedure writer to place lists of files or libraries on the screen for user selection, then accept the name of the file or library chosen by the user. It allows an easy method of controlling screen selections without resorting to a program.

From the OPTIONS screen, enter the option (file or library) and the library and volume location. Two optional 40-character headings are also available. Press PF(16) to exit without processing.

A list of files or libraries is displayed. You may tab to an entry and press (RETURN) to select it, press PF(02) to see the first screen, press PF(03) to see the last screen, press PF(04) for the previous screen, press PF(05) to see the next screen, or press PF(16) to exit without making a selection.

The RESULT screen shows the file or library selected. This can be passed back to a program or procedure for further processing.

Programmer Instructions

Valuable utility to add a front-end to procedures or programs. Result values can be passed to a procedure through a backward reference (refer to the Procedure Language manual for further information).

The OPTIONS and RESULT screens are GETPARMs; the selection screen that the user sees is not.

OPTIONS     Press (RETURN) to continue or (16) to exit.

  OPTION    (blank)     May be (F)ile or (L)ibrary.

  LIBRARY   (blank)     Location of library or volume to be
  VOLUME    (blank)     searched.  LIBRARY field is ignored
                        if the (L)ibrary OPTION is selected.

  HEADING1  (blank)     Two 40-character strings.  Together
  HEADING2  (blank)     they form the top line of the screen
                        display.

RESULT      Press (RETURN) to exit.  (Note that the name of
            the file or library selected is displayed in the
            SELECT field, below.

  SELECT    (value)     The name of the library or file
                        selected by the user.  Blank if no
                        selection was made.

Example of use

Here's how SELECTER could be used as a base for a procedure that would allow the user to display print files:
• The user's print library defaults (SPOOLIB and SPOOLVOL) would be extracted and stored in variables.

• These values would be used for the LIBRARY and VOLUME fields of the OPTIONS screen.

• The user would be presented with a sorted list of their print files. Files could be selected by tabbing to the entry and pressing (RETURN). If no entry was desired, PF(16) would end the without a selection.

• The value of the selection (or blanks, if no selection was made) would appear on the RESULT screen. The procedure would then use this name as input to the Wang DISPLAY utility (or exit without running display, if the SELECT field was blank).

Comments

Helpful when creating interactive procedures for file management, since SELECTER can be used for the screen display.