FIELD

Describe a field definition

FIELD name [TEMPLATE template] TYPE type  SIZE size [STORED store_format] 
[ENUM name|STRUCT name] [NODATE] [NOTIME] 
[USER TYPE "user_type"] [NOUSER TYPE] [PRECISION dec_places] 
[DIMENSION #elements[:#elements ...]] [LANGUAGE VIEW] [LANGUAGE NOVIEW] 
[SCRIPT VIEW] [SCRIPT NOVIEW] [REPORT VIEW] [REPORT NOVIEW] 
[WEB VIEW] [WEB NOVIEW] [COERCED TYPE type] [NOCOERCED TYPE] 
[OVERLAY field[:offset]] [NONAMELINK] [DESCRIPTION "description"] [NODESC] 
[LONG DESCRIPTION "long_desc"] [NOLONGDESC] 
[POSITION [pos_type] row column] [NOPOSITION] 
[FPOSITION [fpos_type] frow fcolumn] [NOFPOSITION] [PROMPT "prompt"] [NOPROMPT] 
[HELP "help"] [NOHELP] [INFO LINE "info_line"] [NOINFO] 
[USER TEXT "user_text"] [NOUSER TEXT] [FORMAT format] [NOFORMAT] 
[REPORT HEADING "heading"] [NOHEADING] [ALTERNATE NAME alt_name] 
[NOALTERNATE NAME] [REPORT JUST just] [INPUT JUST ijust] [BLANKIFZERO] 
[NOBLANKIFZERO] [PAINT "paint_char"] [NOPAINT] [RADIO|CHECKBOX] [NORADIO] 
[NOCHECKBOX] [FONT font] [NOFONT] [PROMPTFONT prompt_font] [NOPROMPTFONT] 
[READONLY] [NOREADONLY] [DISABLED] [NODISABLED | ENABLED] 
[COLOR palette#] [NOCOLOR] [HIGHLIGHT] [NOHIGHLIGHT] [REVERSE] [NOREVERSE] 
[BLINK] [NOBLINK] [UNDERLINE] [NOUNDERLINE] [NOATTRIBUTES] 
[DISPLAY LENGTH length] [NODISPLAY LENGTH] 
[VIEW LENGTH length] [NOVIEW LENGTH] [UPPERCASE] [NOUPPERCASE] 
[NODECIMAL] [DECIMAL_REQUIRED] [NOTERM] [TERM] 
[RETAIN POSITION] [NORETAIN POSITION] 
[DEFAULT default|COPY|INCREMENT|DECREMENT] [NODEFAULT] 
[AUTOMATIC] [NOAUTOMATIC] [NOECHO] [NOECHOCHR "display_char"] [ECHO] 
[DATE TODAY] [DATE NOTODAY] [DATE SHORT] [DATE NOSHORT] 
[TIME NOW] [TIME NONOW] [TIME AMPM] [TIME NOAMPM] 
[WAIT "time"|WAIT IMMEDIATE|WAIT GLOBAL|WAIT FOREVER] [NOWAIT] 
[INPUT LENGTH length] [NOINPUT LENGTH] [BREAK [break_type]] [NOBREAK] 
[REQUIRED] [NOREQUIRED] [NEGATIVE [ONLY|ORZERO]] [NONEGATIVE] 
[NULL ALLOWED|NULL DEFAULT|NONULL] [ALLOW entry[, ...]] [NOALLOW] 
[MATCH CASE] [MATCH NOCASE] [MATCH EXACT] [MATCH NOEXACT] 
[SELECTION LIST sl_row sl_column sl_height ENTRIES sl_entry[, ...]] 
[SELECTION WINDOW sw_row sw_column sw_name] [NOSELECT] 
[ENUMERATED length base step] [NOENUMERATED] [RANGE min max] [NORANGE] 
[ARRIVE METHOD arrive_meth] [NOARRIVE METHOD] 
[LEAVE METHOD leave_meth] [NOLEAVE METHOD] 
[DRILL METHOD drill_meth] [NODRILL METHOD] 
[HYPERLINK METHOD hyperlink_meth] [NOHYPERLINK METHOD] 
[CHANGE METHOD change_meth] [NOCHANGE METHOD] 
[DISPLAY METHOD display_meth] [NODISPLAY METHOD] 
[EDITFMT METHOD editfmt_meth] [NOEDITFMT METHOD]

Arguments

name

The name of a new or existing field. This name can have a maximum of 30 characters.

TEMPLATE template

(optional) Assigns the named template to the field. All field attributes, including type and size, are obtained from the specified template. The maximum size of the template name is 30 characters.

If a template is assigned to a field and none of the template’s attributes are overridden in the field, no additional keywords are required. The Synergy Data Language assumes that any keywords specified in addition to the template name are overrides to the template.

TYPE type

Indicates the data type for the field. The TYPE keyword and the data type are optional if you’re overlaying an existing field or if a template is assigned to this field.

