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1. gt Database processing occurs on the database server the machine or machines where the data resides Some routines control what the user sees for example forms error messages and prompts and other routines handle data access calculations validations report generation and so forth When you want to display the result of a piece of application logic in the user interface the user interface logic can call a function that performs the required task and then display the result For example if you wanted to perform a log in operation in a distributed processing environment you would probably separate the processing layers as follows User interface processing gt Draw a log in screen gt Perform field input gt Validate field contents and write error messages to the screen Business logic processing gt Validate the username gt Validate that the password is correct for the specified username Database processing gt Read user information from the database Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus Design Considerations You will likely need to modify your Synergy server code before it can work effectively in a distributed environment Once you identify the areas where modularization is needed you can start redesigning the required functionality with your objectives in mind gt If supporting multiple user interfaces is your priority the first step is sep
2. Sece o gt ao eH g mer aoe Standard toolbar Object toolbar Figure 4 1 The Control Bar window The Object toolbar enables you to create and manipulate user interface objects quickly It consists of an arrow pointer button and a tabbed toolbar The arrow pointer button enables you to select objects in the Application window The toolbar has three tab sets Objects Input and Window To display the name of a toolbar button hold your mouse pointer over the button for two seconds The Application window The Application window provides an area a hich you can ii your user interface This design area contains a grid that represents cell based rows and columns When you move or size user interface objects they snap to the grid Objects created in the design area also contain grids so that objects created within those objects will snap to row column boundaries as well You can turn off the grids if you need to for example when you want to print your screen The title bar for the Application window contains the name of the current script file Figure 4 2 The Application window 4 4 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Designing Your User Interface What Is Composer The Properties window The Properties window contains a list of design object attributes followed by the property or value for each attribute The attributes and properties displayed always belong to the object that s curr
3. static handle Glossary 6 A single character that accesses a menu column menu entry or selection window entry or a key that when pressed simultaneously with the ALT key accesses a command button in a dialog box The quick select character is underlined on a menu or list An input field displayed as a set of round buttons The user selects one button to make a choice from among several items An association between structures that enables you to link the keys of one structure with the keys of the other structure An operator that compares two operands equal to not equal to greater than less than greater than or equal to or less than or equal to A set of attributes and color of a screen display item Rendition attributes are boldface blinking reverse video and underscore A record that defines the display attributes and colors for your screen The Synergy DE application that orders and defines your data structures files and attributes The location where your data definitions are stored One of a class of menu entries that is handled automatically by UI Toolkit and that is used to activate many of the standard Toolkit functions The process that binds the keyboard to the shortcuts at runtime instead of during script processing An editable text file that contains special script commands to define and control user interface objects and their characteristics A pull down list of options for an input field A
4. 2 Highlight Quick filters in the context menu and then select the items you want to display 2 28 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Analyzing Your Code W Symbol Uses Calling Tree tw genrptla report a output a file a format a header a seperatory HP a file HPO a_fomat HP a_header HP a_output HP a_report HP a_seperator H charlexpression H e_enter share H e erit H e_method event_method_pair H e_sectftext text_flag H amp mem_proc DM_ALLOC DM_STATIC size H mem_proc DM_FREE handle H mem_proc DM_REG DM_STATIC size address H amp mem_proc DM_RESIZ size handle mem_procffunction arg E numargs P rpt a_rwehn a_rptdef a_msachn a_dicfil a_dictxt a_scrfil a_Inkchn a_mdfil a_report a_opt a_genfil a_rptftm a_noquit delet filename e_state state Sfla jbnol parent_id group_id t a ew i a acon rT m Figure 2 15 Viewing a call tree Viewing where a method is called When restructuring code for a component you may want to know where a particular method is called to help you identify which areas of code will be affected by changes to that routine Launching the reference utility References can only be generated when a workspace is loaded 1 From the Symbols tab of the project toolbar right click on the routine class class member or local fi
5. Determining how the field will look Repository refers to the field s appearance as Display information To specify display information for a field from the Field Definition input window 1 On Windows click the Display tab or press CTRL TAB until the Display tab is displayed On UNIX or OpenVMS press TAB until the Display tab is displayed See figure 3 4 2 Enter the desired information in each input field and then exit the dialog box or move to a different tab in the dialog box to define additional information You can also get to the Display tab from the Field Definitions list Highlight the field you want to modify and select Edit Display Information from the Field Functions menu Determining how the field will behave Repository breaks down the field s behavior into the categories Input Validation and Methods Input information determines how input must be entered and how it will be displayed and interpreted Validation information defines what input is considered valid Method information specifies any arrive leave drill hyperlink or change method subroutines associated with a field Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 3 9 Setting Up Your Repository Defining User Interface Characteristics 3 10 Enter the text that Select whether a position is to be specified Select whether a position is will prompt the user for this field prompt combination and if so associated with this field
6. What Is Synergy DE Elements of Synergy DE Connectivity Series SQL Connection and Synergy database drivers SQL Connection is Synergy DE s SQL API that works in conjunction with the appropriate database driver to enable a Synergy application to access SQL data sources typically RDBMSs Synergy DE provides database drivers that enable SQL Connection access to popular databases such as Oracle and SQL Server SQL OpenNet SQL OpenNet provides the middleware needed if your Synergy SQL application will be accessing remote RDBMSs residing on a remote computer on your network XfODBC xfODBC opens Synergy DBMS data to any third party 32 bit ODBC application It supports version 2 5 of the ODBC API level 1 and uses SQL OpenNet for remote data access xfSeries xfServer xfServer processes network client requests for Synergy DBMS data Residing on the same computer as the Synergy databases the server can serve data to any Synergy application running with a Synergy runtime version 6 1 and higher xfServerPlus xfServerPlus handles the remote execution of Synergy routines XfNetLink xfNetLink provides four methods for accessing Synergy logic with an assortment of clients gt xfNetLink Synergy Edition which is a set of routines that work in conjunction with xfServerPlus to execute Synergy routines stored on a remote machine gt xfNetLink Java Edition which works in conjunction with Sun Microsystems J avalM program
7. 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries Step 8 Unload the data To unload the data we call the UI Toolkit routine T GETLIN Our example routine transfers the data from the text window into the textline array starting with line 1 and continuing through line 99 NUMLINES Because the user may not have filled the entire window with text it might be beneficial to know exactly how many lines were retrieved this value is returned in the lines_input variable This variable is used as the upper boundary in the routine that stores the data write_data xcall t_getlin text_win textline NUMLINES start_line 1 amp lines_input for ivar from 1 thru returned Now store the data records begin entry_number hold_entry entry_line ivar entry_text textline ivar store text_ch diary end return See also The Text Routines chapter in your UI Toolkit Reference Manual for more information about other text processing features that include the ability to load text into a window and store data with the window in a window library Processing lists A list is a virtually unlimited collection of identically formatted items its size limited only by the disk space available In its most basic form a list is a visual representation of a file But a list doesn t have to derive its contents from a single file you can construct the items in a list of data from any source or any
8. Debugging Your Synergy Programs chapter of Synergy Language Tools for details To restore the saved debugger commands From the Project menu select Project Properties and then click the Open tab In the editing area of the dialog set the DBG_INIT environment variable to the name of the file that contains the saved debugger state When you invoke the Synergy debugger it will use the specified file to initialize itself Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Customizing Your Development Environment Customizing Your Development Environment Customizing the way a project is opened To specify commands that will get executed when the project is opened 1 From the Project menu select Project Properties and then click the Open tab 2 Enter the desired commands in the field shown in figure 2 17 and then exit the dialog box You do not need to close and reopen the project to make these changes take effect Select the configuration you want to modify Select All Configurations to caps igurations change the settings for all of your ieee configurations Files Directories Tools Build Compile Link Dependencies Open Project Properties For C MyFiles Contact Contact vpj Settings for All Configurations jsyn_set_synergy_ini c synergy user1 Type any macro commands one command per line that you want executed when the project is opened Type
9. Input field name Input field CURSOR The flashing cursor so you can begin typing All ROUTINE Routine name All If the field is a repository field the STRUCTURE token is replaced with the repository structure name If the field is not a repository field the STRUCTURE token is replaced with the name of the structure the field belongs to in the input window recommend that if you create your own tokens you either use a character other than the pound sign as the delimiter for example token or you use a unique prefix for example your initials as in AK_token To avoid potential conflict with the names of tokens we may add in the future we Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 27 Developing Your Application in Workbench Analyzing Your Code Analyzing Your Code When you must restructure or otherwise modify a routine it s important to be aware of possible ramifications to other pieces of code Workbench provides some analysis tools to help you identify which routines are called by a specified routine and which routines call a specified routine Viewing a call tree of external routines The call tree utility lists all routines across multiple source files called by the chosen routine You can also expand any routine in the call tree to see what routines are called in turn by that routine The primary objective of this utility is to provide insight into the logical structure of an unfa
10. Setting Up Your Development Environment 2 12 2 Enter the desired information in each input field and then click OK The Project Properties For filename dialog box is displayed See figure 2 6 From here you can add files to a project and define other project settings Select the Project Properties For C MyFiles Contact Contact vpj Eg Click Configurations configuration you to view add or Settings for fal Configurations x Configurations 7 want to modify delete configurations Select All Files Directories Tools Build Compile Link Dependencies Open Configurations Project files Oof O Files Selected Click Add Files to to change the Add Files select individual files settings for all Add Tree to add to your of your Add wildcard project configurations ae nyver os Click Add Wildcard Remove to select files to add to your project using wildcard specifications The files in the Remove All project are Refresh displayed here Properties 4 gt Import E Cancel Help Figure 2 6 Adding files to a project From the Files tab of the Project Properties For filename window click Add Files to add files to your project The Add Source Files dialog box is displayed See figure 2 7 You can also add files by clicking Add Wildcard Select the files you want to add and click Open The Project Properties For filename dialog box is redisplayed with the files you selected
11. This chapter introduces you to S DE Repository and walks you through defining your data for several different uses We ve set up a small example for you to practice with because we believe you will learn more quickly by actually performing the steps rather than just reading them For each of the instructional sections of this chapter you will need to define a structure and its fields we strongly recommend that you begin by following the instructions in the sections Defining a structure on page 3 3 and Defining fields on page 3 4 even if you don t need to define a record layout for use in an application What Is Repository 3 2 Describes what Repository is how to run it and how to access context sensitive help Defining a Record Layout for Use in an Application 3 3 Explains how to define the type and size characteristics of your data in Repository so it can be used by the Synergy compiler Defining User Interface Characteristics 3 7 Explains how to define the visual and behavioral characteristics of your data in Repository so it can be used by S DE UI Toolkit including Composer Defining Files for ReportWriter 3 15 Explains how to define additional visual and relational characteristics in Repository so your data can be used by Synergy DE ReportWriter Defining a Database Schema for xfODBC 3 21 Tells where to find instructions for using Repository with xfODBC 3 1 Setting Up Your Repository What Is Reposito
12. and extension specific stored in the dbl als file Both are distributed in the workbench directory When they are modified for the first time they are copied to the SlickEdit configuration directory and the modifications are made to that version of the file Using directory aliases means you don t have to type in long path names when prompted for a filename or directory For more information about directory aliases refer to the online Help See Displaying online Help on page 2 21 Extension specific aliases are used for syntax and code expansion enabling you to generate entire sections of code automatically The remainder of this section describes how to use extension specific aliases Before you begin using aliases in Workbench follow the instructions in Taking advantage of syntax expansion on page 2 17 to turn on alias expansion Invoking an alias If the file you re editing has an extension associated with Synergy DE you can expand an alias as follows gt Type the alias into the Workbench editor and press the spacebar or Enter Each alias displays a Parameter Entry dialog box that prompts you for such information as routine name variable names and so forth see figure 2 12 for an example After you enter the requested information Workbench inserts the alias code into the current source code window substituting the names you specified in the appropriate places Parameter Entry x Application state method
13. current_due d12 2 over_30 a12 2 over_60 al2 2 over_90 al2 2 endgroup record pline Print line buffer peust a6 a2 pname a30 a2 pover90 al7 a2 pover60 al7 a2 pover30 al7 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 5 15 Programming in Synergy Language Advanced Features proc First allocate an array and read in the customer records nmalloc D_INITIAL_ALLOC Allocate for 10 records handle mem_proc DM_ALLOC nmalloc clear nmloaded None loaded yet open D_CUST_CHAN I I DAT customers Open customer file repeat begin if nmloaded ge nmalloc Need to increase array size begin nmalloc D_INCR_ALLOC Bump it by 5 handle mem_proc DM_RESIZ nmalloc handle end incr nmloaded Loading one now reads D_CUST_CHAN m customer nmloaded rec handle eof end eof close D_CUST_CHAN Close customer file decr nmloaded EOF on the last one Now do an in memory sort based on some complex criteria xcall qsort m customer rec handle nmloaded sort_by_past_due Now print them out in that order for ix from 1 thru nmloaded begin clear pline peust m customer ix number handle XXXXXX pname m customer ix name handle pover90 m customer ix over_90 handle D_FMT_MONEY pover60 m customer ix over_60 handle D_FMT_MONEY pover30 m customer ix over_30 handle D_FMT_MONEY call print end xreturn Because the allocation was not static this re
14. gt Click the Index tab to see a list of index entries Either type the word you re looking for or scroll through the list gt Click the Find tab to do a full text search of words or phrases that may be in a Help topic Composer also provides help that is specific to the currently selected or highlighted item To display context sensitive help for a Composer window dialog box property or object do one of the following gt Select the item and press F1 From a dialog box you can also click the Help button gt Point to the item with the arrow pointer click the right mouse button and select Context Help from the displayed context menu To display help for a menu command gt Pull down the menu highlight the command without selecting it and press F1 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 4 7 Designing Your User Interface Using Composer Using Composer While this manual is not a tutorial we believe that the quickest way to get you designing with Composer is for you to set up a sample user interface screen As an exercise you can use the same application for which you set up a repository in chapter 3 Setting Up Your Repository Here s the primary input window you re going to design Contact Folder Company Address City State Zip Mr Last H First C Mrs Phone Fax Modem Miss E mail CMs Notes C Licensed for SL C Licensed for PVCS Licensed for Tk Lic
15. interact with your programs you ll get a sense of what kinds of mistakes cause what classes of problems and identifying the source of problems will become easier See also The Debugging Your Synergy Programs chapter of Synergy Language Tools We highly recommend reading this chapter to become familiar with the different commands and capabilities of the debugger and for instructions on running the debugger remotely The debugger is a tool that will save you a lot of time if you use it correctly Saving and restoring debugger settings You can save the current break points watch points and option settings of the debugger so these settings can easily be restored the next time you run the debugger Use the SAVE file debugger command to save debugger settings to the specified file Use the file debugger command to restore the saved settings See the Debugging Your Synergy Programs chapter of Synergy Language Tools for details about these commands For information about saving and restoring the current debugger state to a file from Professional Series Workbench see Debugging a project on page 2 31 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 5 9 Programming in Synergy Language Debugging Your Program Debugging with bounds checking Bounds checking is a very powerful feature of the debugging capabilities in Synergy Language Running your application with bounds checking enabled will identify any situations in which
16. synergy ini file or using syn_set in the Open tab of the Project Properties dialog box see Setting environment variables in Workbench on page 2 6 and Customizing the way a project is opened on page 2 33 When you run the compiler and linker the object and dbr files are created with debugging information See SYN_DBG in the Environment Variables chapter of Environment Variables and System Options for more information If you have customized your Compile and Build commands in the Project Properties dialog AN box see Customizing and adding commands on page 2 34 and removed the text SYN_DBG you will not be able to compile and build in debug mode as described above You can also execute a user defined or default debug command by selecting Debug from the Build menu Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 31 Developing Your Application in Workbench Compiling Building Running and Debugging Saving the current debugger state 2 32 The Synergy debugger enables you to save the current debugger state to a file The debugger state includes break points watch points and option settings By specifying the name of this debugger state file as the initialization file for the debugger you can associate a set of debugger commands with a project and invoke those commands every time you restart the debugging session Use the debugger SAVE command to save the debugger settings to a file See the
17. which performs four operations gt Allocation gt Resizing gt Deallocation gt Registration Allocating memory Memory allocation is performed by specifying the DM_ALLOC value as the first argument to the MEM_PROC function and any decimal expression as the second argument The function value is assigned to the i4 variable defined as the handle for the memory segment The second argument is the number of bytes of memory that will be allocated For example handle1 mem_proc DM_ALLOC size cards 52 Using the structure definition from the previous example this code will allocate 312 bytes of memory 6 52 and return the pointer to the memory in the integer named handle1 The contents of the memory segment are undefined Resizing memory Existing memory segments can be expanded or collapsed by specifying the DM_RESIZ value as the first argument to the 7 MEM_PROC function a decimal expression representing the new size of the memory segment as the second argument either greater than the original or smaller than the original and the handle of the original memory segment as the third argument The return value will be the new handle of the memory segment Here s an example of expanding memory handlel mem_proc DM_RESIZ size cards 52 4 handlel Using the previous definitions this code will allocate 1248 bytes of memory and take the contents of the original 312 byte memory segment and copy it to the first 312 byte
