HP 3000 Manuals

HP ALLBASE/4GL Developer Reference Manual Vol. 1

Help Screens Screen 

This screen allows you to define application help screens for the end
user.

Screen Image 


            

Field Descriptions 

Help Screen Name   Enter the name of the help screen (up to 16
characters).

Next Help Screen   Enter the name of another help screen to be displayed
after this help screen.  You can use more than one help screen if there
is insufficient space on one screen for the necessary help information.

Message Contents   A free form area of 16 lines, each of 60 characters.
Enter the text of the help message anywhere in this space.

Function Keys 

f1       Field Specs.    Cancels the current screen and displays the
        field specifications screen.

f2       Storage Menu  Cancels the current screen and displays the
        storage items menu.

f3       Messages  Cancels the current screen and displays the messages
        screen.

Additional Information 

HP ALLBASE/4GL Help Display.     

HP ALLBASE/4GL displays help screens in response to the I-HELP internal
action, or as a result of an H- action from a menu, a function key, or a
decision table.

When HP ALLBASE/4GL receives the I-HELP internal action, it displays help
screens according to the user's current activity in the application.  The
I-HELP internal action can only be initiated from a function key.  The
help screen display following an I-HELP internal action follows the rules
listed below:

   *   If the cursor is on a response field for a QUERY type message and
       the system is waiting for a response from the user, or the system
       has displayed an ERROR or ABORT message, HP ALLBASE/4GL displays
       the help screen associated with the message.

   *   If the cursor is on an input field, HP ALLBASE/4GL displays the
       help screen associated with the field.

   *   If a help screen is not associated with the field or with a
       message, HP ALLBASE/4GL displays the help screen associated with
       the current application screen.

   *   If there is no help screen associated with the current application
       screen, HP ALLBASE/4GL attempts to build a default help display
       using the text of the description fields on the screen header
       screen and the dictionary details of the current field.  If the
       current screen is a menu, the default help only contains the
       description fields from the screen header.  If no screen header is
       available, HP ALLBASE/4GL displays a message telling the user that
       no help is available.

       In the HP ALLBASE/4GL run-time environment, the description fields
       are not available.  As a result, HP ALLBASE/4GL cannot build the
       default help screen.

When HP ALLBASE/4GL displays help screens as a result of an H-screen_name 
action, the system initially displays the help screen screen_name 
regardless of the user's current activity in the application.  The user
can then proceed to obtain further help using the help screen function
keys.  These further help screens are the help screens associated with
the current field or screen.

Help Screen Function Keys.     

HP ALLBASE/4GL automatically allocates a set of standard function keys to
each help screen.  The keys are:

f1       Field Desc  HP ALLBASE/4GL displays this key if the current help
        screen is associated with an input field that uses a dictionary
        field specification.  If the user presses this key, HP
        ALLBASE/4GL displays the details of the dictionary field
        specification.

f2       Display Range  HP ALLBASE/4GL displays this key if the current
        help screen is associated with an input field that has a
        validation range defined for it.  If the user presses this
        function key, HP ALLBASE/4GL displays the validation range.

f3       Display Table  HP ALLBASE/4GL displays this key if the current
        help screen is associated with an input field that has a
        validation table defined for it.  If the user presses this
        function key, HP ALLBASE/4GL displays the contents of the
        validation table.

f4       Screen Help  HP ALLBASE/4GL displays this key if the current
        help screen is associated with an input field on a screen.  If
        the user presses this key, HP ALLBASE/4GL displays the help
        screen associated with the current application screen.  The user
        cannot return to field level help or message level help after
        pressing this key.

f5       Previous Help  HP ALLBASE/4GL displays this key if the current
        help screen is the second or subsequent screen in a sequence of
        help screens.  If the user presses this key, HP ALLBASE/4GL
        redisplays the previous help screen.

f6       More Help  HP ALLBASE/4GL displays this key if there is a
        further help screen linked to the current help screen.  HP
        ALLBASE/4GL displays the additional help screen if the user
        presses this key.

f8       Exit Help  When the user presses this key, HP ALLBASE/4GL
        restores the original screen display and resumes processing at
        the point where the user selected the help function key.

MPE/iX 5.0 Documentation