Valid data types are:

ALPHA

DECIMAL

INTEGER

DATE

TIME

USER

BOOLEAN

ENUM

STRUCT

AUTOSEQ

AUTOTIME

If you specify DATE, a default storage format of YYMMDD is assigned. If you specify TIME, a default storage format of HHMM is assigned. If you specify USER, a default subtype of ALPHA is assigned. You can override these defaults with the STORED keyword.

SIZE size

Indicates the field size (the maximum number of characters the field can contain). The SIZE keyword and the size are optional if you’re overlaying an existing field or if a template is assigned to this field. See the table below for valid sizes for each data type.

STORED store_format

(optional) Indicates the storage format for a date or time field, or the subtype for a user field. If TYPE is specified, it must precede STORED. This keyword can also be used to specify that an alpha field contains binary data.

If this keyword is not specified for a date field, the default format is YYMMDD. If not specified for a time field, the default format is HHMM. If not specified for a user field, the default subtype is ALPHA. If the data type is not date, time, user, or alpha, this value is ignored.

If the type is date, the format must be one of the following:

YYMMDD

YYYYMMDD

YYJJJ

YYYYJJJ

YYPP

YYYYPP

If the type is time, the format must be one of the following:

HHMM

HHMMSS

If the type is user, the format must be one of the following:

ALPHA

NUMERIC

DATE

BINARY

To specify that an alpha field contains binary data, the format must be

BINARY

ENUM name

(optional) Indicates the enumeration name. Required when TYPE is ENUM.

STRUCT name

(optional) Indicates the structure name (or its alias). Required when TYPE is STRUCT.

NODATE

(optional) The default state if a date data type has not been specified. If present, NODATE resets the date field to a normal decimal field. Specifying NODATE also clears any date storage format and any DATE TODAY or DATE SHORT keywords.

NOTIME

(optional) The default state if a time data type has not been specified. If present, NOTIME resets the time field to a normal decimal field. Specifying ­NOTIME also clears any time storage format and any TIME NOW or TIME AMPM keywords.

USER TYPE “user_type”

(optional) A user data type string more uniquely defines a user data type. It can have a maximum of 30 characters and must be enclosed in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ). USER TYPE is ignored for any data type other than the user data type.

NOUSER TYPE

(optional) Cancels any user data type string that has been specified.

PRECISION dec_places

(optional) Indicates the number of decimal places in implied-decimal fields. (That is, the number of characters to the right of the decimal point.) PRECISION is valid only when the field’s data type is decimal or user. Valid values for dec_places are between 1 and 28, inclusive, and are less than or equal to the size of the field.

DIMENSION #elements[:#elements …]

(optional) Indicates that this field is arrayed and specifies the number of elements in each dimension. If more than one dimension is specified, the dimensions must be separated by a colon and can contain no embedded spaces. The maximum number of dimensions is four; additional dimensions are ignored. The maximum number of elements per dimension is 999.

LANGUAGE VIEW

(optional) Indicates that the field will be available to the Synergy compiler when the structure is .INCLUDEd into a source file. LANGUAGE VIEW is the default.

LANGUAGE NOVIEW

(optional) Indicates that the field will not be available to the Synergy compiler when the structure is .INCLUDEd into a source file.

SCRIPT VIEW

(optional) Indicates that the field will be available to UI Toolkit when defining an input window. SCRIPT VIEW is the default.

SCRIPT NOVIEW

(optional) Indicates that the field will not be available to the UI Toolkit when defining an input window.

REPORT VIEW

(optional) Indicates that the field will be available as a selectable field in xfODBC and ReportWriter. REPORT VIEW is the default.

REPORT NOVIEW

(optional) Indicates that the field will not be available as a selectable field in xfODBC and ReportWriter.

WEB VIEW

(optional) Indicates that the field will be included by xfNetLink when creating Synergy components (JAR file or assembly). WEB VIEW is the default.

WEB NOVIEW

(optional) Indicates that the field will not be included by xfNetLink when creating Synergy components.

COERCED TYPE type

(optional) Indicates the coerced type for use by xfNetLink. Type specifies the data type to which this field should be coerced on the xfNetLink Java or xfNetLink .NET client. Valid values depend on the value of TYPE.

If type is decimal (without precision) the coerced type may be one of the following:

DEFAULT

BYTE

SHORT

INT

LONG

SBYTE

USHORT

UINT

ULONG

BOOLEAN

DECIMAL

NULLABLE DECIMAL

If the type is decimal (with precision), the coerced type may be one of the following:

DEFAULT

DOUBLE

FLOAT

NULLABLE DECIMAL

DECIMAL

If type is integer, the coerced type may be one of the following:

DEFAULT

BYTE

SHORT

INT

LONG

SBYTE

USHORT

UINT

ULONG

BOOLEAN

If the type is date (with a format of YYMMDD, YYYYMMDD, YYJJJ, or YYYYJJJ), time, or user (with a subtype of DATE and user data string of ^CLASS^=YYYYMMDDHHMISS or ^CLASS^=YYYYMMDDHHMISSUUUUUU), the coerced type may be one of the following:

DATETIME

NULLABLE_DATETIME

If this keyword is not specified for a decimal or integer field, the default is DEFAULT. If not specified for a date field (with one of the formats mentioned above) or for a time field or for a user field (with the restrictions mentioned above), the default is DATETIME. See Appendix B: Data Type Mapping for xfNetLink Java and Appendix C: Data Type Mapping for xfNetLink .NET for more information on data type mapping and coercion in xfNetLink.