18. you must define a tab set The example below creates a tab set The tab set ID is returned in contact_tab Each tab will be 8 rows by 71 columns No tab element can be larger than this contact_tab ts_tabset DTS_CREATE contact_tab 8 71 Step 2 Load the input windows Below we create three copies of the same input window one for each of the three tabs to be created To create a copy of an input window your call to I_LDINP must pass a window name in the eighth position the load routine loads a copy of the window and assigns it the name passed in position three Of course a tab set doesn t need to use the same window it can consist of a mixture of completely unrelated input windows and lists Next we call W_BRDR to create a title for the input window This is important because the identifying text that displays on the tab is actually the title of the associated input window Without a title on the associated input window your user will have no way of distinguishing one tab from another without selecting it for cntr from 1 thru 3 begin xcall i_ldinp contact_inp cntr g_utlib contact string cntr amp D_NOPLC contact xcall w_brdr contact_inp cntr WB_TITLE cont_grp 1 c_lname end Step 3 Populate the tab set With the elements in place we are ready to create a set of tabs Below is the same code we used to load the input windows with one addition To the loop we added a TS_TABSE
19. 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries Step 3 Load the windows and menu columns Just as we have done with all of our other Toolkit objects we need to load our window and our menu columns The routine used to load a display noninput window is U_LLDWND Notice in the example below that neither the window nor the columns are placed The window is placed when it is time to use it and the UI Toolkit text routine places and removes the columns automatically xcall u_ldwnd text_win g_utlib text D_NOPLC xcall m_ldcol view_col g_utlib textview D_NOPLC xcall m_ldcol edit_col g_utlib textedit D_NOPLC Step 4 Convert the window Once the window is loaded it must be converted into a text window T_SETUP establishes the controls for the display of the window and the default behavior for subsequent data that is loaded into the window Display characteristics such as margin settings paragraph treatment display color and renditions text wrapping and display size can all be set with T_SETUP For our example the window is placed as specified in the script file We use the T_ SETUP defaults and clear the window of any text that might have remained from the previous edit xcall e_enter u_window D_PLACE text_winid Place at default position xcall t_setup text_winid D_INIT Initialize the window Step 5 Add data to the text window To edit the text window we plac
20. 31 restoring debugger settings 5 9 saving debugger settings 5 9 decimal point omitting 3 11 DEFINE compiler directive 6 6 defining command buttons 6 20 display window 6 30 field 3 4 3 9 3 15 appearance 3 9 behavior 3 9 to 3 13 copying 3 6 file 3 19 input set 6 20 input window 6 17 key 3 16 list class 6 30 menu column 6 11 relation 3 18 selection windows 6 24 structure 3 3 text window 6 26 definition compile time 5 23 designing user interface 4 1 to 4 18 dialog box tabbed 6 39 to 6 41 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 display components managing 6 10 information 3 9 3 15 method 4 15 displaying data to user 6 20 input in a field 3 8 distributed application 1 8 designing 8 8 to 8 11 performance guidelines 8 11 user interface 8 2 DM_ALLOC value 5 13 DM_FREE value 5 14 DM_REG value 5 14 DM_RESIZ value 5 13 documentation using 1 9 to 1 10 drill method 3 13 4 15 drilldown 4 12 duplicate value for key 3 17 dynamic memory 5 12 to 5 17 selection window 6 25 E E_ENTER routine 6 8 E_EXIT routine 6 8 6 15 edit format method 4 15 editable text field 4 14 editing capabilities in your application 6 25 code 2 15 to 2 21 file 2 16 selecting editor 5 2 editor 2 15 to 2 21 ELB comparing to SMC 2 9 creating 5 7 extension 5 6 using in distributed application 8 10 elb filename extension 5 6 END script command 6 13 END statement 5 4 ENDFUNCTION statement 5 4 ENDMAIN statement 5 4 ENDMETHOD statement 5
21. 4 Index 3 ENDSUBROUTINE statement 5 4 ENTRY script command 6 13 entry reserved See reserved entry enumerated field 3 12 environment entering new 6 8 processing 6 8 environment variable benefits of using 5 18 resetting in Workbench 2 7 setting 2 5 2 6 5 19 using 5 18 error compilation 2 31 handling 6 5 in distributed application 8 9 8 10 event driven programming 6 6 executable file 5 6 xfServer 7 9 executable library creating 5 7 filename extension 5 6 restrictions 5 8 exiting Composer 4 18 environment 6 8 expanding attribute in Properties window 4 5 files or objects in Object Manager 4 6 list 6 31 extension adding to Workbench 2 36 F field appearance 3 9 behavior 3 9 to 3 13 changing order in structure 3 6 copying 3 6 data type 3 4 default action 3 11 defining 3 4 3 9 3 15 by copying 3 6 for Composer 3 7 to 3 13 for ReportWriter 3 15 to 3 21 in Repository 6 19 displaying 3 8 3 10 format 3 15 Index 4 input entry and display 3 10 justification 3 10 validation 3 11 method subroutines 3 12 moving 4 11 positioning 3 10 prompt 4 11 4 13 properties 4 13 setting up prior to input 6 45 size 3 4 4 13 See also input field text field FIELD script command 6 45 FIELD token 2 27 file 5 5 defining 3 19 editing 2 16 extension 2 36 moving between in editor 2 21 sharing 2 14 stack 6 33 footer UI Toolkit screen 6 5 format assigning 3 10 3 16 field input defining 3 8 global 3 8 structure speci
22. 7 9 UNIX 7 6 xfServerPlus 1 6 8 3 XSUBR routine 5 17 6 15 6 16 Index 12 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08
23. 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Using Composite Windows to Combine Windows and Lists Step 3 Placing the composite window To place a composite window place its container window Note however that when a container window is placed only child windows and lists that have been placed are displayed in the window Unplaced child windows and lists remain invisible Additionally when you place a child it remains invisible until its container window is placed For example the following call places the composite window whose container window has the window ID id_contain If a window or list was placed the window or list will be visible in the composite window xcall u_window D_PLACE id_contain 1 1 Note that there are a couple of ways to place child windows and lists One is to pass the row and col arguments in the DC_ADD call for the child as in the DC_ADD example above This instructs Toolkit to automatically place the child The other is to use the D_PLACE operation for U_WINDOW or to use L_PLACE after the window or list has been added to the container window Step 4 Processing the composite window To process a composite window call C_PROCESS This routine calls the method for the active child Toolkit includes default composite window processing methods but you can create your own methods and specify one in the DC_ADD call for a child The following is an example processing loop that tests for menu
24. Debugging Your Program No one writes perfect code at least not all of the time Because almost every program has a few bugs that need to be fixed a debugger is a valuable tool Built into Synergy Language is a powerful utility that enables you to interactively control program execution examine the data structures referenced by your program modify those data structures to contain whatever values you choose and validate memory references for correctness You can instruct the debugger to watch a variable and report when its value changes what the old value was and what the new value is You can identify a particular statement or multiple statements as a stopping place You can decide whether to step through routines or execute them in their entirety To run a program under the control of the Synergy debugger 1 Compile your program with the d option 2 Link your program with the d option 3 Run your program with the d option You can also run a program in debug mode directly from Professional Series Workbench by selecting Debug from the Project menu Much of debugging is common sense finding out where the program is going wrong and stopping the execution before the problem happens then stepping through the program one statement at a time looking at variables that affect the processing changing values to create conditions that are potential problems and trying to validate your program logic by tracing the program flow As you
25. Edition section of your Developing Distributed Synergy Applications manual for more information Client Workstation Browser Web Server Remote Synergy Server Web Server socket connection for transmission of function calls and results xfServerPlus standard ELB routine call Synergy routines in ELBs Method Definition Utility routine information provided here Synergy Method Catalog create update delete Figure 8 2 xfNetLink and xfServerPlus in a three tier configuration Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus What Are xfServerPlus and xfNetLink xfNetLink COM Edition xfNetLink COM enables a client to call Synergy routines residing on a remote server machine using a standard COM calling mechanism The user interface can be written in any language that supports COM such as Visual Basic or Active Server Pages ASP Because COM was developed by Microsoft xfNetLink COM is a Windows solution Note however that your Synergy routines can reside on any supported Synergy platform Starting with version 7 3 xfNetLink COM makes it easier to call Synergy logic from ASP by implementing COM component creation and structure support Using xfNetLink COM s component generation tools you can create a COM type library that references Synergy methods defined in the Synergy Method Catalog These tools can be accessed
26. Enter the desired information in each input field and then exit the dialog box or move to a different tab in the dialog box to define additional information Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Setting Up Your Repository Defining User Interface Characteristics Select whether Select whether the Select whether the Select whether to lowercase input is decimal point can be date and time will terminate the field converted to omitted when typing in default to the current after a specified period of time uppercase a numeric field system date and time Select BE Field Definition whether input is terminated automatically Field Definition Display Input Validation Method Name COMPANY when the field today Wait M Date short Wait time is filled D PE Noterm Time now A E Retain position Time ampm aome Ten cursor position ina Action None I Noecho text field is Automatic oecho character retained when the field is re entered Template overrides Date today M Wait Date short J Input len J Uppercase M Nodecina M Noterm Retain Time now Tine Select ampm whether a M Action default value is M Automatic Noecho character displayed ora default action occurs Noecho Select the Select whether input will be Enter how long default action prevented from being displayed to wait for input Figure 3 5 Definin
27. I_INPUT your input methods are a function of the field that activates them handled externally to the routine that called I_INPUT In the method you can determine the window and field that activated it and process accordingly This means you can write a single method for a given field to be called wherever that field is used You can even write a single method to perform all of your file look ups attach the method to any field on which you need to do a look up and in the method itself determine the data and file for the look up field cmpny a45 prompt Company pos 2 8 fpos 2 16 change_method lookup_lmeth Input methods are specified as FIELD options in a script or are registered with IB_FIELD The sample script definition above defines a change method for the company name field When the user completes input to this field the input processor calls the subroutine LOOKUP_LMETH a generic function we have created to validate input data When LOOKUP_LMETH returns to I_INPUT input processing resumes without returning to your input program In the example below the call to 1 INPUT passes arguments that are passed on to the change method Customer_ch tells the change method where to perform the look up empny is passed so the change method can disable this field if the find succeeds The change method returns success if the find succeeds or an error if the find fails xcall i_input customer_inp customer Customer_ch cm
28. JavaServer Page the web server executes the embedded program allowing the web page to interact with databases and other programs The portion of the data record that identifies the record and is used to access it A record that defines the correspondence between the function keys or other special keys on the user s keyboard and the functions they perform A file that contains the escape sequences for each defined terminal type A subroutine called to perform additional processing after an input field is processed A set of utilities that controls the installation and use of Synergy DE products The process that combines one or more routines into an executable program or library Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 list list class load method menu entry name method method information modularization name link object object library Object Manager OLB palette entry procedure division project Properties window property Glossary A collection of identically formatted items A nonvisual entity that defines the characteristics for an entire list A subroutine called by the list processor each time it needs a new item The internal name for a menu entry A program that you write and that UI Toolkit or ReportWriter calls when necessary Specifies any arrive leave drill or hyperlink method subroutine associated with a field A programming technique that requires code to
29. ReportWriter Once you define a file you can assign one or more structures to it thus specifying which structures can be used to access that file To define a file 1 From the Modify menu in Repository s main menu select Files 2 From the File Functions menu select Add File The File Definition input window is displayed See figure 3 11 Enter the name of the Enter a unique Select whether the file is ASCII ISAM actual database file name for your file relative or user defined The file type including the logical definition must match that of any structure you or physical path want to assign BE File Definition Do not select this box if you want this file to be Open filename baT contact ism available in ReportWriter Structure 8 structures assigned Record type Fixed z Temporary Page size j1 624 gt M Compress Key density I Static RFA Addressing 32 bit v Portable ints Cancel Help Assign Figure 3 11 Defining a file 3 Enter the desired information in each input field and then exit the input window 4 Assign a structure to this file by following the instructions in Assigning a structure to a file on page 3 20 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 3 19 Setting Up Your Repository Defining Files for ReportWriter Assigning a structure to a file 3 20 GO NY You must assign a structure to a file in order for the file to be able to use that structure You can only a
30. Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 3 7 Setting Up Your Repository Defining User Interface Characteristics Defining how input is redisplayed in a field _ gt N 5 6 7 3 8 When you define your fields display attributes you will have the option of selecting a predefined format to use when data is entered For example in our sample user interface we d probably want to assign a display format for the telephone number fields Phone Fax and Modem So to plan ahead you can define two types of formats gt Global gt Structure specific A global format can be used by a field definition in any structure A structure specific format is defined for a particular structure and can only be used by the fields in that structure To define a structure specific format Highlight the structure for which you want to define a format in the Structure Definitions list From the Structure Functions menu select Edit Attributes From the Attributes menu select Formats From the Format Functions menu select Add Format The Format Definition input window is displayed See figure 3 3 Enter a string of format 88 Format Definition ioj x PHONE Enter a unique name to identify Format nam characters to your format Format type specify how String XXX XXX XXXX the data should be Select whether lt Justification None the format is displayed alpha or numeric Select how a format is justified in a
31. The ideal approach to modularizing your system is to create a set of routines with defined interfaces formal argument lists and then group related routines into ELBs For example you might group your utility routines such as string handling and date calculations into one ELB your order entry application logic into another ELB and your order entry data access into yet another ELB These routines can be called by any application that can make use of them particularly if you do not maintain global or common data inside the ELBs With remote execution of ELBs you can position each ELB where the application that uses it is located See the Preparing Your Synergy Server Code chapter of the Developing Distributed Synergy Applications manual for more information on using ELBs and shared images with xfServerPlus Handling errors 8 10 Because a distributed computing system has multiple points of failure it is more complex to debug Therefore you should design your application with failure in mind For robust server side code gt trap for all possible errors on the server side gt test your logic locally before calling it remotely After you have modularized your Synergy code you can test it by using the test skeleton generator utility to generate test code from your SMC definitions It is much easier to debug your code and find problems at this point than it will be when you are calling it remotely For more information about the t
32. Toolkit and loads descriptive text into the header and the system date into the footer No other Toolkit routine can be called until U_START has been called As the chapter progresses more code will be added to this start up routine startup xcall date date xcall u_start cust_lib 1 1 Initialize xcall e_sect C US TOMER PROFILE amp D_HEADER D_CENTER Place text in header xcall e_sect date D_FOOTER D_LEFT Place text in footer return Letting Toolkit manage your files UI Toolkit needs to manage the files that are open on the system Not only does it open your window library it opens some files of its own as well Toolkit keeps track of all your files and closes them automatically when you no longer need them To take advantage of Toolkit s file management capabilities and to avoid conflicts with the files Toolkit opens you need to go through Toolkit to open and close your database files UI Toolkit s open routine is U_LOPEN U_OPEN opens your file on the next available channel and registers the file When you are done with the file you close it with the U_CLOSE subroutine U_CLOSE closes the file and deallocates it removes it from Toolkit memory Take a look at the sample code below Notice the similarity between U_OPEN and Synergy Language s OPEN statement See the Synergy Language Statements chapter of your Synergy Language Reference Manual The first argument is the channel but in
33. Workbench Generating Synergy Code Segments Code segment Alias Window button method synmwbutton Window click event method synmwclick Window close event method synmwclose Window generic event method synmwevent Window maximize event method synmwmax Window minimize event method synmwmin Window move event method synmwmove Window restore event method synmwrest Window scroll event method synmwscroll Window resize event method synmwsize Synergy function synfunc Synergy subroutine synsub Input processing loop syninp List processing loop synlist Tabset processing loop syntab Customizing an alias To modify either the code that is generated when you expand an alias or the parameters you are prompted for 1 From the Tools menu select Options gt File Extension Setup and select dbl in the Extension field 2 From the General tab click the Aliases button The Alias Editor dialog box is displayed See figure 2 13 3 Edit as many aliases as you want to and then exit the dialog box You can also use this dialog box to view which aliases are available 2 24 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 alias you want to modify Click to define a new alias Shows the parameters you will be prompted for when you expand the selected alias Click to add a new parameter Alias Editor C Documents and Settings My Documents My SlickEdit EJ Type or select m the name of he p s
34. an error In terms of convenience environment variables enable you to reference different file locations without having to change your source code which brings with it the associated overhead of recompiling and relinking your code In addition to the time lost there is always the possibility that you may have made a typographical error executed an erroneous compile or link command or forgotten to include a required file Using environment variables enables you to adjust where the database files are located and then execute your program with the same program referring to a different set of data Three cases for environment variables One of the most powerful uses of this tool is that you can code your application to point to a data set that is referenced by an external environment variable and test your application against a test data base When you re done testing you simply reset the environment variable the application now points to the real data without the need for you to touch the application in any way Another great feature of this paradigm is that your application may be installed at multiple customer sites Instead of having to go into each program module that contains a file specification and customize the file references to the individual site you can just use a set of environment variables in your application and set them at each customer site Not only do you have a faster and more standard installation procedure but you also
