Point & Click (P&C)

Much research has been made into the extra productivity gained by using Point and Click techniques rather than straight data entry. When reviewing data or learning a new system, there is a feeling that Dialogue controlled / point and click technique are a better method than always having to take options with "?" or Subfile control actions or Function Keys. We have experimented with areas of Genesis V to drive events by taking intuitive action if you place the cursor in particular position and press Enter (or click with a mouse if you have Rumba or terminal emulation) if you have made no other changes on the display. a Please feed-back you feelings about the implementation in GV. We certainly do not wish people to feel that it is less productive.

Areas where point and click has been implemented.

Database Creator.

Data Dictionary Maintenance. Point and Click on the Locate field and the subfile will relocate. P&C on the Description will display the Column Heading window. P&C on any other box and this will take the equivalent of placing a "?" in that box and pressing Enter. For this reason we now default the GV user into Maximise Mode as all of the subfile options are available on the pop-up menu which appears when "?" is placed in the action control box.

Note in most major areas of Genesis V we have implemented the standard that if the cursor is moved immediately above the top action control box of a questionnaire section then that will exit the program as with F3. (The F key text at the foot of displays should be P&C sensitive)

File List. As Data Dictionary except P&C on the Primary Logical will display the list of LFs for that Physical (same as option 'L' in the action control box)

Record Layout. Same as Data Dictionary except P&C on the Reference Field (DD field) will take you straight to D.D. Maintenance (same as option 'M' in the action control box)

Logical Files. P&C only in the Action control box for the options menu.

Function Specification.

List of Functions. P&C to Locate. The other boxes force '?' in the box. You will notice immediately an amendment to the List of Functions. The Question "Close Program" (Seton LR) has been moved to the fold and the "Author / Last Changed By User" has been moved to the main display. There is a Filter on this user box for easier access to your own functions. F11 to fold works in a different way. The information on the fold is displayed when F11 is pressed but for the function where the cursor is situated and not the function at the top of the screen. Group usage is now documented on the screen. We documented how to use Groups with release 3.4 M5 but Groups will be explained again later in this document.

Specification Overview. All action control boxes have pop-up menus with P&C however if a lower case letter 't' , 'v' , 'a' , 'b' appears in the control box then that option will be taken with P&C. Most boxes will force "?" in box if P&C except Physical File in section 3 which will call record layout maintenance with P&C, Logical file in section 3 calls LF maintenance with P&C, Field name in section 4 calls the field maintenance function with P&C. P&C on the word 'Files in the window border of section 3 will take you List of Files and P&C on the word 'Fields' in the window border of section 4 will display all of the fields picked for this program. P&C on the Function Title will display the Function Header Details.

Program Logic Override (4GL). This area is particularly important as we have given much thought to how P&C can help speed up this area of Genesis V specification. P&C on the action control box will call the pop-up menu as per "?" unless there is a lower case entry in the field e.g. 'p' , 't' or 'b' in which case either the associated text or parameter update programs will be called. P&C on the Cmd Key box will place '?' in the field if it is numeric, will place P? if it is P* or empty, and will call the text maint. program if it it '**' or '* ' (the remaining boxes will not P&C if the Cmd box is '**' or '* '). P&C in Ctl Prm / Sfl Opt and Rtn Cde will be ignored as all values are possible. P&C in From or To Compare fields will display fields in program finder if blank, or field maint. program if a DB field is already entered there or will show special values if the field previously in there begins with '*' (e.g. *CMDKY). If a constant or a literal then P&C is ignored. P&C in Compare Operation will force '?' in the field, also true of 'Val/Inv' box.

P&C in the Action box has many possibilities. If the Action is blank then the Action Finder is called. If the action is DOSECTION then the P* Finder is called (P?). If the Action isn't one of the following specials then the P&C program will search for Help text for the action. If no Help text is found then the Macro source is displayed if this is a macro or the action finder will be called locating to the particular action if the action is not a macro.

Specials

LISTPGM will will show function options menu for the called program in Pgm.Name box. (also true of finder variants + CALL and its variants)

MESSAGE and its variants will call the message maintenance if there is enough information to calculate what the message is. i.e. if the statement is MESSAGE xxxnnnn MSGF or parameters are entered.

DIALOGUE and its variants will show the window and the message if there is enough information in the DIALOGUE parameter list i.e. the Message id and the message file.

EXECUTE / EXSR / VALIDATE nnn / UPDATE nnn will expand the line (action 'X') which will auto navigate through the function key description (if any) the text (if any) and then direct to the Subroutine quoted on the EXECUTE command, unless this is an EXECUTE UPDATE nnn in which case the 'X' will take you to Secondary Update Questionnaire as does UPDATE nnn. VALIDATE nnn auto navigates to the Validation questionnaire.

CONFIRM will show the parameters ('P' in action control box)

I/O operations will call the LF maint program for the LF quoted in the Operand.

P&C in the Operand gives varying results dependent upon the Action. Arithmetic operations on DB or '*' fields are same as condition fields. If action is a LISTPGM / CALL or variant then the function option menu is displayed for that program. UPDATE nnn or VALIDATE nnn actions call the appropriate questionnaire.

P&C in the Result field is similarly variable but will mainly link to the field maintenance program as it is normally a field name in the result.

P&C in the What next will link to the list of actions unless the main action is a verb that can link to a Subroutine as its third parameter. Examples of these are:-

POINTCLICK *NONE FLDNAM SUBRNM

SFLCHANGE *ALL 1,1 SUBRNM

Formatters. If you were not aware of the fact, the WYSIWYG portion of the NSF and Subfile formatters is now completely Point and Click. The greatest boost to productivity is the use of Cut and Paste in the WYSIWYG portion. This is extremely rapid and speeds up screen design significantly. F21 is the function key to use to cut and then to paste after the cursor has been move to the target position. OR you can use F21 to switch on "Cut and Paste" mode and then use cursor move and the Enter button to cut and pate fields whilst that mode is switched on. This is particularly rapid if you are using a mouse. Note if you are formatting a 132 wide display or a 132 wide print format, and you are specifying on a 3197 (or equivalent) terminal, then you will be able to format in 132 mode (*DS4) on the terminal. Also new to the formatters is the Trailer Function key text is automatically calculated and shown on the NSF and Full screen formatter.

Fields in Program Enquiry. P&C on a field will call the field maintenance program.

Main menus. The Main menu and the Database creator menus have always been cursor sensitive (although if you didn't have a mouse why would you care) but we have now changed all the main menus to P&C with a mouse OR if you use the field forward / backward key or the Roll Up / Down key the menu option selected will change. Obviously you can still take options in the normal way by entering a number in the option box.