NOCOERCED TYPE

(optional) The default state if a coerced type has not been specified. If present, NOCOERCED TYPE cancels any coerced type for the field.

OVERLAY field [:offset]

(optional) Defines this field as an overlay to another field. For example, the year, month, and day might be overlays for a date field.

The field argument specifies the name of the field to overlay. The overlaid field must be a field that precedes the current field and can be a maximum of 30 characters.

(optional) The offset argument represents an offset to add to the starting position of the overlaid field. The default offset is zero. No embedded spaces are allowed.

NONAMELINK

(optional) Indicates that the field name itself is to be used for name-linking purposes. See the Do not name link field for more information about name links.

DESCRIPTION “description”

(optional) A description of the field definition. It can have a maximum of 40 characters and must be enclosed in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ). This description appears as the comment for the field when a definition file is generated by the Generate Definition File utility, and it can be used as a way to identify fields in ReportWriter and Repository. In addition, if the structure that this field belongs to is included in an xfNetLink Java JAR file or xfNetLink .NET assembly, this description is included in the generated source code as a comment for the property or field.

NODESC

(optional) Cancels any field description that has been specified.

LONG DESCRIPTION “long_desc”

(optional) A more detailed description of the field definition and its use. Long_desc can contain 30 lines of up to 60 characters each. Each line must be enclosed in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ).

NOLONGDESC

(optional) Cancels any field long description that has been specified.

POSITION [pos_type] row column

(optional) Provides position information for this field.

The optional pos_type argument specifies the position type associated with this field. Valid values are ABSOLUTE (default) and RELATIVE.

Row specifies the row position to be associated with this input window field. If no prompt is defined, the input field begins at the specified position. If a prompt is defined, the prompt begins at the specified position. If pos_type is RELATIVE, the row value specifies the number of rows that the current position will change; otherwise, it designates absolute coordinates relative to the input window. Relative values can be negative.

Column specifies the column position to be associated with this input window field. If no prompt is defined, the input field begins at the specified position. If a prompt is defined, the prompt begins at the specified position. If pos_type is RELATIVE, the column value specifies the number of columns that the current position will change; otherwise, it designates absolute coordinates relative to the input window. Relative values can be negative.

NOPOSITION

(optional) Resets the position of the prompt to the default next character available, rather than the position specified by the POSITION keyword. NOPOSITION is the default.

FPOSITION [fpos_type] frow fcolumn

(optional) Provides position information for this field, independent of its prompt.

The optional fpos_type argument specifies the position type associated with this field. Valid values are ABSOLUTE (default) and RELATIVE.

Frow specifies the row position to be associated with this input window field, independent of its prompt. If fpos_type is RELATIVE, the frow value specifies the number of rows that the current position will change; otherwise, it designates absolute coordinates relative to the input window. Relative values can be negative.

Fcolumn specifies the column position to be associated with this input window field, independent of its prompt. If fpos_type is RELATIVE, the fcolumn value specifies the number of columns that the current position will change; otherwise, it designates absolute coordinates relative to the input window. Relative values can be negative.

NOFPOSITION

(optional) Resets the position of the input window field to the default next character after the prompt, rather than the position specified by the FPOSITION keyword. NOFPOSITION is the default.

PROMPT “prompt”

(optional) Indicates the user prompt for this field. Prompt can be either a fixed or a variable prompt. A fixed prompt is a string that is displayed in the input window to prompt the user for input. The prompt string must be enclosed in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ), and it must include any spacing that you want to display between the prompt and the input field. The maximum length of a prompt string is 80 characters. Fixed prompts may be modified at runtime with the UI Toolkit I_PROMPT subroutine.

To define a variable prompt, enter a numeric value. This value will be used by I_PROMPT to set the variable prompt length. The quotation marks around variable prompts are optional.

NOPROMPT

(optional) The default state if a user prompt has not been specified. If present, NOPROMPT cancels any prompt string.

HELP “help”

(optional) Specifies a help identifier for the field. This identifier is passed as an argument to the Toolkit EHELP_METHOD routine. The help identifier string must be enclosed in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ). The maximum length of a help identifier is 80 characters.

NOHELP

(optional) The default state if a help identifier has not been specified. If present, NOHELP cancels any help identifier.

INFO LINE “info_line”

(optional) Specifies a text string that is displayed on the information line when input is being processed for this field. The info_line string must be enclosed in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ). The maximum length is 80 characters.

NOINFO

(optional) The default state if an info_line string has not been specified. If present, NOINFO cancels any info_line string.

USER TEXT “user_text”

(optional) A user-defined text string associated with this input field. The user_text string must be enclosed in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ). The maximum length of the user_text string is 80 characters.