35. are boldface The data type in parentheses at the end of an argument description for example n documents how the argument will be treated within the routine Ana represents alpha a d represents decimal or implied decimal an i represents integer and an n represents numeric which means the type can be d or i WIN Items or discussions that pertain only to a specific operating system or environment are called out with the name of the operating system Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 ix Preface To enter data means to type it or highlight it in the case of a selection window entry and then press ENTER ENTER refers to either the ENTER key or the RETURN key depending on your keyboard When you are instructed to select an entry from the menu either press the shortcut for that entry or pull down the appropriate menu highlight the entry and press ENTER To Exit the window on Windows click the OK button or press the Exit shortcut On UNIX and OpenVMS press the Exit shortcut or press ENTER from the last field and then ENTER again from the Make changes or press RETURN to complete input message Other useful publications v v v v v v v v v Repository User s Guide Synergy Language Reference Manual Synergy Language Tools Environment Variables and System Options UI Toolkit Reference Manual Installation Configuration Guide Developing Distributed Synergy Applications Using xfNe
36. be to allow entry of comments on a purchase order special instructions on a delivery order or justification on a General Ledger entry Some applications address the problem by calling a system utility to perform the editing But what happens when you move to another platform and that utility is not available Or you upgrade your system and the utility you previously used is not yet available on the new version Your application doesn t work or its capabilities are severely diminished To address this problem and to give your application true platform independence UI Toolkit provides text editing capabilities Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 25 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries 6 26 Step 1 Define the functions UI Toolkit enables you to edit or simply view text Both capabilities are handled via text windows and reserved menu entries Edit functions are activated by the E_ reserved entries and the text view functions scrolling by the T_ reserved entries Each set of entries should reside in its own column with a unique shortcut key assigned to each entry This script shows typical edit and view columns column textedit Edit text entry e_left Move left Key left entry e_right Move right Key right entry e_emov End of line Key end entry e_bmov Beginning of line Key home entry e_xup Move up Key up entry e_xd
37. code to process this script could be as simple as the following xcall m_process if g_select Menu selection case g_entnam of begincase Q_ EXIT exitloop Q_ ABOUT xcall u_about TITLE VERSION tdatecompiled LF Sess xcall x_subr g_entnam S_ endcase Adding a new routine would not require changing this code at all For instance an application could have matched sets of window libraries and executable libraries distributed as pairs that would work with the same executable image but provide very different capabilities If the application went one step further and built the menu columns on the fly simply updating a database file and the executable library would allow calls to the new routines Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 5 17 Programming in Synergy Language Programming Tips Programming Tips Referencing data indirectly Environment variables or logicals give your application tremendous power to reference data in an indirect manner You should use environment variables to simplify your coding and standardize the way you address the location of the files that are opened by your application In most cases environment variables are a convenience but in some cases they are a necessity For instance there is a 31 character restriction on the file specification for the executable library that is passed to the Synergy linker If your full path exceeds this limitation your link command will return
38. converting dates 5 21 to 5 23 window to text window 6 27 copying field 3 6 object 4 5 creating input field Composer 4 13 UI Toolkit 6 16 to 6 20 input window 4 12 Composer 4 8 UI Toolkit 6 16 to 6 24 list 6 33 load method 6 31 menu column 6 11 to 6 16 object 4 8 script file 6 11 selection window 6 24 to 6 25 tab set 6 39 tabbed dialog 6 39 to 6 41 text field 4 14 text window 6 25 to 6 29 window library 6 11 cross referencing data between files 3 18 CURSOR token 2 27 cursor retaining position in text field 3 11 customizing commands in Workbench 2 34 to 2 36 Workbench 2 33 to 2 40 D data comparing 5 20 cross referencing between files 3 18 displaying to user 6 20 field defining 3 3 to 3 6 referencing indirectly 5 18 sharing 7 4 structure defining 6 28 unloading 6 29 data access separating from logic 8 9 data division 5 3 5 4 data type integer 5 23 specifying 3 4 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 date converting 5 21 5 22 defaulting to current 3 11 performing mathematical operations on 5 21 DATE routine 5 21 5 22 day of the week returning 5 21 5 22 DBG_INIT environment variable 2 32 dbl filename extension 5 5 dbl als file 2 22 dbo filename extension 5 5 5 6 dbr filename extension 5 6 dbs 8 3 deallocating file from memory 6 5 memory 5 14 debugger saving settings 2 31 debugging 5 9 to 5 11 bounds checking enabled 5 10 customizing commands for 2 34 to 2 36 project in Workbench 2 13 2
39. correct data record with all fields entered and verified for accuracy All that remains for you is to process that complete record Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 3 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Starting UI Toolkit Starting UI Toolkit To use UI Toolkit your program must call U_START the Toolkit s start up routine U_LSTART initializes the Toolkit s memory opens the terminal opens the window library where window definitions are contained and establishes the parameters of the Toolkit screen Other options set the size of the display regions establish upper and lower bounds for Toolkit channel allocation and set the maximum number of levels for environment processing The Toolkit screen The Toolkit screen consists of five sections The default parameters for a terminal screen are 80 characters by 24 lines Header CUSTOMER PROFILE oy x Menu bar General Main Company OOO Adaress city Statef zi Body CMr Last First C Mrs Phone Fox Modem C Miss E mail CMs Notes T Licensed for SL Licensed for PVCS D Licensed for Tk M Licensed for ODBC C Licensed for RPS M Licensed for DTE Information line Footer Figure 6 1 A sample UI Toolkit screen The five screen sections are gt Header On UNIX and OpenVMS the screen header can be zero to four lines On Windows platforms it should be set to one line and becom
40. field or in other words how it will be truncated if truncation is necessary Figure 3 3 Defining a format Enter the desired information in each input field and then exit the input window Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each additional format you want to define From the General menu select Exit Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Setting Up Your Repository Defining User Interface Characteristics If you want your format to be global instead of structure specific simply define it by selecting Formats from the Modify menu in Repository s main menu Steps 4 through 7 are the same regardless of the type of format you defined Defining fields The next step in creating a user interface is to define the required input fields In our example we re going to use the same fields we defined on page 3 4 1 With your structure highlighted select Edit Attributes from the Structure Functions menu If the Attributes menu is already present on your menu bar go directly to step 2 2 From the Attributes menu select Fields 3 To view or edit the definition for an existing field highlight that field and press ENTER 4 Make sure the Excluded from Toolkit field is not checked for any of the fields you will need to be able to access the fields you define later Defining field attributes Because we are designing a user interface we need to define the appearance of each field on the screen as well as the field s behavior
41. for example OK Help or Cancel An expression that can be completely evaluated at compile time A statement that instructs the Synergy compiler and is evaluated only when a program is compiled The process of translating source files containing Synergy Language statements into object files containing system level information One or more related methods grouped together as a named entity The next input field to process OR whatever object your mouse pointer is over when you click to access the context menu in Composer What is it and What can I do with it information about the current context For example if the cursor is in an input field context sensitive help would provide information about what to enter in that field The Composer window that contains Composer s menu bar and toolbars A file that contains name link associations which ReportWriter uses to provide access to related files and data structures The part of a Synergy Language program in which you define the data structures that will be used in the program A subroutine called whenever the associated field is about to be displayed by Toolkit Software whose tasks are split i e distributed between client and server machines Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 drill method dynamic memory edit format method ELB environment environment variable escape sequence executable library file stack font forma
42. for input whether it is absolute or relative independent of its prompt Enter a help BE Field Definition identifier to pass to ahelp corz subroutine Field pos None v Row BE Col EE Prompt 1p Enter aise nter the name of the contact s company to display on User text ERRE E the Report hdg Display len information line Alt name View len Format na nput just Left J Paint field Blank if zerof Read only f Disabled Enter the v J Renditions name of a predefined format if you want to apply a display format to this o f Disp len J Paint fieldf Disabled Font field see er Alt name just f Blank if 6 Wiew as Pfont page 3 8 1 Select how the input will Enter the names of the Select rete a Select whether the be justified in fonts in which to display specified character field is displayed as the field the contents of this field should paint the field an input field set of and its prompt if you to indicate where the radio buttons or don t want the defaults user types input check box Figure 3 4 Defining display information Specifying how input will be entered and displayed To specify how input will be entered and displayed do the following from the Field Definition input window On Windows click the Input tab or press CTRL TAB until the Input tab is displayed On UNIX or OpenVMS press TAB until the Input tab is displayed See figure 3 5
43. have a single set of sources for multiple installations A third reason to use environment variables is that on different operating systems the file specifications are formatted differently Consider the following actual file specifications that reference a Synergy ISAM file that must be opened in an application on three different platforms System File specification Windows c myapp finance gen_ledg ism UNIX usr apps myapp finance gen_ledg ism OpenVMS user disk1 myapp finance gen_ledg ism 20 5 18 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Programming in Synergy Language Programming Tips You could take advantage of environment variables by coding the OPEN statement to refer to this file on all systems in a generic manner Your application would address this file with a statement like the following open chan_no I 1I FINAPP gen_ledg By simply setting an environment variable named FINAPP on each system your application would open the correct file regardless of the difference in format for each system Note also that we have taken advantage of the default file extension capabilities and have not specified an extension for the file Setting environment variables How environment variables are set is system dependent as each operating system requires a somewhat different syntax but the basic concept is the same On each system we tell the operating system the name we are going to use as the environme
44. help window to be displayed when the UI Toolkit help routine can t find the specified help window or when no help window was specified This window should contain a generic message that is appropriate across the entire application If Toolkit cannot find h_general it displays an error message Your application will have a more professional look if h_general is defined Below is an example of a general help window Although it is defined to have 10 rows the TRIM 1 command removes the empty lines at the bottom leaving one blank line after the text window h_general 10 40 placement 10 20 text WndTxt2 position 1 1 There is no help available for this function trim 1 end Two typical help windows are shown below window h_lname 10 40 placement 10 20 text WndTxt3 position 1 1 This field contains the contact s last name The last name is used to identify the record and therefore cannot be left blank team end window h_tk 10 40 placement 10 20 text WndTxt4 position 1 1 Check the Tk box if this customer is licensed for UI Toolkit trim 1 end Notice that all of the help windows are defined as being 10 rows by 40 columns and are placed at location 10 20 in the display region Using the TRIM command eliminates the need for you to determine how the text fits in the window And if you ever modify the text in the window the resizing will take place automatically when the script file is processe
45. here Otherwise follow the instructions on page 3 8 to define a display format Defining a key to your record 3 16 A key is the portion of the data record that identifies the record and is used to access it For example if you define a company name field as a key with no duplicates a record can be uniquely identified based on the company name The keys you define in Repository also determine what relationships you can set up between database files which in turn determine what additional information ReportWriter can access outside of a particular file Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Setting Up Your Repository Defining Files for ReportWriter The first key you define or the first key in the list is the primary key A primary key must be an access key To define a key _ Highlight the structure you want to define a key for in the Structure Definitions list From the Structure Functions menu select Edit Attributes From the Attributes menu select Keys gt From the Key Functions menu select Add Key The Key Definition input window is displayed See figure 3 9 Enter a unique Select whether the key Select the order Select whether name for the key is a true key in the in which the key this key can have database file Access field data is a null value or not Foreign returned Select whether duplicate values for this key are BE Key Definition allowed in more Key name than one r
46. in Synergy Language Advanced Features Accessing memory Once memory has been allocated we use the M data reference operation to address the memory locations In effect a memory segment can be considered to be a dynamic array that can be addressed in the same manner as a multidimensioned group The following example uses the 7 MEM_PROC dynamic memory function to allocate a dynamically sized array which will be resized as needed The routine reads the records from a customer file into memory and then sorts the records in memory and prints them out in sorted order This example presumes that the developer can supply the local routine print and the QSORT sort routine sort_by_past_due Refer to QSORT in the System Supplied Subroutines and Functions chapter of the Synergy Language Reference Manual for more information Note that this routine does no error trapping so it presumes that the customer records will all fit into available memory align define D_INITIAL_ALLOC 10 Initially allocate for 10 records max define D_INCR_ALLOC 5 If we need to resize go up by 5 define D_CUST_CHAN 12 Customer channel number define D_FMT_MONEY 1 Z 444 42224 22X XX record handle 14 Handle to dynamic memory nmalloc 14 Number of records allocated nmloaded i4 Number of records actually loaded ix 14 A scratch index structure customer Customer record structure group rec a number d6 name a30 address 3 a30
47. in a dialog box A set of toolbar buttons that is accessed by clicking on the tab that extends above the top of the toolbar OR a group of tabs that are placed simultaneously in an organized stack in a dialog box A dialog box that is organized into more than one screen of fields prompts and buttons Each screen is accessed by clicking the tab at the top of the screen A database that stores the information displayed for a routine when the user requests function help In Workbench a method of expanding syntax automatically by generating predefined code into the editor In Repository a set of field characteristics that can be assigned to one or more field definitions or templates A special window that contains variable length editable text A keyword that represents and is replaced with a specific name A file that describes interfaces methods and properties exposed by objects which allows developers to use these interfaces Type libraries are part of Microsoft s implementation of COM Glossary 7 Glossary user overloadable subroutine A subroutine that you write and register so that UI Toolkit calls it automatically at the appropriate time If you do not register your routine Toolkit will use its default implementation validation information Defines what input is considered valid volatile handle A dynamic memory handle that goes away along with the routine activation level window library An ISAM file with a specif
48. interface logic processes Error messages are an often overlooked part of the user interface Your routines should return a success or failure status and the user interface code should handle the actual generation of the error message on the screen See Handling errors on page 8 10 for additional ideas on error handling Separating data access from application logic Separating the database from the application logic involves writing routines to handle all file I O This is probably the most commonly modularized area in existing applications because it hides the details of file organization data access and so on from the user of the routine Since file structures change frequently the benefits of writing routines to handle file I O have been obvious for a long time Again be sure to check carefully for error messages data validations or other functionality that belongs in other layers of the distributed client server system or web application model Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 8 9 Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus Design Considerations Using ELBs or shared images Executable libraries ELBs and shared images on OpenVMS provide a means of storing related routines in a common library that can be called by multiple Synergy programs When you build a distributed system with xfServerPlus and xfNetLink your Synergy routines must be contained in an ELB or shared image and placed on the xfServerPlus machine
49. justifying 3 10 method subroutines 3 12 processing 6 21 to 6 24 saving 6 28 validating 3 11 6 16 6 45 input field creating Composer 4 13 UI Toolkit 6 16 to 6 20 data type 3 4 defining 3 4 3 9 3 15 in Repository 6 19 hyperlink prompt 4 13 moving Composer 4 11 within and between 6 17 prompt 4 11 4 13 properties 4 13 size 3 4 4 13 input set defining 6 20 input window adding command button 4 11 field from repository 4 9 line 4 11 creating Composer 4 8 UI Toolkit 6 16 to 6 24 defining 6 17 initializing 6 22 loading 6 20 navigating 6 17 integer data 5 23 interface designing 4 1 to 4 18 intrinsic function See function ISAM See Synergy DBMS Index 5 J JAR file 8 4 Java calling Synergy routines from 8 4 to 8 5 creating a component project 2 11 JAR file 8 4 JavaServer Pages 8 5 JPERIOD routine 5 21 JSP See JavaServer Pages justifying data in report 3 16 input in field 3 10 K key defining 3 16 duplicates 3 17 null value 3 17 relation 3 18 segment type 3 17 keyword completion 2 17 L L_CREATE routine 6 31 6 33 L_METHOD routine 6 32 L_PROCESS routine 6 31 L_SELECT routine 6 31 6 33 Language See Synergy Language leave method 3 13 4 15 in distributed application 8 9 receiving arguments 6 46 using 6 45 to 6 47 library executable 5 6 5 7 5 8 object 5 5 5 6 5 8 storing routines 8 10 window 6 10 6 11 line adding to input window 4 11 terminator 7 6 linking program 5 5 5 6 5 7 customizi
50. open already Select the connection you want to close in the Profiles field Click Close Customizing your FTP sessions You can optimize each session s protocols for the connecting remote host by customizing your FTP sessions in the FTP Options dialog box From this dialog you can do the following 2 44 gt gt Specify a default password for anonymous log ins Set default case sensitivity for the filenames you bring into Workbench from a UNIX system so you can later upload those filenames back to the original system Specify whether you ll be prompted to upload each time code is saved in the Workbench editor or that code should not be uploaded at all when it is saved Specify how long Workbench will wait for a reply from the FTP server Set up firewall and proxy specifications if you are creating FTP sessions on secured networks Set up a session log to be created for all FTP sessions Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Using Workbench for Non Windows Development To customize your FTP sessions 1 If you re in the FTP Profile Manager dialog box click Default Options Otherwise from the File menu select FTP gt Default Options The FTP Options dialog box is displayed 2 Enter the desired information in each field of the appropriate tabs and click OK when you re finished Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 45 3 Setting Up Your Repository
51. the displayed syntax will say 1 of n where n is the total number of definitions You can cycle through the definitions by pressing ALT comma ALT or clicking on the gray and black arrow buttons in the displayed routine help You can also press ALT comma with the cursor anywhere in the routine name or syntax to display routine help in the first place As you type each argument in the editor it is boldfaced in the argument list so you can easily keep your place Optional arguments are displayed in square brackets See figure 2 9 error 7i4 2 Foe U_OPEN find flg i4 Returned by lookup leave method m proc call startcus Initialize call process 7 Run application clear done_flg find _ flg xcall tb_toolbar TB_REMOVE tb_id xreturn process do begin xcall i_input void i_input window id set_name data_area input_column select_column text_column no_termination decimal value reserved a_methoddatal a_methoddata20 sty then 7 Menu processing eror Ibr g_entnam Entry name matches subroutine name E find_flg Tae E process x Figure 2 9 Displaying context sensitive help This procedure works not only for Synergy Language and UI Toolkit routines but also for your own routines Depending on how your project is set up you may first need to set up a dbl specific tag file that references those routines Refer to Setting up a dbl specific tag file
