PAGE-SIZE

You should no longer use this command because it may be discontinued in a future release. To use the newer SQR functionality, use the MAX-LINES and MAX-COLUMNS parameters of the DECLARE-LAYOUT command.

Syntax

Use this syntax:

PAGE-SIZE  page_depth_num_lit  page_width_num_lit

Description

Sets the page size.

If you are printing multiple reports, you must use the PAPER-SIZE parameter of the DECLARE-LAYOUT command.

This command is used in the SETUP section only.

Specify the page depth in lines and the page width in columns. An average report that is printed on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper might have a page size of 60 lines by 80 columns. A 3-inch by 5-inch sales lead card might have a size of 18 by 50.

If the page size is not specified, the default of 62 lines by 132 columns is used.

For line printers, SQR stores one complete page in a buffer before writing the page to the output file when you issue a NEW-PAGE command or when a page overflow occurs.

You can define a page to be 1 line deep and 4,000 characters wide, which you can use for writing large flat files, perhaps for copying to magnetic tape. Each time a NEW-PAGE occurs, one record is written. Use the NO-FORMFEED command in the SETUP section to suppress form-feed characters between pages.

Use a page width that is at least one character larger than the rightmost position that will be written. This prevents unwanted wrapping when printing. When the last column position on a line is printed, the current position becomes the first position of the next line. This can cause confusion when using relative line positioning with the NEXT-LISTING command. Having a wider page than necessary does not waste any file space because SQR trims trailing blanks on each line before writing the report file.

Determine the size of the internal page buffer that stores a complete page in memory by multiplying the page depth by the width in the PAGE-SIZE command. For personal computers, the page buffer is limited to 64K bytes. On other computers, the page buffer is limited only by the amount of memory that is available.

Example

For example:

begin-setup
  page-size  57  132! 57 lines long by 132 columns wide
end-setup