NOUSER TEXT

(optional) The default state if a user text string has not been specified. If present, NOUSER TEXT cancels any user text string.

FORMAT format

(optional) Indicates the display format for this field. Format is the name of a global or structure-specific format to use with this field if it is used in a Toolkit input window or is selected in a ReportWriter report. The maximum size of the format name is 30 characters. Any structure-specific format must already be defined. If it is not defined, the format name is ignored.

If the field is a date or time field, we recommend you use one of the formats listed in Appendix B: Date and Time Formats. (ReportWriter treats these formats differently and actually re-orders the data being displayed if necessary. For example, a date stored as YYMMDD can be displayed as MM/DD/YY.)

NOFORMAT

(optional) The default state if a format has not been specified. If present, NOFORMAT cancels any format for the field.

REPORT HEADING “heading”

(optional) Indicates the report column heading for this field. Heading is the default column heading this field will have when it is used in a ReportWriter report. This value is also used by xfNetLink .NET for the column caption if the structure that contains this field is included in a DataTable class. This string can have a maximum of 40 characters and must be enclosed in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ).

NOHEADING

(optional) The default state if a report heading has not been specified. If present, NOHEADING cancels any report heading for the field.

ALTERNATE NAME alt_name

(optional) Indicates the alternate name for this field. Alt_name is used in the xfODBC system catalog, the xfNetLink Java JAR file, and the xfNetLink .NET assembly. The maximum size is 30 characters.

NOALTERNATE NAME

(optional) The default state if an alternate name has not been specified. If specified, NOALTERNATE NAME cancels any alternate name for the field.

REPORT JUST just

(optional) Indicates how the field’s data will be justified in a ReportWriter report. Valid values are LEFT, RIGHT, and CENTER.

The default is LEFT for alpha, user, date, and time fields and RIGHT for decimal, implied-decimal, and integer fields. CENTER is allowed only for alpha and user fields.

INPUT JUST ijust

(optional) Designates how the text is justified within the input field when this field is used in a Toolkit input window. Valid values are LEFT, RIGHT, and CENTER.

The default is LEFT for alpha, date, time, and user type fields, and RIGHT for decimal, implied-decimal, and integer fields. CENTER alignment is not allowed for numeric fields; neither RIGHT nor CENTER alignment is allowed for text fields (multi-dimensional alpha fields).

BLANKIFZERO

(optional) Indicates that a decimal, implied-decimal, or integer field will be left blank if the user enters a value of zero.

NOBLANKIFZERO

(optional) The default state if BLANKIFZERO has not been specified. If present, NOBLANKIFZERO indicates that a zero will be displayed if the user enters a value of zero.

PAINT “paint_char”

(optional) Indicates that the field is filled with the specified paint_char until the user enters input. The purpose of this feature is to indicate where the user is supposed to type input. You must enclose the paint character in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ).

NOPAINT

(optional) The default state if no paint character has been specified. If present, NOPAINT cancels any paint character for the field and resets the field to use the default paint character.

RADIO

(optional) Indicates that this field is to be displayed as a set of radio buttons on Windows. RADIO is only valid when SELECTION LIST or SELECTION WINDOW has been specified.

CHECKBOX

(optional) Indicates that this field is to be displayed as a check box on Windows. On Unix and OpenVMS, it will be displayed as a one-character field (“X” if non-zero, or space if zero). You can specify the CHECKBOX keyword only when the field’s data type is decimal, implied-decimal, or integer. Since a check box is implicitly an enumerated field, you cannot specify the CHECKBOX keyword in conjunction with ENUMERATED.

NORADIO

(optional) The default state if RADIO has not been specified. If present, NORADIO indicates that the field will not be displayed as a set of radio buttons.

NOCHECKBOX

(optional) The default state if CHECKBOX has not been specified. If present, NOCHECKBOX indicates that the field will not be displayed as a check box.

FONT font

(optional) Specifies the name of the font to use when displaying the contents of the input field on Windows. This name is assumed to be defined in the font palette (specified in the [FONTS] section of the synergy.ini or synuser.ini file).

NOFONT

(optional) The default state if a font has not been specified. If specified, NOFONT cancels any font for the field.

PROMPTFONT prompt_font

(optional) The name of the font to use for displaying the input field’s prompt on Windows. This name must be defined in the font palette (specified in the [FONTS] section of the synergy.ini or synuser.ini file).

NOPROMPTFONT

(optional) The default state if a prompt font has not been specified. If specified, NOPROMPTFONT cancels any font for the field’s prompt.

READONLY

(optional) Indicates that this field is read-only. The READONLY keyword cannot be specified in conjunction with RADIO, CHECKBOX, SELECTION LIST, or SELECTION WINDOW. For data types AUTOSEQ and AUTOTIME, READONLY is required. This flag is honored by xfNetLink Java if this field is in a structure that is included in a JAR file and genjava is run with the -ro option. This flag is honored by xfNetLink .NET if this field is in a structure that is included in an assembly, and structure members are generated as properties rather than fields.

NOREADONLY

(optional) The default state if READONLY has not been specified. If present, NOREADONLY allows modification of the field.