52. the Properties window to a value greater than 1 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Designing Your User Interface Using Composer Specifying information line text You can display instructions or other text on the information line of your application screen when the user moves the cursor to a field For instance in our Personal Info example you might want to display the text Select the marital status of this contact for the first selection list field To specify information line text for a field 1 Select the input field in the Application window 2 Inthe Properties window set the Information line property to the text you want to display when this field is active Specifying methods You can specify routines to be called in the following situations To specify a routine to be called Use this method Before an input field is processed Arrive After an input field is processed Leave When the field contents are being edited Edit format When the field s contents have been validated Change Before the field s contents are displayed Display When the user clicks on the field s prompt Hyperlink When the user clicks the field s drilldown button Drill These method routines enable you to perform additional processing such as validating or formatting the input If you don t specify these subroutines no special action is taken To specify method routines 1 Double click the Me
53. the item selected by checking the data area passed to L_SELECT as the third argument It is essential that you pass to L_SELECT the same data area specified in the third argument to L_CREATE If you don t there is no way to determine which item was selected See also The List Routines chapter in your UI Toolkit Reference Manual List processing is truly the most powerful display tool in UI Toolkit The example here demonstrates only the most basic aspects The possibilities for managing the display of data from doing input directly into an existing list to advanced search capabilities are extensive 6 34 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Implementing Online Help Implementing Online Help Toolkit has routines that support three types of online help native Toolkit help HTML Help chm and WinHelp which is now obsolete Native Toolkit help is the default mechanism for displaying context sensitive help It uses Toolkit windows to display autonomous help topics as opposed to a help system To implement native Toolkit help you ll associate help windows with fields and or some routines and you ll use the O_HELP menu entry to activate help See Implementing native Toolkit help below With HTML Help and WinHelp on the other hand your help system can include a table of contents index and search as well as different types of windows Once the help system is o
54. the library and rebuild it from scratch To facilitate the process of rebuilding an executable library you might want to keep an AN object library from which you can regenerate your executable library The Synergy librarian provides the necessary tools for managing individual object files in an object library VMS Executable libraries are not implemented on OpenVMS systems On those systems the functionality has been implemented as OpenVMS shared images Running your program Now you ve come to the easiest part actually running your program This is the final step in program development If you ve done your job completely you will have a working program If not you will have to figure out where changes need to be made change the source code and then recompile relink and retest your program By default the Synergy runtime expects your programs to have the extension dbr If your programs follow this convention you will not have to specify a filename extension in your runtime commands For instructions on running your program refer to the Building and Running Synergy Language Programs chapter in Synergy Language Tools You can also run your program directly from Professional Series Workbench by doing the following 1 Make sure the file you want to run is open 2 From the Project menu select Execute 5 8 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Programming in Synergy Language Debugging Your Program
55. the script file If any qualifiers conflict the one in the script file takes precedence You can also turn off repository qualifiers in the script file input customer 14 71 placement 3 5 title Customer Folder color 3 line WndLinl 65 pos 5 4 line WndLin2 65 pos 10 4 line WndLin3 65 pos 14 4 repository_structure CUSTOMER field cmpny field address field city field state field zip field salutation field Iname required field fname required field phone field fax field modem field email field notes field type field status field sl field tk field rps field pvcs field odbc field dte button I_OK text OK button O_ABANDON text Cancel button O_HELP text Help button_set bottom 3 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 19 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries 6 20 set customer CUSTOMER cmpny address city state zip salutation iname fname phone fax modem email notes type status sl tk rps pvcs odbc dte set nokey CUSTOMER address city state zip salutation lname fname phone fax modem email notes type status sl tk rps pvcs odbc dte end Note that both input window definition methods have some things in common Anything that does not pertain to a field definition is specified entirely in the script file A default screen position is s
56. up FTP links between Windows and remote platforms you must do the following 1 Define your connection if it is not defined already 2 Start a connection 3 Open the file you want to edit and make your changes 4 Transfer the file between your local machine and an FTP host 5 Close the connection Basic instructions follow in the sections below For additional information refer to the SlickEdit User s Manual Defining a connection 1 From the File menu select FTP gt Profile Manager The FTP Profile Manager dialog box is displayed 2 If you want to set up any firewall proxy settings log file options or any other default settings see Customizing your FTP sessions on page 2 44 3 Click Add The Add FTP Profile dialog box is displayed See figure 2 20 and figure 2 21 4 Enter the desired information in each field and click OK when you re finished You can define as many sessions with full specifications as required You can also create more than one session to the same host with each accessing a different remote directory with source files In addition you can specify the full path to the local work directory into which you want to download the code for each session Starting a connection 1 Inthe FTP Profile Manager dialog box select the connection you want to establish 2 Click Connect 2 42 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Using Workbench for N
57. user The TCP IP Protocol xfServer uses a fixed port TCP IP implementation xfServer clients and servers include an option to override the port number used to connect to xfServer This override enables users to resolve port conflicts and run multiple servers on a single host 7 8 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Accessing Data Remotely with xfServer What Is xfServer Basic requirements To set up your xfServer system you ll need the following Network hardware network cards cables and connectors Network software TCP IP for all client and server hosts Your Synergy application gt gt gt gt Synergy Language with client support version 6 1 or higher for your client machine gt xfServer for your server system gt Log ins and home directories for each client on the server system Basic xfServer model The basic xfServer system consists of a Windows and or UNIX client connected by a TCP IP based network to a Windows UNIX or OpenVMS server system About the client and server components Synergy Language Client The client portion of xfServer is incorporated into the runtime of Synergy Language version 6 1 and higher for Windows and UNIX systems Refer to the REL_SRV TXT file included with your Professional Series distribution for any version requirements xfServer xfServer is a background process that resides on any Windows UNIX or OpenVMS computer you select to be a server Once started
58. v Depending on what type of project is open additional utilities may be available from the Build menu To run the Synergy Prototype utility dblproto which generates prototypes for the source code in a Synergy DE project select Build gt Generate Synergy Prototypes Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 9 Developing Your Application in Workbench Setting Up Your Development Environment Setting Up Your Development Environment Creating a workspace We suggest that you group related projects together by creating a workspace Tagging at the workspace level enables you to have context menu help for routines and classes across projects The data for each workspace is stored in a text file that has the extension vpw 1 From either the File or Project menu select New and then click the Workspaces tab The Workspaces tab of the New dialog box is displayed See figure 2 4 File Project Workspaces Type the name of the workspace you want to create Blank Workspace Workspace name Customer Location J C MyFiles Customer a Type or select the directory in which you want to place the workspace Cancel Help Figure 2 4 Creating a workspace 2 Enter the desired information in each input field and then exit the dialog box You can also create a workspace when you create a project See Creating a project on page 2 11 Opening or closing a workspace To open a workspace 1 From the Pr
59. which application the object is in As a result not only are the data definitions consistent from one application to another but the user interface is consistent as well In addition many changes required to localize or customize an application can be accomplished by making changes in the repository which enables you to customize your user interface more quickly with less chance of error When you define fields for use in Composer you ll want to define not only the fields themselves but also the fields attributes and formats Then once you ve added the fields to an input window in Composer you can modify the fields and add features in the interface designer s visual WYSIWYG environment Here s what the primary input window in our example application is going to look like Contact Folder Company Address City State Zip C Mr Last l a First C Mrs Phone l Faz Modem Miss E mail C Ms Notes l Licensed for SL Licensed for PVCS C Licensed for Tk D Licensed for ODBC C Licensed for RPS Licensed for DTE OK Cancel Help Defining a structure Just like when you defined data fields for use by the Synergy compiler the first step is defining a structure as described on page 3 3 Instead of defining another new structure here you can use the structure you created on page 3 3 for our example user interface gt From the Modify menu select Structures Getting Started with
60. window and associate it with each of those fields Thus you maintain the list of choices in only one place and by changing just that window every field that uses the window is changed Step 1 Defining selection windows Selection windows are quite simple to create and maintain You can use Composer or a text editor to create selection windows Composer uses its own text editor to create selection windows The following sample code defines two selection windows select yes_no placement 2 2 border on color 1 item Yes item no end select marital_stat 2 placement 2 2 border on color 1 item Married item Divorced item Widowed item Single end Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries The first selection window is a generic window for yes or no answers The choices are displayed vertically In most applications you would also create a no_yes selection window with the items reversed This is because the default choice is the first one listed assigning the appropriate selection window to your fields with the selwnd FIELD qualifier makes your application more user friendly The second window is a marital status list It has four entries The 2 on the SELECT command is the number of rows to display the entries in this column are split into two two row columns Step 2 Processing selection
61. within the structure To move a field definition Highlight the field you want to move in the Field Definitions list From the Field Functions menu select Reorder Fields The highlighted field is now enclosed in square brackets indicating that it can be moved Use the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys to move the bracketed field to another position in the list Select Reorder Fields again to get out of move mode Saving your structure 3 6 When you attempt to exit the structure you re working on Repository prompts you to save your changes To save your structure when exiting From the General menu select Exit as many times as necessary For example from the Field Definitions window you ll need to select Exit twice Select Yes when prompted to save your changes You can either define another structure in the Structure Definitions list or you can select Exit again to return to Repository s main menu Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Setting Up Your Repository Defining User Interface Characteristics Defining User Interface Characteristics The data fields you define in Repository can be read into Composer as predefined input fields Such centrally defined defaults simplify the process of supporting an application when you modify a repository definition and rebuild the applications that use that repository that change is inherited by every object that refers to the original definition regardless of
62. your program can call them and associating all program information with the required system resources for your system The output from the linker is an executable program a complete self contained group of instructions capable of being executed by the runtime By default the Synergy linker expects your object files to have the extension dbo If your programs follow this convention you will not have to specify a filename extension in your linker commands The linker creates output files with the following extensions Extension File type dbr Executable file map Map file elb Executable library If any of your object files have been changed you must recompile them before relinking your application for the changes to take effect You do not need to recompile object files that have not been changed When you relink your application your changes will be incorporated into the new executable program Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Programming in Synergy Language Compiling Linking and Running Your Program For instructions on linking your program refer to the Building and Running Synergy Language Programs chapter in Synergy Language Tools You can also link your program directly from Professional Series Workbench by doing the following 1 Make sure the file you want to link is open 2 From the Project menu select Build If the file was not previously compiled selecting Build will compi
63. 0 USA http www synergex com phone 916 635 7300 fax 916 635 6549 Contents Preface About this manual ix Manual conventions ix Other useful publications x Product support information x Synergex Professional Services Group xi Comments and suggestions xi 1 What Is Synergy DE What Is Synergy DE 1 2 An underlying philosophy 1 2 Advantages of Synergy DE 1 2 Elements of Synergy DE 1 4 Professional Series 1 4 Connectivity Series 1 6 xfSeries 1 6 Developing an Application 1 7 Developing a distributed application 1 8 Using the Documentation 1 9 Getting Started with Synergy DE 1 9 Online Help 1 9 Synergy DE reference manuals and users guides 1 9 Other documents 1 10 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 iii Contents 2 Developing Your Application in Workbench What Is Professional Series Workbench 2 3 Where Do You Begin 2 4 Starting Workbench 2 4 Defining the startup environment 2 5 Running Workbench on a Terminal Services machine or in a shared configuration 2 7 Accessing Synergy DE Tools 2 8 Setting Up Your Development Environment 2 10 Creating a workspace 2 10 Creating a project 2 11 Editing Synergy Code with the Workbench Editor 2 15 Setting up automatic code formatting and completion 2 15 Editing a file 2 16 Working with tag files 2 19 Moving between files in your project 2 21 Displaying online Help 2 21 Generating Synergy Code Segments 2 22 Using aliases 2 22 Using code templates 2 26 Analy
64. 4 2 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 text 6 27 editing capabilities 6 25 editor selecting 5 2 text field creating 4 14 retaining cursor position 3 11 text window adding data to 6 27 converting 6 27 creating 6 25 to 6 29 defining 6 26 data structure 6 28 extracting input from 6 28 loading 6 27 setting up 6 27 unloading data from 6 29 viewing contents of 6 28 time defaulting to current 3 11 tip programming 5 18 to 5 24 title window 4 9 6 4 tklib elb file 6 3 Toolkit See UI Toolkit tools def file 6 6 tpl file extension 2 26 TS_PROCESS routine 6 40 TS_TABSET routine 6 39 Type Library Configuration utility See Synergy Type Library Configuration utility U U_CLOSE routine 6 5 6 6 YU_HTMLHELP routine 6 35 U_LDWND routine 6 27 U_OPEN routine 6 5 U_POPUP routine 6 20 U_START routine 6 4 U_WINHELP routine 6 35 UI Toolkit 1 4 6 1 to 6 47 defined 6 3 reserved menu entries 6 12 screen 6 4 starting 6 4 6 5 uncompiled object or script 4 6 unloading data from text window 6 29 uppercasing input 3 11 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 user interface defining fields in Repository 3 7 to 3 13 designing 4 1 to 4 18 distributed application 8 2 Active Server Pages 8 6 Active Server Pages NET 8 7 Java application 8 4 JavaServer Pages 8 5 Synergy 8 3 Visual Basic 8 6 Visual Basic NET 8 7 separating from logic 8 9 USING statement CASE vs 5 23 processing menu column 6 16 V validating in
65. 6 19 help h_lname drill_method contact_drill hyperlink_method hyperlink field fname al6 prompt First pos 6 41 fpos 6 47 hyperlink_method hyperlink field phone d10 prompt Phone pos 7 11 fpos 7 19 hyperlink_method hyperlink format XXX XXX XXXX field fax d10 prompt Fax pos 7 33 fpos 7 37 hyperlink_method hyperlink format XXX XXX XXXX field modem d10 prompt Modem pos 7 51 fpos 7 57 hyperlink_method hyperlink format XXX XXX XXXX field email a47 prompt E mail pos 8 11 fpos 8 19 hyperlink_method hyperlink field notes a47 prompt Notes pos 9 11 fpos 9 19 hyperlink_method hyperlink field type al0 fpos 11 4 hyperlink_method hyperlink field status al0 fpos 13 4 hyperlink_method hyperlink field sl dl prompt Licensed for SL fpos 11 22 checkbox field tk dl prompt Licensed for Tk fpos 12 22 checkbox field rps dl prompt Licensed for RPS fpos 13 22 checkbox field pvcs dl prompt Licensed for PVCS fpos 11 42 checkbox field odbc d1 prompt Licensed for ODBC fpos 12 42 checkbox field dte dl prompt Licensed for DTE fpos 13 42 checkbox button I_OK text OK button O_ABANDON text Cancel button O_HELP text Help button_set bottom 3 set customer CUSTOMER cmpny address city state zip salutati
66. Defining a relation between two structures 3 18 Defining a file 3 19 Assigning a structure to a file 3 20 Defining a Database Schema for xfODBC_ 3 21 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 v Contents vi 4 Designing Your User Interface Important Terminology 4 2 What Is Composer 4 3 Starting Composer 4 3 What s on your Composer screen 4 3 Using Help 4 6 Using Composer 4 8 Designing an input window using repository fields 4 8 Designing an input window from scratch 4 12 Saving your work 4 16 Compiling your script 4 17 Exiting Composer 4 18 5 Programming in Synergy Language What Is Synergy Language 5 2 Creating a source file 5 2 Structure of a Synergy Language program 5 3 Compiling Linking and Running Your Program 5 5 Compiling your program 5 5 Creating object libraries 5 6 Linking your program 5 6 Running your program 5 8 Debugging Your Program 5 9 Saving and restoring debugger settings 5 9 Debugging with bounds checking 5 10 Advanced Features 5 12 Using dynamic memory 5 12 Dispatching routines dynamically 5 17 Programming Tips 5 18 Referencing data indirectly 5 18 Comparing data 5 20 Manipulating dates 5 21 Using compile time definitions 5 23 Using integer data 5 23 Using CASE vs USING 5 23 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Contents 6 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit What Is UI Toolkit 6 3 Performing terminal I O 6 3 Starting Ul Toolkit 6 4 The Toolkit s
67. E version 2 If any of your template files have been customized refer to Customizing template files on page 2 26 3 Run Workbench on the target machine 4 Change the emulator configuration on the target machine to match the emulator settings on the machine from which you are copying 5 At the Workbench command line enter load_conf 6 Exit Workbench 2 40 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Using Workbench for Non Windows Development Using Workbench for Non Windows Development Even though Workbench is only available on Windows you can use it as your primary editor for all Synergy DE supported platforms via distributed computing There are two options for accessing source files Option Pros Cons NFS Network gt AnNFS based mapped drive is gt This option can be slower than FTP File System virtually identical to mapping a drive although NFS can be optimized for based mapped to a Windows server better performance drives gt Projects can be used gt NFS is not a very high performance file gt Composer can be used server when used on OpenVMS FTP gt This option is potentially faster gt FTP is not suitable for systems using because you only transfer a file once version control and you edit it locally gt If you have multiple developers the potential exists for overwriting each other s changes gt Projects cannot be used gt Composer can
68. EXIT exitloop endusing xcall e_exit end end UI Toolkit uppercases the return values before moving them to g_entnam If you specify AN your match values in lowercase they will not match Each of the menu selections has a corresponding match value except o_help O_help is a reserved entry that UI Toolkit processes directly We will discuss help in Implementing native Toolkit help on page 6 36 Note that the OTHER label has no corresponding menu entry This entry can never be accessed by this program while the menus are defined as they are in this example To enable this selection a menu choice would have to be added to an existing menu column or another menu column that contains this entry would need to be placed on the menu bar This is a prime example of how you can distribute a complete application and only enable certain portions of the code based solely on Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 15 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries the composition of the window libraries If your customer wanted to pay for the additional features you would simply have to provide a window library with a column that contains the additional entry the customer would have access to that entry and you wouldn t need to change any code While the CASE or USING approach may require a little more code it is more self explanatory anybody looking at this code can see e
