HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
Handling Problems Occasionally, your application will not behave as you expect, or you will receive error messages while you're testing the application. The next few pages show you how to tackle some common problems. Problem: Items Not Found The most common problem encountered when testing an application is discovering a reference to an undefined item. HP ALLBASE/4GL detects references to undefined items at different stages and the system response depends on the type of item that has not been defined. Generating an item resolves references to certain application items. The nature and extent of the check applied to a referenced item depends on what type of item it is. In general, the generate program doesn't attempt to resolve references to other generated items when generating an item. The exceptions are record layouts and calculated items. The generate program attempts to resolve references to most non-generated items during generation. The exceptions are menus, help screens, and function keys. The following table summarizes the various components, or items, that require generation, and the items that do not require generation. The table also indicates the items for which references are resolved during generation. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | Generated | Non-Generated | | Items | Items | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | Calculated items* | Alphanumeric constants* | | | | | Data screens | Application titles* | | | | | Decision tables | Field specifications* | | | | | Functions | Files* | | | | | Messages | Function keys | | | | | Processes | Help screens | | | | | Record layouts* | Menus | | | | | Reports | Numeric constants* | | | | | Window screens | Ranges* | | | | | | Scratch-pad field names* | | | | | | Validation tables* | | | | | | Variables* | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | * References to these items are resolved during generation. | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Since some references are not checked during generation, there is a possibility that you can successfully generate an application with unresolved references to the following items: * Data screens. * Decision tables. * Function keys. * Functions. * Help screens. * Menus. * Messages. * Processes. * Reports. * Windows. If the application encounters an unresolved reference at run time, you will receive an error message telling you that an item cannot be found. Usually processing can continue. If an undefined reference is critical to the logical flow of the application, you may not want processing to continue. In cases such as missing messages or help screens, the absence of the item may not have adverse effects on the logical flow of the application. It's up to you to decide if you want to continue with testing the application when you run into this sort of situation. HP ALLBASE/4GL has a number of utilities to help you locate items in your application. Refer to Developer Utilities for a description of these utilities. Problem: No Initial Action If HP ALLBASE/4GL can't find the initial action (as defined by the system administrator) for your application, processing cannot commence. If this happens, check the exact definition of the initial action for your application. You may need assistance from your system administrator to gain access to the administrator application. For details on accessing the application definition screen, refer to the HP ALLBASE/4GL Developer Administration Manual. If you experience this problem you must ensure that the initial action is the correct type, and has the correct name. These details can be found in Appendix A. Remember, HP ALLBASE/4GL is case sensitive, so make sure you use the exact spelling of the initial action name.