DISABLED

(optional) Indicates that this field is disabled.

NODISABLED | ENABLED

(optional) The default state if DISABLED has not been specified. If present, NODISABLED (or ENABLED) allows modification and focus of the field.

COLOR palette#

(optional) Specifies the color palette for the field. Palette# must be between 1 and 16, inclusive.

NOCOLOR

(optional) The default state if a color palette number has not been specified. If present, NOCOLOR cancels any color for the field. Specifying NOCOLOR is the same as COLOR 0.

HIGHLIGHT

(optional) Indicates that the field is highlighted.

NOHIGHLIGHT

(optional) The default state if HIGHLIGHT has not been specified. If present, NOHIGHLIGHT indicates that the field will not be highlighted.

REVERSE

(optional) Indicates that the field is in reverse video.

NOREVERSE

(optional) The default state if REVERSE has not been specified. If present, NOREVERSE indicates that the field will not be in reverse video.

BLINK

(optional) Indicates that the field is blinking. (On Windows, the field is displayed in italic typeface.)

NOBLINK

(optional) The default state if BLINK has not been specified. If present, NOBLINK indicates that the field will not blink.

UNDERLINE

(optional) Indicates that the field is underlined.

NOUNDERLINE

(optional) The default state if UNDERLINE has not been specified. If present, NOUNDERLINE indicates that the field will not be underlined.

NOATTRIBUTES

(optional) Indicates that all attributes specified for the field should be cleared, and the input window attributes used instead. This is the default state if none of the above eight keywords has been specified.

DISPLAY LENGTH length

(optional) Specifies the maximum number of characters that you want to be displayed in the field. Valid values are 0 through 65,535. Display length cannot be used in conjunction with RADIO, CHECKBOX, SELECTION LIST, SELECTION WINDOW, or DIMENSION.

NODISPLAY LENGTH

(optional) The default state if DISPLAY LENGTH is not specified. If present, NODISPLAY LENGTH indicates that Toolkit’s default computation for display length will be used.

VIEW LENGTH length

(optional) Specifies the number of characters that you want to use to determine the width of the field on the screen (i.e., the width of the area on the screen that will display data for the field). Valid values are 0 through 9,999. View length cannot be used in conjunction with RADIO or CHECKBOX.

On Windows, this value is multiplied by the width of the sizing character for the current font to determine the field width. If view length is less than display length, the field will be scrollable up to the display length.

On Unix and OpenVMS, the width of the field is set to the number of characters specified. If view length is less than display length, the field will be truncated to fit in the view length.

NOVIEW LENGTH

(optional) The default state if VIEW LENGTH is not specified. If present, NOVIEW LENGTH indicates that Toolkit’s default computation for determining the width of the field will be used.

UPPERCASE

(optional) Converts lowercase input characters to uppercase. UPPERCASE is valid only when the field’s data type is alpha or user.

NOUPPERCASE

(optional) The default state if UPPERCASE has not been specified. If present, NOUPPERCASE allows lowercase input for the field.

NODECIMAL

(optional) Indicates that the user does not need to type a decimal point when typing input in a numeric field. NODECIMAL is valid only when the field’s data type is decimal, implied-decimal, or integer.

DECIMAL_REQUIRED

(optional) The default state if NODECIMAL has not been specified. If present, DECIMAL_REQUIRED aligns the numeric value based on an entered decimal point only.

NOTERM

(optional) Terminates the field automatically when the field is filled.

TERM

(optional) The default state if NOTERM has not been specified. If present, TERM indicates that the user must press Enter to terminate field input.

RETAIN POSITION

(optional) Indicates that the position within a text field (multi-dimensional alpha field) will be retained on subsequent re-entry to the field, until the field is reinitialized or redisplayed. You can specify the RETAIN POSITION keyword only for text fields.

NORETAIN POSITION

(optional) The default state if RETAIN POSITION has not been specified. If present, NORETAIN POSITION cancels position retention in the text field.

DEFAULT default

(optional) Indicates the specified default value to be displayed in the input field. DEFAULT overrides any COPY, INCREMENT, or DECREMENT value that was previously specified. This value must be appropriate for the field’s data type. For date and time fields, the default value must be specified in storage form (STORED), rather than input or display form. If the default value contains spaces or is case sensitive, you must enclose the entire value in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ).

COPY

(optional) Copies the value from the data area that corresponds to this field if the field is empty. COPY overrides any DEFAULT, INCREMENT, or DECREMENT value that was previously specified.

INCREMENT

(optional) Designates that if the user does not enter a value the first time a numeric field is processed, the last value in the field plus one will be used. INCREMENT is valid only when the field’s data type is decimal, implied-decimal, or integer. INCREMENT overrides any DEFAULT, COPY, or DECREMENT value that was previously specified.

DECREMENT

(optional) Designates that if the user does not enter a value the first time a numeric field is processed, the last value in the field minus one will be used. DECREMENT is valid only when the field’s data type is decimal, implied-decimal, or integer. DECREMENT overrides any DEFAULT, COPY, or INCREMENT value that was previously specified.