69. Getting Started with Synergy DE Version 9 1 3 SYNERGY Printed March 2008 The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by Synergex Synergex assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document The software described in this document is the proprietary property of Synergex and is protected by copyright and trade secret It is furnished only under license This manual and the described software may be used only in accordance with the terms and conditions of said license Use of the described software without proper licensing is illegal and subject to prosecution Copyright 2001 2008 by Synergex Synergex Synergy Synergy DE and all Synergy DE product names are trademarks of Synergex ActiveX JScript and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation Serena and ChangeMan are registered trademarks and Builder is a trademark of Serena Java and all Java based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems Inc in the United States and other countries SlickEdit and Context Tagging are registered trademarks of SlickEdit Inc Workbench s context tagging support was developed using ANTLR from MageLang Institute All other product and company names mentioned in this document are trademarks of their respective holders DCN GS 01 9105 Synergex 2330 Gold Meadow Way Gold River CA 9567
70. PSG can help PSG provides comprehensive technical training and consulting services to help you take advantage of Synergex s current and emerging technologies For information and pricing contact your Synergy DE account manager at 800 366 3472 in North America or 916 635 7300 Comments and suggestions We welcome your comments and suggestions for improving this manual Send your comments suggestions and queries as well as any errors or omissions you ve discovered to doc synergex com Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 xi 1 What Is Synergy DE Welcome to Synergy DE version 9 the next generation of Synergy tools designed with programmer productivity and flexibility in mind What Is Synergy DE 1 2 Defines the underlying philosophy and advantages of developing in Synergy DE Elements of Synergy DE 1 4 Briefly describes each component of Synergy DE Developing an Application 1 7 Illustrates the products and steps you can use to create a Synergy application Using the Documentation 1 9 Describes the reference manuals user s guides and online Help that are included with the Synergy DE products 1 1 What Is Synergy DE What Is Synergy DE What Is Synergy DE Synergy DE is a full suite of development tools that provides everything you need to create powerful event driven business applications It includes tools to write and process your applications design and support your user interface
71. Programming in Synergy Language What Is Synergy Language What Is Synergy Language The fundamental component of Synergy DE is Synergy Language Most of the other elements are intended to work as layered tools on this basic component Synergy Language provides the framework for integrating all other required components of Synergy DE into a seamless development environment that will ultimately help you develop your total business solution Its comprehensive capabilities and features make it easy to develop maintain and extend your applications One of the most significant benefits of Synergy Language is the fact that applications written in the Language are source code portable to a multitude of hardware and software platforms including Windows OpenVMS and popular flavors of UNIX Contact your Synergy DE account manager for a full list of currently supported platforms In many cases recompiling is not even necessary in others compiling and linking are the only requirement Synergy Language provides many system level functions directly from within the language This means you don t have to worry about getting system level expertise to do things like set system environment variables perform sorts obtain system values and create delete or rename files Each of these functions is performed from within the program through a call to a system supplied external subroutine with a standard interface that does not change between platforms By us
72. REATE subfunction for C_CONTAINER to create the composite container window The example below creates a composite container window that gt has a Toolkit assigned name Passing a null string for the name argument causes Toolkit to assign a unique name to the composite window gt fills the entire body of the application window Passing g_bdysiz a global variable defined in tools def instructs Toolkit to use the number of rows in the body of the application window and passing W_INFO with WIF_SCOLS instructs Toolkit to use the number of columns in the application window Additionally this example returns the ID of the new composite container window in the id_contain variable id_contain c_container DC_CREATE g_bdysiz w_info WIF_SCOLS Step 2 Add child windows and or lists To add child windows and lists to the composite window use the DC_ADD subfunction for C_CONTAINER In this call you specify the ID of the container window as well as the ID of the window or list you want to add as a child Additionally you can set properties for the child including placement tabbing position and a menu column to be loaded when the child is processed For example the following adds a list that starts on the first column of the first row of the composite window and loads a menu column with the ID id_selcol xcall c_container DC_ADD id_contain DC_LIST id_list 1 1 id_selcol 6 42 Getting Started with Synergy DE
73. ReportWriter BE Field Definition Ioj x Field Definition Display Input Validation Method Enter the text ae to display as Name company Position Absolute v Row 2 Colj2 the column Field pos None Sa corf heading in a Prompt copay gt Help lco np report Info line Enter the name of the contact s company Enter the name of a Display len predefined view len format if you a want to apply Input just Left v Paint field Blank if zero Read only Disabled a format to Paint char View as Field v T Renditions this field EEE t font Select how Template overrides i om the data will Pos Help Report hdgJ View lenf Report just Read only f Rend be justified l Fpos J Info Disp len J Format Jf Paint field Disabled Font within the J Prompt User Alt name Inp just Blank if O0 View as Pfont report column Cancel Help Figure 3 8 Defining how a field will be displayed in a report Enter the desired information in the Report hdg Format name and Report just input fields and then exit the input window See page 3 16 for instructions on predefining a format Repeat steps 1 through 3 for each field you want to define Defining a format When you specify display information for a field you can specify a predefined format to use with that field in a report generated by ReportWriter If you defined a format for an input field on page 3 8 you can use that same format
74. Repository Fields if you want to Structure add all Name CUSTOMER input a f fields in Description Customer master file Rename the Delete structure Repository main file RPSDAT rpsmain ism Repository text file RPSDAT rpstext ism For an arrayed field click Select All Clear All Expand All Collapse All the or in this mes m column to y CUST_NAME 430 Customer name expand or SALES_REP D3 Sales representative ID E collapse CUST_CONT A25 Primary contact person the array Double A15 City click on A2 State each a field you want to OK Cancel Help add Figure 4 7 Adding Repository fields 6 From the list of input fields either double click on each field you want to add or click the Select All button to add all input fields in the list Arrayed fields are indicated by a or in the untitled column Click on the or to expand or collapse an array When an array is expanded you can select individual elements of the arrayed field to add to the input window 7 When yov re finished adding fields exit the dialog box 4 10 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Designing Your User Interface Using Composer Fine tuning your input fields Moving fields Now that you see how the fields are laid out you might want to change their positions To move one or more fields 1 Select the field or group of fields you want to move in the Application window To select a
75. Retrieve Display Components on page 6 10 for more information about window libraries Step 2 Loading the menus To use menus in your program you first have to load their definitions into UI Toolkit s memory using the M_LDCOL subroutine This Toolkit routine locates the specified menu column in the window library and loads its definition into the Toolkit memory area It then returns a value in the variable you have passed as the first argument From this point on every reference to this menu column is accomplished by referencing this variable Like all other identifiers used by Toolkit column and window IDs should be i4 variables The following code loads several menu columns Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 13 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries startup xcall date date xcall u_start cust_lib 1 1 Initialize 1 header line 1 footer line xcall e_sect C US TOMER PROFILE amp D_HEADER D_CENTER Place text in header xcall e_sect date D_FOOTER D_LEFT Place text in footer xcall m_ldcol gen_col g_utlib general D_GLOBAL xcall m_ldcol options_col g_utlib options xcall m_ldcol input_col g_utlib input D_NOPLC xcall m_ldcol select_col g_utlib select D_NOPLC return U_START places the channel for the primary window library the first argument in the global variable g_utlib All of the columns
76. SP ASP NET JavaServer Pages JSP or Web services The xfNetLink edition that your application requires depends on what type of user interface you want to provide The application logic can be written in Synergy Language and the database can be accessed by routines written in Synergy Language We recommend that you use Professional Series Workbench to manage your server pages edit your Synergy and client application code and access Synergy type libraries JAR files and assemblies See chapter 2 Developing Your Application in Workbench for details about Workbench See chapter 7 Accessing Data Remotely with xfServer for an overview of basic distributed computing and a list of its benefits Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus What Are xfServerPlus and xfNetLink What Are xfServerPlus and xfNetLink xfServerPlus and xfNetLink enable you to access Synergy routines and data remotely from a Synergy Java COM or NET client The four xfNetLink editions serve as clients to xfServerPlus and provide the ability to access Synergy logic from a variety of front ends Together xfNetLink and xfServerPlus handle creating a connection and translating data between the client machine and your Synergy server machine xfServerPlus xfServerPlus is the Synergy business logic server that handles the remote execution of Synergy routines The routines are made available for remote ca
77. Settings user My Documents My SlickEdit Config version where user is the user name of the user who is currently logged in and version is the current version of SlickEdit in the format x x x for example 10 0 2 2 4 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Where Do You Begin Defining the startup environment Setting environment variables and initialization settings enables you to control program functionality externally without modifying your code For a more complete discussion of the advantages of environment variables refer to Referencing data indirectly on page 5 18 For a list of all environment variables and initialization settings available to Synergy DE and instructions on how to set them refer to the Environment Variables chapter of Environment Variables and System Options You can define environment variables and initialization settings either in the environment in the synergy ini file or in the Open tab of Workbench s Project Properties dialog box Synergy ini is an initialization file that contains variables that affect the Synergy runtime and Synergy DE development tools on Windows Variables are set in the following order gt Globally by selecting Start gt Settings gt Control Panel gt System gt Advanced gt Environment Variables gt AtaDOS prompt gt In the synergy ini file which is read when the project is opened gt In the Open tab of the Pr
78. T DTS_WINDOW function call The DTS_WINDOW argument to TS_TABSET creates a tab and associates an input window with it To create a tab and associate a list use DTS_LIST instead When the user selects this tab the window in contact_inp cntr is brought to the front and our PROCESS_INPUT routine is called to process it Since we have three Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 39 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Organizing Your Display with Tabbed Dialogs 6 40 identical input windows we can use the same process routine If you need to process each tab differently or are mixing different input windows or input windows and lists in the same tab set you may want to specify a unique process routine for each tab for cntr from 1 thru 3 begin xcall i_ldinp contact_inp cntr g_utlib contact string cntr amp D_NOPLC contact xcall w_brdr contact_inp cntr WB_TITLE cont_grp 1 c_lname end tabindx cntr ts_tabset DTS_WINDOW contact_tab amp contact_inp cntr process_input Step 4 Processing the tab set TS_PROCESS is the tab processing routine It controls the placement of the current tab and calls the appropriate tab method Like most UI Toolkit routines TS_PROCESS is called in an event loop When called TS_PROCESS processes the current tab it brings the associated window or list to the front and calls the tab method When the user selects another tab the tab method returns to
79. TS_PROCESS which brings the selected tab and its associated element to the front and calls that tab s designated tab method If a menu entry or button was selected TS_PROCESS exits so your processing loop can test for and handle the exit event The sample below calls TS_PROCESS and tests for an exit event The cont_key method data is a group that contains an array of key values that identify the record to be loaded into each tab input window See the code segment in step 5 for an example of how this method data is used If in the tab method the user selects the Exit menu entry or the Cancel button TS_PROCESS loads g_entnam with the name of the selected event O_EXIT or O_ABANDON and returns immediately to this processing loop If on the other hand another tab was selected g_entnam is loaded with the name of the tab in the form TS_TABxxxx where xxxx is the tab number TS_PROCESS moves that tab to the front and again calls the tab method PROCESS_INPUT this time without returning to the processing loop tab_num 1 repeat begin Processing loop xcall ts_process contact_tab cont_key if g_entnam ne TS_TAB exitloop end Processing loop Step 5 Create the tab method The tab method below is called by TS_PROCESS for each of the tabs We can use the same tab method because each tab contains a copy of the same input window an input window that is processed in exactly the same way PROCESS_INPUT starts by using the DTS
80. _ACTIVE option to determine the current or active tab DTS_ACTIVE can also be used to change the active tab It Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Organizing Your Display with Tabbed Dialogs uses the tab number or index to determine the appropriate key to the record to be processed in the current input window Once it has this data PROCESS_INPUT loads it and calls the input processor If the method determines that INPUT exited with the input set complete it updates the record and returns to TS_PROCESS Because the current tab set hasn t changed TS_PROCESS calls PROCESS_INPUT again with the same tab set active If the user selects another tab I_INPUT exits with g_setsts and g_ select true g entnam contains the name of the selected tab set PROCESS_INPUT returns to TS_PROCESS which calls PROCESS_INPUT again with the new tab active at the front If I_INPUT exits because a menu entry or button was selected again g_setsts and g_select are true but this time TS_PROCESS doesn t recognize the entry in g_entnam It exits to the processing loop in the calling program subroutine process_input a_inpid yn group contkey a key_val 9a77 endgroup include WND tools def include ids gbl static record key 14 pal record contact_dat al98 proc key ts_tabset DTS_ACTIVE contact_tab read contact_ch contact_dat key_val key KRF 1 xcall i_display a
81. _col if g_setsts then Check for incomplete input processing if g_select then Menu processing 6 22 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implem xcall xsubr g_entnam enting Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries Entry name matches subroutine name 1 else begin Break processing using g_fldnam select CMPNY call dup_chck endusing end Break processing else begin Input set complete if load_flg then Either MODIFY mode begin read customer_ch cmpny cmpny SERR_TOOBIG cont cont write customer_ch customer clear load_flg end else or ADD mode using set select customer store customer_ch customer ERR updterr nokey write customer_ch customer ERR updterr endusing if FALSE begin Store failed updterr xcall u_message Error updating customer file end xcall init Initialize window enable cmpny field end Input set complete end until done_flg xcall e_exit return dup_chk find customer_ch customer SERR_EOF newrec reads customer_ch customer xcall i_display customer_inp xcall i_next customer_inp amp newrec return Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 cmpny set SERR_KEYNOT newrec set nokey FRST customer 6 23 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries In this example we take ad
82. _inpid all contact_dat xcall i_next a_inpid data FRST xcall i_input a_inpid data contact_dat if not g_setsts write contact_ch contact_dat xreturn endsubroutine See also The Tab Set Routines chapter of your UI Toolkit Reference Manual for more information on using tab sets Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 41 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Using Composite Windows to Combine Windows and Lists Using Composite Windows to Combine Windows and Lists UI Toolkit enables you to combine multiple windows and or lists into a single window called a composite window For example you could create a composite window that includes an input window a table an ActiveX control and buttons To the user a composite window looks and functions as a single window A composite window consists of a parent window called the composite container window and child windows or lists A child can be any type of UI Toolkit window or list including ActiveX windows tab set windows ActiveX Toolkit lists and other composite windows This section contains the general steps for creating and using composite windows For details on these steps additional composite window tasks and a complete example see Creating and Processing Composite Windows in the Composite Window Routines chapter of the UI Toolkit Reference Manual Step 1 Create the composite container window Start by using the DC_C
83. a ChangeMan Builders make command is an excellent choice for program builds Creating object libraries Once you ve created a number of related external subroutines and have tested them thoroughly you may want to group them together so you can reference them as a single entity Instead of having to remember to include all of the object files that are referenced in each program every time you link the application you can create an object library using the Synergy librarian An object library is a collection of object files that have been compiled and stored in a special file that can be referenced by the Synergy linker Any routines that are included in the object library will be extracted from the library at link time Thus instead of distributing hundreds of dbo files you can distribute a single olb file that contains all of the compiled source code routines For instructions on creating an object library refer to the Building and Running Synergy Language Programs chapter in Synergy Language Tools Linking your program 5 6 After you ve compiled your source code into object files you must gather the object files into a cohesive unit so they can be executed as a single program This gathering is done by the linker program The linker also performs many other functions such as resolving addresses for global symbols figuring out where external data references are located identifying the exact location of external routines so
84. a UI Toolkit application Using Composite Windows to Combine Windows and Lists 6 42 Describes how to combine multiple windows and or lists into a composite window Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Using Methods 6 45 Defines methods and how to apply them to add power and flexibility to your UI Toolkit application 6 2 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit What Is UI Toolkit What Is UI Toolkit S DE UI Toolkit is a collection of external subroutines and functions that can be called from your programs It is not another language but rather an extension to Synergy Language that enables you to create and process screens for your applications The Toolkit is involved in every aspect of the terminal user interface Enhanced capabilities include data presentation interactive data input and editing Windows pull down menu processing demand loaded dynamic lists and tabbed dialogs On Windows systems the UI Toolkit manages mouse interactions providing your application with a truly native Windows look and feel For more information about Windows specific UI Toolkit features refer to the Developing for Windows section of your Professional Series Portability Guide Your application is still a Synergy Language program UI Toolkit features are contained in an executable library WND tklib elb on most systems against which your application is linked These T
85. a loop that explicitly processes the menu bar until the user makes a selection When the menu bar is first activated the customer menu entry is highlighted Until a selection is made UI Toolkit controls the interface When a selection is made M_PROCESS exits and the program needs to determine the event that occurred We start by testing the global variable g_select If this variable is true in other words nonzero UI Toolkit is telling us that the reason it returned from M_PROCESS was that a menu entry was selected Next we enter a new environment and prepare for the new program to be called by removing all local columns those columns that are no longer valid now that a selection has been made Since a new environment has been entered whatever program gets called by the XSUBR subroutine can modify the Toolkit screen in any way necessary these changes are reversed when the program exits and E_EXIT is called When the user is done he or she selects Exit which returns O_EXIT in g_entnam Our external subroutine O_EXIT sets the global variable done_flg equal to true and the program exits the loop Another way of processing a menu column is with a CASE or USING statement Consider the following example repeat begin xcall m_process customer if g_select begin xcall e_enter xcall m_column D_ REMOVE D_LOCAL using g_entnam select CUSTOMER VENDOR xcall customer OTHER xcall other O_
