Setting Up Layout Details
Access the Work with Dynamic Formatter Layout Details form.
- Line ID
Displays the system-assigned line ID that uniquely identifies the records in this table.
The line ID determines the print order of the records on the stub or register.
- Begin Pos. (dynamic formatter begin position) and End Pos. (dynamic formatter end position)
Enter the initial and final positions at which the characters of an attribute appear in the specified line of the flat file. If the attribute might not require all of the character positions defined by the difference between the begin position and the end position, complete the Alpha Filler field with the character that you want to occupy the not-required positions.
- Attribute
Enter the attribute defined in the Dynamic Formatter UDC table (76B/F1) that occupies the position defined by the difference between the begin position and the end position.
Values that begin with an S are constants. Values are:
S0001: User-defined value
S0002: Blanks
S0003: Zeros
Values that are defined by each transaction application begin with a Z. These values are hard-coded, but the data associated with the value changes based on data in the table and fields referenced.
- Description Alpha
Enter a description for the data items. Enter text in upper and lower case. The system uses this name to search for similar data items. To enter an alpha description, follow these conventions:
Dates: Begin all date fields with the word Date.
Amounts: Begin all amount fields with the word Amount.
Units: Begin all unit, quantity, and volume fields with the word Units.
Name: Begin all 30-byte description fields with the word Name.
Prompt: Begin any Y/N prompting field with the word Prompt.
Address Number: Begin all address numbers (employee, customer, owner) with the word Address Number.
- Default Value
Optional default value for this prompt (see Display [Y/N/D]). To use a default value of blanks, enter *BLANK.
- Data Type
Enter the style or classification of data, such as numeric, alphabetic, and date. Do not change the data item type if it is used within an existing application. Otherwise, you must regenerate the table and review all business functions that use this data item. Data types include:
Character: A single letter, always the size of one.
Date: A date.
Integer: An integer.
Character (Blob): An item that can be translated from EBCDIC (8-bit character code commonly used on IBM mainframes) to ASCII (7-bit character code).
Binary (Blob): An item that cannot be translated, appears in machine code, and is found as an executable file under Win.help.
Binary: An option that represents two choices. It is usually a combination of the digits 1 and 0 to represent on and off or true and false.
String: An item that is always the same size or length.
Variable String: An item of variable size.
UTime: An item that allows business processes to span several time zones.
Identifier: (ID) An item that is used within the program logic for controls. An ID is used to write a C program and reference third-party software that returns a pointer. An API then saves the pointer that references the ID. The parameter that the system passes to the C program is the ID.
Numeric: A long integer.
- Item Dec (item decimal)
Enter the number of stored positions to the right of the decimal of the data item.
- D F (decimal format)
Enter the number of positions to the right of the decimal that you want to use. If you leave this field blank, the system value is used as the default.
- Align Left
Select this option to align a group of controls vertically with the left edge of the selected control.
- Alpha Filler
Enter the character that the system uses to fill the position defined by the difference between the begin position and end position when the attribute value does not fill the position.
- Date Format
Enter the format of a date as it is stored in the database. Values are:
MDY: Month, Day, Year (MMDDYY).
DMY: Day, Month, Year (DDMMYY).
YMD: Year, Month, Day (YYMMDD).
EMD: 4-digit Year, Month, Day (YYYYMMDD).
If you leave this field blank, the system displays dates based on the settings of the operating system on the workstation. With NT, the regional settings in the Control Panel control the settings for the operating system of the workstation.
- Date Sep (date separator)
Enter the character to use when separating the month, day, and year of a given date. If you enter an asterisk (*), the system uses a blank for the date separator. If you leave the field blank, the system uses the system value for the date separator.