NODEFAULT

(optional) The default state when DEFAULT, COPY, INCREMENT, and DECREMENT have not been specified. If present, NODEFAULT cancels any default value that is specified. It also cancels any COPY, INCREMENT, or DECREMENT keyword.

AUTOMATIC

(optional) Specifies that when an empty field is processed, the specified default action — default, copy, increment, or decrement — occurs automatically, as if the user had pressed Enter without entering any input. AUTOMATIC is only valid when one of the default actions listed above has already been specified. If neither DEFAULT, COPY, INCREMENT, nor DECREMENT has been specified, the AUTOMATIC keyword is ignored.

NOAUTOMATIC

(optional) The default state if AUTOMATIC has not been specified. If present, NOAUTOMATIC cancels automatic entry of data in the field.

NOECHO

(optional) Prevents the text entered by the user from being displayed in the input field (for example, to mask a password). You can optionally specify a character to be displayed instead of each typed character; see NOECHCHR below. You can specify the NOECHO keyword only when the field’s data type is alpha or user.

NOECHOCHR “display_char”

(optional) Indicates the character to be displayed in place of user input for each character the user types (for example, to mask a password). You can specify a display character only when the field’s data type is alpha or user. If you specify a display character without specifying NOECHO, NOECHO is set automatically. The display character must be enclosed in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ).

ECHO

(optional) The default state if NOECHO or NOECHOCHR has not been specified. If present, ECHO leaves echo on for field input. It also clears any specified display_char.

DATE TODAY

(optional) Defaults the date to today’s date if the user presses Enter without entering anything in a blank date field.

DATE NOTODAY

(optional) The default state if DATE TODAY has not been specified. If DATE NOTODAY is present, the date field no longer defaults to today’s date.

DATE SHORT

(optional) Displays a date type field in fewer than the normal 11 characters. You can only specify the DATE SHORT keyword when the field’s data type is date.

DATE NOSHORT

(optional) The default state if DATE SHORT has not been specified. If present, DATE NOSHORT cancels the short date option for the field.

TIME NOW

(optional) Defaults the time to the current system time if the user presses Enter without entering any data in a blank time field.

TIME NONOW

(optional) The default state if TIME NOW has not been specified. If TIME NONOW is present, the time field no longer defaults to the current system time.

TIME AMPM

(optional) Specifies that the display format of a time field is 12-hour time, followed by an AM or PM indicator. This keyword is valid only when the field’s data type is time.

TIME NOAMPM

(optional) The default state if TIME AMPM has not been specified. If present, TIME NOAMPM resets the display format to 24-hour time.

WAIT “time”

(optional) Specifies an input time-out for this field, overriding the value in the UI Toolkit g_wait_time field. Time is the number of seconds to wait for input processing to be complete. This value may optionally be enclosed in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ).

WAIT IMMEDIATE

(optional) Designates that immediate user response is required; do not wait.

WAIT GLOBAL

(optional) Designates that the global wait time (defined by g_wait_time) should be used.

WAIT FOREVER

(optional) Designates that UI Toolkit should wait until input processing is complete.

NOWAIT

(optional) The default state if WAIT has not been specified. If present, NOWAIT indicates that the UI Toolkit g_wait_time field defines the global wait time.

INPUT LENGTH length

(optional) Specifies the maximum number of characters the user is permitted to enter in the field. Valid values are 0 through 65,535. Input length cannot be used in conjunction with RADIO, CHECKBOX, SELECTION LIST, SELECTION WINDOW, or DIMENSION.

NOINPUT LENGTH

(optional) The default state if INPUT LENGTH is not specified. If present, NOINPUT LENGTH indicates that Toolkit’s default computation for input length will be used.

BREAK [break_type]

(optional) Triggers a break in input set processing on a field. If the BREAK keyword is present, a break occurs after input to this field has been processed.

Break_type specifies a different type of break processing. Valid values are ALWAYS (a break occurs whenever the field is accessed) and RETURN (a break occurs only when the user presses Enter for the field). If break_type is specified, it must be on the same line as BREAK.

NOBREAK

(optional) The default state if a break type has not been specified. If present, NOBREAK cancels break processing on the field.

REQUIRED

(optional) Specifies that a non-blank alpha or non-zero numeric entry is required in the field.

NOREQUIRED

(optional) The default state if REQUIRED has not been specified. If present, NOREQUIRED makes input in the field optional.

NEGATIVE

(optional) Allows negative values on decimal, implied-decimal, and integer fields.

ONLY

(optional) Specifies that only negative numbers are allowed as input for this field. If ONLY is specified, it must be on the same line as NEGATIVE.

ORZERO

(optional) Specifies that only negative numbers or zero are allowed as input for this field. If ORZERO is specified, it must be on the same line as NEGATIVE.

NONEGATIVE

(optional) The default state when NEGATIVE has not been specified. If present, NONEGATIVE indicates that negative values cannot be entered as input in the field.

NULL ALLOWED

(optional) Indicates that null is permitted for the field. This keyword is used by xfODBC to determine the null property for the column in the system catalog. Valid only for data types alpha (except when the storage format is binary), decimal, date, and time.