86. age has been filled L_SELECT puts a selection window on the screen The user can move around through all the visible items using the shortcuts associated with the reserved menu entries or on Windows using the mouse and arrow keys With any request for an item not yet loaded for example if the user presses the shortcut to move down a page the list processor once again calls the load method until the request has been filled A request for an item or page of items that s already loaded does not initiate a call to the load method Instead the list processor retrieves the item or items from the file stack a temporary file management system the list processor uses to manage the list repeat begin xcall l1_select customer_lst request customer lsel_col using g_entnam select G_ABOUT xcall u_about TITLE VERSION datecompiled O_EXIT exitloop P_REMOVE call remove_entry Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 33 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries P_MODIFY call modify_entry P_ADD call add_entry if request No menu entry call process_request Process list request else call display_entry Display selection endusing end return L_SELECT exits when a menu selection is made or when the user selects an item by highlighting it and pressing ENTER Though it isn t displayed here the display_entry routine determines
87. an input field is processed A characteristic of an object For example width is an attribute of a window A feature of the Synergy debugger that identifies situations in which data is being stored into structures that are referenced beyond the bounds of their normal definition A sort field on which a report break and possibly a page break is set in ReportWriter An input field displayed as a small box with accompanying text to its right When a check box is selected an x is displayed in the box A computer hosting a client application which is an application that requests services or access to data from another computer Glossary 1 Glossary client server system COM command button compile time definition compiler directive compiling component context context sensitive help Control Bar cross reference file data division display method distributed application Glossary 2 A computer network in which one or more computers act as clients requesting services or access to data and one or more computers act as servers processing the clients requests Component Object Model The binary interoperability standard developed by Microsoft that allows component objects developed in different languages to call one another COM objects can be accessed by any COM compliant application The rectangular button in a dialog box that carries out a command or initiates an action
88. and size in your script file Navigating an input window To handle interfield and intrafield movement in a non Windows environment UI Toolkit provides you with a number of reserved menu entries The three primary reserved entry types are those that apply to every field I_ and some E_ those that apply to selection windows and lists S_ and those that apply to text fields E_ Define a separate menu column for each of these entry types Load but don t place each of these columns at start up When you call I_INPUT pass the ID for the input column in the fourth argument position the select column in the fifth position and the text column as the sixth argument I_ INPUT will place and remove each column when appropriate and when a selection is made from any of these columns it will perform the designated task without returning to your program Because these tasks are handled automatically on Windows UI Toolkit on Windows does not place these menu columns If you plan to run your application as both Windows and non Windows don t mix reserved and nonreserved to be returned as events to be processed by your application menu entries in a column to be placed by L INPUT If you do that column will not be placed on Windows and events your program expects will never be generated Step 1 Defining input windows Like all other UI Toolkit screen components input windows are defined in script files and processed into win
89. andle All future references to this memory will use this handle There is no practical restriction on the amount of memory available and once used the memory can be released back to the system The amount of memory is totally dynamic it can grow or shrink as required by the application As new memory is allocated it is logically appended to the existing memory and as memory is released it is logically truncated from the existing memory Defining data handles The pointer for each memory segment must be allocated in the data division Multiple segments are allowed but each segment must have its own handle A handle is an i4 integer and should be aligned on an even longword boundary for maximum performance align long record handlel i4 The handle for one segment handle2 i4 The handle for another segment Defining memory structures Memory allocation and reference is done in conjunction with structures Structures are defined in the data division using the STRUCTURE statement and function the same as the Synergy Language RECORD statement except they do not allocate any space in the program Structures can be INCLUDEd from the repository INCLUDEd from files or hard coded in your application structure cards value 14 suit yal rank yal 5 12 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Programming in Synergy Language Advanced Features Manipulating dynamic memory Dynamic memory is manipulated by the MEM_PROC function
90. arating the user interface from the application logic gt Ifyou want to support multiple databases the first step is separating the file access from the other application logic gt Ifyou plan to expose your system to your customers on the Internet you will first need to modularize the system s application logic so that it can be called remotely from the user s browser Another option is to write a few modular routines that perform the functions you want customers to have access to and then integrate them into your system at a later date As with any other significant code modification you can handle the move to modularity in chunks slowly moving your system to a more and more modular state Keep in mind that you don t need to modularize all of your code just what needs to be called remotely For specific suggestions refer to the Modularizing Your Synergy Code The First Step to Distributed Computing white paper available on the Online Manuals CD Separating the user interface from application logic UI Toolkit which supports event style programming effectively separates much of the user interface from the data management However Toolkit event loops are candidates for revision if you are planning to support multiple user interfaces When you process user events using arrive and leave methods or break processing be sure to handle those events with a call to a function in an ELB This function must return a result that your user
91. ation logic processing area An n tier configuration uses a distributed network and has different layers of business presentation and database access logic each running where it is most appropriate This chapter addresses only the S DE xfServer product and data access For information about logic processing and the other Synergy products that enable you to create true multi tier software solutions see chapter 8 Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 7 3 Accessing Data Remotely with xfServer What Is a Client Server System Benefits of a client server system Client server architectures are popular for several reasons gt Your users can share data This is the same benefit you get from traditional multiuser environments Data requests and transfers between the client and the server can be concurrent and are transparent to the user Supported file types include relative stream sequential and ISAM Any file I O function supported by the server s native file system can be performed from the client application You can optimize existing systems When you network various types of computers in the same client server system you can set up each to execute the function s it performs best Client server tools enable you to use both the network connections and serial terminal connections at the same time so you don t need a PC workstation for every user Furthermore a client s
92. be able to create a routine or group of interacting routines that solves any business problem The end of the procedure division is defined by the END ENDMAIN ENDSUBROUTINE ENDFUNCTION or ENDMETHOD statement These statements tell the compiler that the routine is complete and prepares it to deal with the next routine See also 5 4 Your Synergy Language Reference Manual which contains the syntax and specifications for every statement and system supplied subroutine in Synergy Language Refer to this manual for further information Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Programming in Synergy Language Compiling Linking and Running Your Program Compiling Linking and Running Your Program Once you ve written your source modules you must compile link and run your programs Here are the steps you should follow 1 Compile each source module See Compiling your program below 2 If desired combine your compiled routines in an object library See Creating object libraries on page 5 6 Creating an object library simplifies the linking process as well as your distribution strategy 3 Link your compiled routines or object library generating an executable library if desired See Linking your program on page 5 6 4 Test your program by running it See Running your program on page 5 8 Compiling your program The Synergy compiler interprets the ASCII code you have written in your source mod
93. be an isolated functional unit with a well defined published interface i e an argument list An association between fields in different structures that is used by ReportWriter to access related files Any window list class menu column window field input field selection window entry menu entry text line box or button A group of subroutine object modules in a single file created with the Synergy librarian Object libraries are linked into an executable file by the Synergy linker The Composer window that displays a visual representation of the project file script file s and user interface object hierarchy See object library One in a set of colors or fonts available to Synergy programs The part of a routine that contains the executable statements and defines the processing algorithms A collection of one or more related files for example all of the files for a particular application and the build parameters that operate on those files The Composer window that contains a list of design object attributes followed by the property or value for each attribute The value of an attribute of an object Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Glossary 5 Glossary quick select character radio button relation relational operator rendition rendition scheme Repository repository reserved entry runtime terminal binding script file selection list server shared image shortcut
94. beginning keywords are CLASS ENDCLASS FOR FROM THRU and SUBROUTINE PROC To enable alias expansion and to make Workbench automatically insert block ending keyword s for the corresponding block beginning keywords Select Tools gt Options gt File Extension Setup The Extension Options dialog box is displayed In the Extension field select dbl and click the Indent tab if it is not already displayed Select the Syntax expansion check box In the Minimum expandable keyword length field type the minimum number of characters to type before alias expansion can occur Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 17 Developing Your Application in Workbench Editing Synergy Code with the Workbench Editor If you want to generate extended block endings click DBL Options and select the Extended Syntax Expansion check box in the DBL Options dialog box An example of an extended block ending is PROC ENDSUBROUTINE for the SUBROUTINE keyword Click OK to exit the DBL Options dialog 6 Click OK to exit the Extension Options dialog Getting help with routine syntax 2 18 As you type text in the Workbench editor you can display help for the current situation Displaying context sensitive routine help To display a list of arguments for a subroutine function or method gt Type the routine name followed by an open parenthesis If the routine has more than one definition for example a routine with multiple subfunctions
95. cations manual for detailed instructions on using xfNetLink NET Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 8 7 Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus Design Considerations Design Considerations Regardless of which edition of xfNetLink you are using the only way to take advantage of a distributed processing environment is to use modular encapsulated code that can be distributed independently in a software system If you are designing an application from the ground up it makes sense to think in terms of completely modularizing your entire system right from the start However in many cases the goal is to improve an existing application or to make several routines accessible from the Web This makes things more complex and the task may seem overwhelming The first step is to think about where you most need the benefits of modularization What pieces of functionality do you want to make available on an intranet or the Web What routines can you centralize into a utilities library that can be used by many or all of your applications Do you want to have multiple user interfaces perhaps a cell based user interface and a web or GUI interface In a distributed application processing is divided into three layers gt User interface processing occurs on the end user s machine gt Business logic processing occurs on the server system When you re building a system with xfServerPlus and xfNetLink this is the xfServerPlus machine
96. cessing menu column 6 16 USING vs 5 23 change method 3 13 4 15 channel load method 6 32 check box adding in Composer 4 14 specifying in Repository 3 10 client 7 2 job of 7 4 xfServer 7 9 client server 7 1 to 7 10 benefits 7 4 defined 7 2 to 7 4 two tier model 7 2 client side code 8 10 8 11 closing Composer project 4 16 file 6 5 script file 4 17 code completion 2 15 formatting 2 15 generating 2 22 template 2 26 Index 1 collapsing attribute in Properties window 4 5 files or objects in Object Manager 4 6 column heading in report 3 16 menu 6 4 creating 6 11 to 6 16 defining 6 11 COLUMN script command 6 13 COM calling Synergy routines from 8 6 creating component project 2 11 combo box adding 4 14 command button adding to input window 4 11 bitmap graphic on 4 12 defining 6 20 with bitmap graphic 4 12 command line accessing in Workbench 2 5 comparing data 5 20 compile time definition 5 23 compiling checking errors 2 31 customizing commands for 2 34 to 2 36 from editor 5 5 from Workbench 2 31 program 5 5 script file 4 17 components in Synergy DE 1 4 Composer 1 5 4 3 to 4 17 exiting 4 18 help online 4 6 screen elements 4 3 starting 2 8 4 3 terminology 4 2 using 4 8 to 4 17 composite window 6 42 to 6 44 configuration 2 13 connection manager 7 7 context 6 22 context sensitive help 2 18 2 19 6 35 6 36 to 6 38 activating 6 36 Control Bar Composer 4 3 Control Panel See Synergy Control Panel Index 2
97. combination of sources But like the records in a file while the contents of each item are different each item is structured the same An input window defines the structure of a single list item Usually you create this input window for the sole purpose of associating it with a list To display the list on the screen the list processor makes multiple copies of this input window each with its own data Of course you may want to do some things a little differently for your list input windows If you want your application to be portable to Windows platforms and want to use multiline list items you will need to use the ActiveX list control when processing your list With a UI Toolkit list you are restricted to single line list items and thus a single line list input window In most cases your list will have a header so having prompts in your window will not make much sense Also if you pull the field definitions from your repository and the repository contains default values for pos and pos make sure you override them in the script definition Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 29 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries In your script file you will also define the list class While an input window defines the structure of a list s items the list class defines the characteristics for the entire list Things like the number of items visible at one time the list s position
98. computer that processes client requests The functionality of an executable library on OpenVMS A key or key sequence that is associated with a specific menu column entry A shortcut provides a quick way to access a menu item bypassing the standard menu entry selection method A persistent memory handle that does not get released when the activation level of the generating routine is exited Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 string relational operator structure structure specific format Synergy Conirol Panel Synergy Method Catalog SMC tab method tab set tabbed dialog tag file template text window token type library Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Glossary An operator equal to not equal to greater than less than greater than or equal to less than or equal to that compares two alpha operands for the length of both An entire record definition or the combination of field and key characteristics A repository format that is defined for a particular structure and can only be used by the fields in that structure A visual tool that enables you to customize message text screen renditions and key mapping Identifies the Synergy routines that you have prepared for remote calling The SMC includes information such as the function or subroutine name the ELB or shared image it is stored in and the type and length of its parameters A subroutine called to process a tab
99. creen 6 4 Letting Toolkit manage your files 6 5 Using event style programming 6 6 Including tools def 6 6 Using variables for identifiers 6 7 Managing Display Levels with Environment Processing 6 8 Local and global screen components 6 9 Managing Window Libraries to Store and Retrieve Display Components 6 10 Benefits of window libraries 6 10 Specifying a window library 6 10 Creating Script Files and Window Libraries 6 11 Creating and using menu columns windows and lists 6 11 Implementing Online Help 6 35 Implementing native Toolkit help 6 36 Organizing Your Display with Tabbed Dialogs 6 39 Using Composite Windows to Combine Windows and Lists 6 42 Using Methods 6 45 Using input methods 6 45 7 Accessing Data Remotely with xfServer What Is a Client Server System 7 2 A basic client server model 7 2 A multi tier client server model 7 3 Benefits of a client server system 7 4 What Is xfServer 7 5 How the xfServer system operates 7 5 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 vii Contents 8 Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus Overview 8 2 What Are xfServerPlus and xfNetLink 8 3 xfServerPlus 8 3 xfNetLink Synergy Edition 8 3 XfNetLink Java Edition 8 4 XfNetLink COM Edition 8 6 XfNetLink NET Edition 8 6 Design Considerations 8 8 Separating the user interface from application logic 8 9 Separating data access from application logic 8 9 Using ELBs or shared images 8 10 Handling errors 8 10 Guidelines to improving performanc
100. cts a drilldown menu entry in Windows or non Windows environments A drill method is primarily used to look up additional information or display an input window A hyperlink method subroutine is called when the user clicks on an input field prompt When a prompt is associated with a hyperlink method that prompt is a hyperlink and the foreground color of the prompt is green A change method function is called after a field is validated by the UI Toolkit I_INPUT subroutine It performs additional processing after an input field is changed for example validating radio button and check box fields A display method function is called before UI Toolkit displays the contents of an input field Your display method can modify the display format of the input field as well as its color and attributes thus enabling you to override Toolkit s display format for the field An edit format method function is called before UI Toolkit has formatted the contents of an input field to be edited Your edit format method can modify the edit format of the input field as well as its color and attributes thus enabling you to override Toolkit s edit format for the field To specify method subroutines for a field do the following from the Field Definition input window 1 On Windows click the Method tab or press CTRL TAB until the Method tab is displayed On UNIX or OpenVMS press TAB until the Method tab is displayed See figure 3 7 2 Enter the desir
101. d Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 37 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Implementing Online Help 6 38 You may want to define your help windows in a separate script file or you may choose to place them in the script file of the window with which they are associated If you want to use UI Toolkit s help routine as it is distributed your help windows should reside in the library specified in U_START Otherwise you can replace Toolkit s help routine with your own See the EHELP_METHOD documentation in the Environment Routines chapter of the UI Toolkit Reference Manual for the details on how to do this Step 3 Associating help windows with fields To simplify the association of help windows with the fields in your input windows UI Toolkit provides the ability to identify the help window for each field You can define this association once in your repository and every instance of that field will inherit this information Or you can specify it directly with the FIELD help qualifier The following is extracted from our previous input window script definition field Iname al6 pos 1 4 prompt Last pos 6 11 fpos 6 19 help h_lname hyperlink_method contact_drill If the window named h_Iname exists in the primary window library and the user selects the o_help reserved menu entry while positioned on the field Iname the input processor calls the Toolkit help routine which displays th