NULL DEFAULT

(optional) The default state when neither NULL ALLOWED nor NONULL is specified. If present, NULL DEFAULT indicates that the default behavior will be used in xfODBC to determine the null property for the column.

NONULL

(optional) Indicates that null is not permitted for the field. This keyword is used by xfODBC to determine the null property for the column in the system catalog. Valid for all data types.

ALLOW entry[, …]

(optional) Indicates a list of valid entries for the field. If the entry contains spaces or is case sensitive, you must enclose it in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ). Blank entries must be stored in quotation marks; therefore, to specify them in your Synergy Data Language file, you must enclose them in a second set of different quotation marks. (For example, “‘ ’” or ‘“ ”’.) You can specify up to 99 entries, each with a maximum length of 80 characters.

NOALLOW

(optional) The default state if no ALLOW entries have been specified. If present, NOALLOW cancels any ALLOW list for the field.

MATCH CASE

(optional) Specifies that the alpha or user field input must match the case of a specified allowable entry. (See the ALLOW keyword, above.) This keyword is valid only when the field’s data type is alpha or user, and an ALLOW list has already been specified.

MATCH NOCASE

(optional) The default state if MATCH CASE has not been specified. If present, MATCH NOCASE cancels case-sensitive matching for the field.

MATCH EXACT

(optional) Specifies that the alpha or user field input must match all characters in the specified allowable entry. (See the ALLOW keyword, above.) You can only specify the MATCH EXACT keyword when the field’s data type is alpha or user. MATCH EXACT is only valid when an ALLOW list has already been specified.

MATCH NOEXACT

(optional) The default state if MATCH EXACT has not been specified. If present, MATCH NOEXACT cancels full-length matching for the field.

SELECTION LIST sl_row sl_column sl_height

(optional) Designates that when this input field is processed, a selection window will be created, and it will contain the entries specified with ENTRIES (see below). The window should be placed at the given location, and it should have the specified height.

The sl_row argument specifies the screen row at which the upper-left corner of the selection window will be placed, relative to the beginning of the data field. This value can be negative.

The sl_column argument specifies the screen column at which the upper-left corner of the selection window will be placed, relative to the beginning of the data field. This value can be negative.

The sl_height argument specifies the maximum number of rows in the selection window.

ENTRIES sl_entry[, …]

(optional) Indicates a list of entries to appear in the selection window. If the entry contains spaces or is case sensitive, it must be enclosed in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ). Blank entries must be stored in quotation marks; therefore, to specify them in your Synergy Data Language file, you must enclose them in a second set of different quotation marks (for example, “ ‘  ’ ” or ‘ “  ” ’ ). You can specify up to 99 entries, each with a maximum length of 80 characters.

SELECTION WINDOW sw_row sw_column sw_height

(optional) Designates that when this input field is processed, the specified selection window will be placed on the screen at the specified location.

The sw_row argument specifies the screen row at which the upper-left corner of the selection window will be placed, relative to the beginning of the data field. This value can be negative.

The sw_column argument specifies the screen column at which the upper-left corner of the selection window will be placed, relative to the beginning of the data field. This value can be negative.

The sw_name argument specifies the name of an existing selection window to associate with this field. This name can have a maximum of 15 characters and can optionally be enclosed in double or single quotation marks ( “ ” or ‘ ’ ).

NOSELECT

(optional) The default state if SELECTION LIST or SELECTION WINDOW has not been specified. If present, NOSELECT cancels any selection list or selection window associated with the field.

ENUMERATED length base step

(optional) Specifies that this field returns a decimal value for a displayed text entry. You can specify the ENUMERATED keyword only when the field’s data type is decimal, implied-decimal, or integer. You can use the ENUMERATED keyword only in conjunction with an allow list or a selection list or window (including both existing windows and windows built on the fly with the UI Toolkit S_SELBLD subroutine).

The length argument specifies the length of the displayed field, if the field is enumerated. (Note that the length of the displayed field and the length of the actual input field are not necessarily the same.)

The base argument specifies the return value of the first entry in an enumerated field. This value can be negative.

The step argument specifies the value added to each successive entry in an enumerated field. This value can be negative.

NOENUMERATED

(optional) The default state if ENUMERATED has not been specified. If present, NOENUMERATED resets the field to a non-enumerated field.

RANGE min max

(optional) Indicates a range of allowable values for a decimal, implied-decimal, integer, date, or time field. For date and time fields, the range values must be specified in storage form (STORED), rather than input or display form. You cannot specify the RANGE keyword in conjunction with an allow list or a selection list or window.

The min argument defines the minimum value for a decimal, implied-decimal, integer, date, or time field. This value can be negative. Min must be less than or equal to the range maximum (as specified by max). For date and time fields, min must be specified in storage form.

The max argument defines the maximum value for a decimal, implied-decimal, integer, date, or time field. This value can be negative. Max must be greater than or equal to the range minimum (as specified by min). For date and time fields, max must be specified in storage form.

NORANGE

(optional) The default state if RANGE has not been specified. If present, NORANGE cancels range-checking for the field.

ARRIVE METHOD arrive_method

(optional) Indicates the arrive method for this field. Arrive_method is the name of the subroutine (method) to be called before the field is processed by Toolkit’s I_INPUT routine. The maximum size of the method name is 30 characters.

NOARRIVE METHOD

(optional) The default state if an arrive method has not been specified. If specified, NOARRIVE METHOD cancels any arrive method for the field.

LEAVE METHOD leave_method

(optional) Indicates the leave method for this field. Leave_method is the name of the subroutine (method) to be called after this field is processed by Toolkit’s I_INPUT routine. The maximum size of the method name is 30 characters.

NOLEAVE METHOD

(optional) The default state if a leave method has not been specified. If specified, NOLEAVE METHOD cancels any leave method for the field.

DRILL METHOD drill_method

(optional) Indicates the drill method for this field. On Windows, if a drill method is specified, a drilldown button will be placed to the right of the input field. If the user clicks the button, the drill method is invoked. On all platforms, an I_DRILL menu entry will invoke the drill method.

Drill_method is the name of the subroutine (method) to be called when this field’s drill button is clicked or the I_DRILL menu entry is selected. The maximum size of the method name is 30 characters.

NODRILL METHOD

(optional) The default state if a drill method has not been specified. If specified, NODRILL METHOD cancels any drill method for the field.

HYPERLINK METHOD hyperlink_method

(optional) Indicates the hyperlink prompt method for this field. On Windows, if a hyperlink method is specified, when the field is a member of an input set being processed by I_INPUT, any prompt text associated with the field will be highlighted. If the user clicks on the highlighted text, the hyperlink method is invoked. On all platforms, an I_HYPER menu entry will invoke the hyperlink method.

Hyperlink_method is the name of the subroutine (method) to be called when either this field’s prompt text is clicked or the I_HYPER menu entry is selected. The maximum size of the method name is 30 characters.

NOHYPERLINK METHOD

(optional) The default state if a hyperlink method has not been specified. If specified, NOHYPERLINK METHOD cancels any hyperlink method for the field.

CHANGE METHOD change_method

(optional) Indicates the change method for this field. Change_method is the name of the subroutine (method) to be called after this field is validated by Toolkit’s I_INPUT routine. The maximum size of the method name is 30 characters.

NOCHANGE METHOD

(optional) The default state if a change method has not been specified. If specified, NOCHANGE METHOD cancels any change method for the field.

DISPLAY METHOD display_method

(optional) Indicates the display method for this field. Display_method is the name of the subroutine (method) to be called whenever the field is about to be displayed by UI Toolkit. It is called after Toolkit has formatted the display according to its own rules. DISPLAY METHOD cannot be specified when the field’s view is set to radio buttons or check box, or when a selection list or window has been specified.

NODISPLAY METHOD

(optional) The default state if a display method has not been specified. If specified, NODISPLAY METHOD cancels any display method for the field.

EDITFMT METHOD editfmt_method

(optional) Indicates the edit format method for this field. Editfmt_method is the name of the subroutine (method) to be called by Toolkit whenever text in the field is being formatted for editing purposes. It is called after Toolkit has formatted the display according to its own rules. EDITFMT METHOD cannot be specified when a field’s view is set to radio buttons, or check box, or when a selection list or window has been specified.

NOEDITFMT METHOD

(optional) The default state if an edit format method has not been specified. If specified, NOEDITFMT METHOD cancels any edit format method for the field.

Discussion

The FIELD statement describes a field definition. This field is associated with the most recently defined structure. If no structure has been defined, the field is ignored.

Adding new definitions

The order in which you specify the fields determines the order in which they will exist in the structure. The maximum number of fields that can be defined in one structure is 999.

Replacing existing definitions

All required keywords and data must be specified. The existing field is deleted and replaced by the specified one. (Note that when you’re replacing a structure, any fields that are not explicitly specified in the schema are deleted.)

Overlaying existing definitions

Name must be respecified along with the desired attributes. The current field attributes are overwritten with any new attributes specified. When a template is added to an existing field, both the existing override flags and the field attributes explicitly specified in the schema are retained as template overrides.

Keep in mind that items such as allow list or selection list entries are specified by a single keyword. Hence, to change one allow list entry, you must respecify all allow list entries.

Examples

FIELD ccname TYPE alpha SIZE 40 DESCRIPTION "Name" 
REPORT HEADING "Name" PROMPT "Name : " HELP "h_namehlp" 
INFO LINE "Please enter your full name." BREAK ALWAYS
FIELD ccopen TYPE date SIZE 8 STORED YYYYMMDD 
DESCRIPTION "Opened account" 
LONG DESCRIPTION "Opened account (YYYYMMDD)"
REPORT JUST right REPORT HEADING "Opened account" 
FORMAT "#04  MM-DD-YY" POSITION relative -3 3
FIELD transdate TEMPLATE date8
DESCRIPTION "Transaction date"
NONAMELINK