102. d to another location 5 24 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit This chapter introduces S DE UI Toolkit and its relationship to application development with Synergy DE It explains features describes programming techniques and provides sample code that can be used as a template for your own development S DE Repository is used to define the data for our sample application that we began in chapter 3 What Is UI Toolkit 6 3 Provides an overview of the capabilities of UI Toolkit Starting UI Toolkit 6 4 Explains the UI Toolkit screen and the initialization of the Toolkit environment as well as the style of programming necessary for application development with UI Toolkit how to let Toolkit manage your files and using variables and defined values Managing Display Levels with Environment Processing 6 8 Defines Toolkit environments and describes techniques to save and restore program displays Managing Window Libraries to Store and Retrieve Display Components 6 10 Describes the definition creation and use of window libraries Creating Script Files and Window Libraries 6 11 Explains how to create menu columns windows and lists and how to write code to process them Implementing Online Help 6 35 Explains how to add online help to your application Organizing Your Display with Tabbed Dialogs 6 39 Describes how to create and process tab sets from within
103. data is being stored into structures that are referenced beyond the bounds of their normal definition Trying to monitor situations like this manually is a debugging nightmare Many of the legacy languages ANSI DIBOL and Synergy DBL take advantage of the capability that allows you to reference subsequent data structures as a subscripted array element of a previous data structure While this may have been a solution to some problems it opened the door to a much bigger problem unknowingly writing or referencing data beyond expected limits In some cases these data reference operations are detected by the system when the program is run resulting in errors In other cases the reference operation goes undetected and remains in the application like a time bomb waiting for the most inopportune time to overwrite a critical variable that will cause another routine that depends on that value to malfunction Debugging one of these transient error conditions is one of the hardest and most frustrating exercises in software engineering Synergy Language will find this class of error for you automatically if you compile your application with bounds checking enabled When the program is run it will report any and all references that result from an out of bounds condition When you compile your programs with bounds checking enabled all pseudo arrays such as a field defined as 10d5 are converted to real arrays for example 10 d5 While you a
104. dd button The Enter Alias Parameter dialog box is displayed Enter the desired information in each input field as shown in figure 2 14 and then exit the dialog box Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 25 Developing Your Application in Workbench Generating Synergy Code Segments Enter the name of a routine parameter in the generated code Enter Alias Parameter xi PaameterName men y y O Prompt Routinenane Initial Value ce Cancel Help Enter the text that will prompt you for information about the specified parameter when the alias is expanded Enter an initial value if any for this parameter Figure 2 14 Defining alias parameters Using code templates Template files enable you to create generic versions of your Toolkit method routines When the drilldown button for a method property of an input field or button is clicked in Composer or Repository Workbench generates the appropriate method routine into the editor You can then customize the routine as desired Template files have the extension tpl To expand a template file 1 Inthe Application window in Composer select the input field or button object for which you want to generate a method routine 2 Inthe Properties window click the drilldown button for the desired method property The Choose Method File dialog box is displayed in Workbench 3 Type or browse for the name of the source file that contains or will contain the co
105. de for the method you selected in Composer If the file does not exist it will be created for you Customizing template files You can customize the template files that are distributed with Workbench The tpl files are distributed to the workbench wbsamples directory and then copied to the workbench directory if they don t already exist If you are in a Terminal Services or shared configuration and you want all users to have a version that is different from the distributed version edit the template files in the workbench directory If only some of the users want to use a modified version they can copy the desired tpl files to their SlickEdit configuration directory and then edit those files instead 2 26 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Generating Synergy Code Segments Using tokens in template files In the templates you can use tokens to represent specific names For example structure and field tokens enable you to replace generic references to structures and input fields with references to actual structure and field names when generating methods for input windows When Workbench inserts the template file s contents into the specified file it replaces all instances of the tokens with the appropriate structure or field name Workbench is distributed with the following tokens This token Is replaced with For this method STRUCTURE Structure name Input field FIELD
106. defined arguments consist of a descriptive name preceded by D_ For instance the defined values for DLFOOTER D_CENTER and D_CLEAR are 3 12 and 6 Using these definitions makes your code more self documenting than if the corresponding numbers were used 6 6 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Starting UI Toolkit Consider the following xcall e_sect Synergex D_FOOTER D_CENTER D_CLEAR and xcall e_sect Synergex 3 12 6 Both of these statements do exactly the same thing erase the footer region and center the text Synergex on the first line of the footer section But the first example is much more expressive and far easier to maintain Using variables for identifiers Just as channel numbers are assigned to designate files and devices in your Synergy Language I O statements every UI Toolkit component window menu column list toolbar or tab set has a unique identifier These identifiers are integer variables you define in the data division of your program When a UI Toolkit component is loaded the Toolkit load routine assigns the next available value to that component and returns it in the identifier you passed From that point on when your application needs to reference that component you will specify its ID variable not its name For performance reasons we suggest you use longword aligned i4 variables for these identifiers In our sa
107. deleting a composite container window removes all child windows and lists but does not delete them 6 44 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Using Methods Using Methods A method is a program that you write and UI Toolkit calls You generally do not call a method directly Instead you give Toolkit the name of the method and let it make the call Methods are used for a number of things by the list processor to load an item and do item entry and exit processing by the input processor to do field display and change processing and by U_START to do special initialization processing just to name a few Using input methods Input field methods are very powerful tools that enable you to set up a field prior to input or to validate input before continuing to the next field While break processing will accomplish many of the things input methods are designed to handle an application running on Windows cannot assume that fields will be processed sequentially Your user could be on field A and click on field C completely bypassing field B If field C depends on a break activated by field B your perfectly functional UNIX application doesn t work on Windows But an input method is specific to the field that activates it and is totally independent of any other field Input methods are useful in a non Windows environment as well While break processing is handled within the program that calls
108. dow libraries To define an input window you can use Composer or a text editor The following is a script file definition of an input window In this example all the field information is defined locally This approach gives you the ability to view the entire structure of the input window including the FIELD options at a glance input customer 14 71 placement 3 5 title Customer Folder color 3 line WndLinl 65 pos 5 4 line WndLin2 65 pos 10 4 line WndLin3 65 pos 14 4 repository_structure CUSTOMER Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 17 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries field cmpny a45 prompt Company pos 2 8 fpos 2 16 break drill_method cmpny_drill hyperlink_method hyperlink field address a45 prompt Address pos 3 8 fpos 3 16 hyperlink_method hyperlink field city a25 prompt City pos 4 8 fpos 4 16 hyperlink_method hyperlink field state a2 prompt State pos 4 44 fpos 4 50 hyperlink_method hyperlink field zip d5 prompt Zip pos 4 55 fpos 4 59 hyperlink_method hyperlink field a4 salutation fpos 6 3 select 0 0 4 Mr Mrs Miss Ms radio select 0 0 1 Mr Mrs Miss Ms hyperlink_method hyperlink field lname al6 prompt Last pos 6 11 fpos
109. e Check box toolbar button E To display an existing input field as a check box Select the input field by clicking on it in the Application window In the Properties window under the Type property set the View as subproperty to Check box Adding a selection list field Two of the fields in our example are selection list fields sometimes referred to as combo boxes You can either display an existing input field as a selection list field or create one from scratch using the Selection list toolbar button To create a selection list field using the Selection list button Select the input window in the Application window Double click the Selection list button a ai L Click the Selections attribute in the Properties window and then click the drilldown button In the Selections dialog box select Selection list in both the Type and View as fields If you have a predefined selection window you can select Selection window as the Type Replace Entry 1 Entry 2 and Entry 3 with the selection items of your choice pressing ENTER after each Exit the dialog box Adding an editable text field The Comments field in our example is an editable text field which is a real alpha array When the user enters input into a text field the text wraps automatically To create an editable text field Create an input field or select an existing input field in the Application window Set the Dimension subproperty under Type in
110. e and resilience 8 11 Glossary Index viii Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Preface About this manual Getting Started with Synergy DE provides a technical overview of all components of Synergy DE as well as a task oriented cookbook for using Synergy DE It walks you through the steps required to develop a basic Synergy application and tells you what else you can do and where to get more information if you want to go beyond the basics Because we assume that you are familiar with programming in some language this guide does not cover basic principles of programming Instead it includes language features specific or integral to developing in Synergy DE Manual conventions Throughout this manual we use the following conventions gt In code syntax text that you type is in Courier typeface Variables that either represent or should be replaced with specific data are in italic type gt Optional arguments are enclosed in italic square brackets If an argument is omitted and the comma is outside the brackets a comma must be used as a placeholder unless the omitted argument is the last argument in a subroutine If the comma is inside the brackets and an argument is omitted the comma may also be omitted gt Arguments that can be repeated one or more times are followed by an ellipsis gt A vertical bar l in syntax means to choose between the arguments on each side of the bar gt Data types
111. e appropriate help window and waits for a user response When the user is done reading the help window Toolkit removes it restores the original screen and resumes processing the input field Most UI Toolkit routines that prompt the user for input have a similar mechanism to activate the help routine and display a specific help window For example M_PROCESS T_EDIT T_VIEW and L_SELECT all have an optional argument for the name of the help window to display if the user selects the help menu entry I_INPUT uses the FIELD help qualifier You can even have a help window for each menu entry Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Organizing Your Display with Tabbed Dialogs Organizing Your Display with Tabbed Dialogs With UI Toolkit you can organize windows and lists into a set of tabbed dialogs While tabs are primarily a Windows feature Toolkit makes tabs available on both Windows and non Windows platforms Each tab element or dialog contains an input window or list All tabs in a group of tabs called a tab set are placed simultaneously in an organized stack Your user can select via mouse or menu entry any tab in the current set The selected tab is brought to the front and its element is available to process Step 1 Create a tab set When a tab set is processed each member tab and its associated element a window or list is accessible to the user Before a tab can be created
112. e columns is controlled by the arrow keys and by each entry s quick select character In Windows environments full mouse support is enabled In addition when a menu column is not pulled down special key shortcuts can be assigned to select a particular menu entry Step 1 Defining menus The first thing you must do to use Toolkit menu processing is define your menu columns You can define menu columns with Composer or a text editor Assigning shortcuts An optional menu shortcut enables the associated entry to be selected when the menu column is not pulled down for example while the user is doing input or viewing a list Pressing a shortcut is the equivalent of pulling down a menu column highlighting an entry and pressing ENTER For an entry s shortcut to be accessible to the user its menu column must be placed visible on the menu bar Valid shortcut keys include control function and arrow keys Assigning quick select characters When a menu column is pulled down pressing an entry s quick select character selects that entry if the quick select character is unique If the quick select character is not unique the entry will be highlighted By default the quick select character is the first character in the displayed text Multiple entries can use the same quick select character the entries will be dealt with sequentially Thus in the sample menu script below pressing an a or A when the first menu is pu
113. e function calls The algorithm is based on the Gregorian calendar and calculates the days since December 31 4713 BC Four function calls provide this capability gt JPERIOD converts a date to a numeric value gt DATE converts a numeric value to DD MMM YY or YYYY alpha format gt NDATE converts a numeric value to YYYYMMDD numeric format gt WKDAY returns the ordinal number of a weekday Sunday is 1 Converting dates to a numeric value using JPERIOD JPERIOD accepts either an alpha representation of the date in the form DD MMM YYYY or a numeric representation of the date in the form YYYYMMDD If a date is not passed as an argument the system date is taken as the default Consider the following statements integer jperiod 25 DEC 1997 integer jperiod 19971225 integer jperiod xcall jperiod integer 19970101 Both the first and second statement are functionally equivalent and would store 2451125 in the integer variable The third statement would store the numeric value of the current system date in the integer variable The fourth statement is an example of how this function can be called as an external subroutine specifying a variable as the first argument The integer variable would contain 2450767 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 5 21 Programming in Synergy Language Programming Tips Converting numeric values to alpha dates DATE transforms any numeric value to its equivalent alpha repr
114. e is used in the program to load the column The second qualifier in quotation marks is the header text This text is visible on the menu bar when the column is placed or made available to your user In the ENTRY line the qualifier in the second column is the entry name When an entry is selected the entry name is returned in uppercase to the program using the Toolkit global variable g_entnam so the program can determine the event that caused the Toolkit routine to exit The third qualifier in the ENTRY line contains the text that is displayed in the menu column The entry options begin in the fourth column and can be specified in any order The key keyword indicates the shortcut to be associated with the menu entry select is the entry s quick select character In most applications a general menu column is available at all times to provide the basic functions the user can enter at any time Help Exit Abandon About and any application specific functions you choose The first column in the sample script is an example of a general menu column The third menu column in our example input contains only reserved menu entries When selected these entries are processed automatically by UI Toolkit without returning to the program Note that each column definition is terminated with a END This is required Compiling script files The next step is to add your definitions into a window library See Managing Window Libraries to Store and
115. e recommend that you use syn_set to add environment variables based on values in synergy ini instead of trying to override variables that are set in synergy ini We do not recommend using the SlickEdit set command to change the value of an AN environment variable To reset your environment variables back to what they were when you opened the project gt At the Workbench command line enter the following command syn_init_proj filename where filename is the name of a file that will list the environment variables and initialization settings after they are reset See Accessing the Workbench command line on page 2 5 if you need help displaying the Workbench command line Running Workbench on a Terminal Services machine or in a shared configuration On a Terminal Services machine or in a shared configuration the update_synergy command only creates the SlickEdit configuration directory for the user who is currently logged in For clients of a shared installation it creates this directory on the client machine For Terminal Services users it creates this directory on the Terminal Services machine Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 7 Developing Your Application in Workbench Accessing Synergy DE Tools Accessing Synergy DE Tools 2 8 You can start the following tools from the Synergy DE menu and or toolbar gt Composer Script Repository Method Definition utility v v v Ww Synergy DE online manua
116. e the ActiveX control by expanding the Workspace folder and then the Packages Namespaces subfolder Expand the ActiveX control or right click on it to select an option from the context menu You should be able to view all classes in the control all methods in each class including the parameters for each method and all properties in each class Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Compiling Building Running and Debugging Compiling Building Running and Debugging After you ve typed and edited your code you can compile build or link and run your project directly from Workbench by selecting the desired command from the Build menu or clicking the appropriate toolbar button See Customizing and adding commands on page 2 34 for instructions on changing your default commands Checking compilation errors If Workbench encounters any compilation errors it displays them in the Build tab of the output toolbar which is below the edit window You can move between compilation errors in the build window as follows To move to Do this The next error Press CTRL SHIFT DOWN ARROW The previous error Press CTRL SHIFT UP ARROW A specific error Click on that error As you select each error that line of code is highlighted in the Workbench editor Debugging a project To compile and build in debug mode set the SYN_DBG environment variable to d either in the
117. e the call to T_EDIT in a loop Exit from the loop is controlled by menu entries in a column placed before the call to T_EDIT a column that doesn t contain any reserved menu entries We allow T_EDIT to load our reserved entry menu columns for us The example takes all of the default text processing modes start at row 1 column 1 set insert mode edit in a forward direction allow lowercase input By passing the variables in the row column insert and case positions we save the exit value for each When the program returns to the top of the loop and calls T_EDIT editing resumes in exactly the same place in the same mode repeat begin xcall t_edit text_win row col insert dir case edit_col amp view_col text_help if g_select case g_entnam of begincase SAVE begin Save and resume call write_data exitloop end OQ _ABANDON exitloop endcase end Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 27 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries xcall e_exit return Step 6 View the contents of the text window Use T_VIEW to enable the user to scroll through the contents of a text window without editing it The example below does not put T_VIEW in a loop because the only event that causes it to exit is Exit When the user selects Exit there is no reason to re enter Scrolling through the window is handled by the reserved menu entries contained in the
118. ecord Description Company 2 c ind Select whether Null key I Compress index the value of this Subs sat re wed Null value I Compress record key can be insent at Key of ref J Compress key changed Modi fi Key density Excluded by ODBC g type Field name or Literal Structure name Type Order If duplicates are 1 F x COMPANY z z allowed select 2 Bp whether they llbe 3 cA inserted at the front or end of a list of records that have the same key value HAAR td Select whether the Enter the name of a field in the Enter the name key segment type is current structure for F a field of a different field F literal L or in a different structure for E structure for E external E or a literal string for L Figure 3 9 Defining a key Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 3 17 Setting Up Your Repository Defining Files for ReportWriter Enter the desired information in each input field and then exit the input window 6 Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each key you want to define When you re finished defining keys select Exit from the General menu Defining a relation between two structures 3 18 To enable ReportWriter to cross reference data between files you must create relations between structures A relation enables you to link the keys of one structure with the keys of another structure For example if you relate a company name key in a contact management file with a company name
119. ect Select Clear build window Select which files to Select when the character for the to clear the contents of the save before the entry will be entry by preceding window before executing command is displayed on the that character with the command executed menu an ampersand amp Figure 2 18 Customizing compiling building and running commands All new projects of this type and configuration will inherit these tools when the project is created If a project type has more than one configuration you will need to customize each configuration individually Customizing commands for a file being edited outside a Synergy DE project You can customize the commands for compiling building debugging and executing on a global level when a dbl file is opened with no open project or workspace 1 Close any open workspaces and files 2 From the Tools menu select Options gt File Extension Setup Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 35 Developing Your Application in Workbench Customizing Your Development Environment 3 In the Extension field of the Extension Options dialog box select dbl and select the Advanced tab if it s not already displayed 4 Click the Extension Specific Project button In the Project Properties For extension dialog box select the Tools tab if it s not already displayed Enter the desired information in each input field see figure 2 18 and then exit the dialog box You can add your own com
120. ed in S DE Repository to the input window you just created Select the input window in the Application window if it s not already selected Click the Repository field button on the toolbar Oy jab The Repository Fields dialog box is displayed Because this is the first repository field you re adding you need to add a repository structure before you can place any fields If you were adding a second or any subsequent repository fields you could skip steps 3 through 7 below Click the Select button The Select Repository Structure dialog box is displayed See figure 4 6 Select Repository Structure x Type or select the cture name of the i structure that aii z contains the fields ipti i Description Customer master file Click Repository to you want in your select a new input window Current Repository Main fle RPSDAT rpsmain ism repository Text file RPSDAT rpstext ism Repository Cancel Help Figure 4 6 Selecting a Repository structure Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 4 9 Designing Your User Interface Using Composer 4 Inthe Name field select the name of the structure that contains the fields you want to add to your input window 5 Click OK to return to the Repository Fields dialog box See figure 4 7 Click Expand All Click Collapse All to expand all to collapse all Click arrays in the list arrays in the list Select All
121. ed information in each input field and then exit the input window or move to a different tab in the dialog box to define additional information You can also get to the Method tab from the Field Definitions list Highlight the field you want to modify and select Edit Method Information from the Field Functions menu Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 3 13 Setting Up Your Repository Defining User Interface Characteristics 3 14 88 Field Definition H jrri M Leave method nethod P Dirt method E Change method M Edit ornat nethod ME Hgperiink method P Display method Figure 3 7 Defining method information Enter the name of a method subroutine that you ve written or plan to write gt Click the drilldown button to open the Choose Method File dialog in Workbench where you can create or modify the subroutine in the text editor Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Setting Up Your Repository Defining Files for ReportWriter Defining Files for ReportWriter Repository seamlessly supplies information to Synergy DE ReportWriter for creating reports When you define fields for use in ReportWriter you need to define not only the fields themselves but also the way the field will be used and displayed in a report the keys that determine the relationships between files and how those keys will be linked with keys from other structures and which files use which structures Defining a structu
122. eld for which you want to generate references To locate the item you want expand the Workspace folder and then the appropriate subfolder depending on what type of item you are looking for 2 Select References from the context menu Workbench searches all files in all projects in the current workspace to create a list of calls to the selected routine or references to the selected class class member or local field The call list is displayed in the References tab of the output toolbar See figure 2 16 To locate a reference in the Workbench editor double click on the occurrence in the results window or select the results window and press CTRL G to move your cursor through the results window one line at a time The appropriate file will be opened in the editor if it is not already open The source line containing the reference is displayed in the preview window in the References tab if you highlight the occurrence in the results window Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 29 Developing Your Application in Workbench Analyzing Your Code References A x Symbol dd_field proc x 0 6 in 1 file C SynergyDE workbench builtins builtins dbl 1 Sm E Aibuiltns dbl C SynergyDE w f lt subr gt dd _ alias dcs DDA_SLIST names_req array C SynergyDE lt subr gt dd control dces DDC INFO info iol 2dd field C SynergyDE e supr gt dd_exit des g dd field C ASynergyDE esupr gt dd field d
123. elect New The Project tab of the New dialog box is displayed See figure 2 5 TYP the name of your project using alphanumeric characters Workbench assigns a filename Project type ject name extension of vpj to each os Synergy DE project Synergy DE NET Component Create project directory from project name Location Select Create project directory Borland Delphi for Wind cee ewe D MyFiles dl from project name to create a Pm Files will be located at directory with the same name eaaa Bhein as the project G Java L Microsoft Executable name sas Type or select the directory in Create new workspace which you want your project to EL Synergy DE Synergy DE i Synergy DE NET Component Add to current workspace be saved If the directory you Synergy DE COM Component To Dependency off specify does not exist you will Sunerav INE Taua Camnanant be prompted to create it Type the executable name for this project or accept the default which is the name of Select Synergy DE Select Create new workspace to create the project with a exe a new workspace for this project or Add extension This field can be left to current workspace to add this project blank if the project is building to the current workspace more than one executable Figure 2 5 Creating a Synergy project Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 11 Developing Your Application in Workbench
124. emplates macros and anything you customize by selecting any of the following entries from the Tools gt Options menu General File Extension Setup File Options Redefine Common Keys v v v v vy Visual C Setup If the target machine has a brand new Workbench installation enter the command UN update_synergy at the Workbench command line before beginning this procedure Restart Workbench and change your editor configuration to match the machine whose configuration you are copying 1 Copy the following files from the source SlickEdit configuration directory to the target SlickEdit configuration directory File Description alias slk Directory aliases dbl als Synergy specific aliases diffmap ini Diff dialog settings ftp ini FTP setup oem vIx Color project vpe File extension command settings ubox ini Comments uformat ini Code formatting user vlx User defined color userve slk Version control setup usrprjtemplates vpt Project templates Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 39 Developing Your Application in Workbench Customizing Your Development Environment File Description vusrobjs e User defined dialog boxes and menus wbcfg e Workbench configuration file wbkeys e Workbench keymapping file a The usrprjtemplates vpt file is version specific and should therefore only be copied to a SlickEdit configuration directory of the same Synergy D
125. en section reposition the cursor acquire the input again redo the edits until you got acceptable data Only when this process was complete could you move on to the next field With UI Toolkit input windows you no longer have to think in terms of processing individual fields in a record Instead you deal with them as a group that is managed by Toolkit on your behalf Field information originates as an input window definition in a script file The script file can either define field options locally pull information from the repository or do a combination of both Since most fields in an input window have a corresponding field in the data area of your program it makes sense to define this data once in the repository and reference the definition in both your source and script files If you have input fields that will be used in more than one window it s also helpful to use S DE Repository to store field information such as position prompt and validation UI Toolkit s ability to extract information from Repository is one of its most useful features Most of the edits that you are used to making on input data can now be done automatically by UI Toolkit s input processor For instance you can specify that a particular field is decimal and must contain a value between 100 and 1000 If the user enters a value that is outside that range or that is not decimal data Toolkit will detect the error display the appropriate message erase the f
126. ence the named record as an integer as the second statement does record name ivar 14 ivar2 i4 clear ivar 1 8 clear i name Both of the statements below will generate an out of bounds condition While both types of data reference are common techniques in many legacy programs they are references outside the bounds of the definition of var and as such will be reported record var pd2 var2 a2 var 1 4 1010 var 2 10 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 5 11 Programming in Synergy Language Advanced Features Advanced Features Using dynamic memory Most applications need to allocate space to store varying amounts of data In the past this was accomplished by considering what the worst case would be and defining sufficient storage space to accommodate this situation This is quite inefficient for two reasons The first is that it causes the program to require more memory at runtime and more storage space on the disk The second is that if the application at some point in time exceeds the original estimate of the worst case the code has to be changed with all of the inherent inconvenience associated with code change A better solution is to allocate memory dynamically as it is required by the program When the program requires memory it simply tells the system how much it needs The system allocates the memory and returns a pointer to the base of the memory segment We refer to this pointer as a h
127. ensed for ODBC C Licensed for BPS Licensed for DTE OK Cancel Help We recommend that you run Composer and actually create this input window or one of your own as you read through the procedures below Don t be afraid to experiment and make mistakes you can always click the Undo or Redo button if you change your mind Designing an input window using repository fields Creating an input window When you create any object in Composer you can either let Composer place the object in a default location or you can specifically place it where you want it to go These instructions tell you how to create an input window of the size and in the location you desire 1 Click the Input window button on the toolbar 4 8 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Designing Your User Interface Using Composer Click and drag on the desired location in the Application window until the window is large enough to hold the fields shown in the screen above To create an input window of a default size in a default location simply double click the Input window toolbar button Adding a window title To specify a title to be displayed in the window s title bar Select the window by clicking on it in the Application window Click the Title property in the Properties window and enter the name of the title you desire Contact Folder in our example Adding predefined repository fields You can add input fields you ve defin
128. ently selected in the Application window If no object is selected in the Buttons Application window the properties displayed are Comments those of the active script file Properties lolx Long Short Some attributes have subattributes and must be expanded before you can view or modify the Nama subattributes Such attributes are preceded by a plus Paint character sign When the attribute is expanded it is El Position preceded by a minus sign To expand or collapse an attribute double click on it Repository fields Figure 4 3 The Properties window The Object Manager The Object Manager window displays a visual representation of the project file script file s and user interface object hierarchy in the following fz Object Manager OF x Object Tree View I lt Project psc gt order gt Project file A j m InputField1 gt Script file InputField2 fae A Button gt Containing object Button gt Contained object B inpute InputField3 From Object Manager you can move copy delete Linel or rename objects A Tet The Object Manager window has its own menu bar which contains functions available in Object Manager It also has a status bar at the bottom to indicate the activity being performed Sor lt Scrptlwse gt Figure 4 4 The Object Manager window Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 4 5 Designing Your User Inter
129. entries and calls C_PROCESS which passes the variables chan_icontacts chan_contacts list_contact and inp_contact to the method for the active child do_process run input loop for composite window do_process xcall c_process id_contain chan_icontacts chan_contacts amp list_contact inp_contact if g_select begin using g_entnam select O_ADD call add O_DEL call delete O_SEL call select O_EXIT call update j leaves g_select TRUE endusing end return Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 43 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Using Composite Windows to Combine Windows and Lists Step 5 Removing and deleting composite windows To remove a composite window remove the composite container window with the D REMOVE operation for U_WINDOW Use D_REMOVE to remove child windows as well For a child list use L_REMOVE Note the following gt Removing a composite window doesn t remove its child windows and lists it makes them invisible gt Removing a child with D_REMOVE or L_REMOVE removes the child from the display but doesn t disassociate it from the composite window To remove a child from the display and disassociate it from the container use the DC_REMOVE subfunction for 7C_CONTAINER To delete a composite window delete its container window To delete a child leave the environment it s logged in or use the D_DELETE operation for U_LWINDOW Note that
130. environment Then after you interactively design your general windows and input windows Composer will generate the appropriate window scripts Starting Composer To start Composer do one of the following gt From the Workbench toolbar select Composer gt From your SynergyDE folder in the Start menu select Composer gt Atacommand prompt type dbr SYNBIN composer If you are not in the directory that contains dbr exe DBLDIR bin must be in your path Likewise the SYNBIN environment variable must be in your path and it must be set to the directory in which Composer is installed What s on your Composer screen Composer consists of four windows gt The Control Bar window gt The Application window gt The Properties window gt The Object Manager window The Control Bar The Control Bar manages the entire Composer application It contains Composer s menu bar and toolbars To exit Composer close the Control Bar window Composer has two toolbars separated by a line gt The Standard toolbar gt The Object toolbar The Standard toolbar gives you quick mouse access to the most common project management object editing and window and tool access functions It has two tab sets Composer and Tools Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 4 3 Designing Your User Interface What Is Composer Composer lt Project psc gt File Edit View Object Options Tools Help Cor Tools Objects Input window
131. er to call Synergy logic from Java by implementing Java class wrappers and structure support The xfNetLink Java tools enable you to create a Java JAR file that references your Synergy methods in the Synergy Method Catalog If you re developing on Windows you can create a JAR file from within Workbench The JAR file presents a more natural interface for Java developers and can be used in a Java application JSP application or any other Java environment Java application Using a Java application you can create a two tiered solution that consists of a Java application running on the client and accessing Synergy logic on a remote Synergy server See figure 8 1 The Java runtime must be deployed on the client 8 4 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 JSP JavaServer Pages are a combination of HTML and programming code written in JavaScript and Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus What Are xfServerPlus and xfNetLink Java When a user s browser requests a JSP page the web server executes the embedded program and returns a pure HTML page to the browser Using JSP provides you with a three tier distributed system which includes an end user machine running a web browser a web server where xfNetLink and your JSP pages are located and a Synergy server See figure 8 2 JSP works with many Windows and UNIX web servers including Apache A servlet container for the web server is required Refer to the xfNetLink Java
132. erators are available to the Synergy Language developer to evaluate the relationship of alpha data Most developers know of the first group but are not aware of the significant difference in the behavior of the second group The two groups and their operators are as follows Relational operators String relational operators EQ EQS LT LTS GT GTS NE NES GE GES LE LES The difference in behavior between these groups is based on the length of the comparison that is made Relational operators perform their comparison based on the shorter of the two operands String relational operators perform their comparison based on the longer of the two operands with the shorter being logically extended with blanks spaces until the shorter operand is the same size as the larger operand This means that comparing A to ABC with EQS is logically equivalent to comparing A to ABC and the resulting truth value is FALSE Performing the same comparison with EQ is logically equivalent to comparing A to A and the resulting truth value is true This behavior holds for all of the string relational operators This distinction is most important when considering how the CASE and USING statements are evaluated These statements use the relational operator EQ in performing their comparisons This is a double edged sword your application may take advantage of this feature to generate matches for m
133. erver system allows both the client and the server to make the most efficient use of their power gt The client application manages the user interface gt The server system handles shared file or data access requests Freeing the server from interface tasks reduces processing time and memory usage You can take advantage of less expensive PCs when you expand your system s capabilities Today s microprocessors PCs rival the power of larger mainframes and they are faster and less expensive Instead of adding resources when you need to add users offload some or all of the system users to PCs Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Accessing Data Remotely with xfServer What Is xfServer What Is xfServer S DE xfServer is the technology that enables S DE developers to add client server capabilities to their Synergy applications It provides the connectivity layer for remote access to corporate data from Synergy client applications It consists of a server which can run on Windows UNIX and OpenVMS and clients which can be Synergy applications running on Windows and UNIX How the xfServer system operates Let s say we have a business contact application that is used by the account managers and support representatives in a large software company The Synergy application is located on the PCs the client systems of the sales and support staff while the data about customers because it needs to be shared resides on
134. es DDF_ENDGROUP leg ti erie lesubr gt dd field des DDF GROUP name Sdi Taid Con ksubr gt dd field des DDF_INFO name f_info 7 lt subr gt dd field dcs DDF_LIST names_req array s k lt subr gt dd _field des DDF_SLIST names_req array lt subr gt dd _field dcs DDF_TEXT field data all AA ft n sae nn TAIRA Search Results Ta Preview Reterences cm Bui Output Figure 2 16 Viewing routine references a se ee a Another way to find references 1 2 3 From the Search menu select Find Enter the name of the method or other item you want to search for and click the Files gt gt button In the Look in field enter the files or group of files to be searched If you click the dropdown button you can select lt Buffers gt to search all open files lt Workspace gt to search all files in the workspace lt Project gt to search all files in the project or the specified directory to search that directory Refer to the SlickEdit help for additional information about the Find dialog box or appending multiple search targets Click OK to begin searching for all places where this method or other name appears in the selected files Browsing an ActiveX control 2 30 To view all methods and fields within an ActiveX control Add the ActiveX control to a project if it s not associated with one already Select the Symbols tab on the project toolbar to display the Workbench class browser Locat
135. es the window s caption or title The application name customer name date or other application specific information is often displayed in the header gt Menu bar The menu bar is a single line mandatory region that appears just below the header All active menu columns are placed on the menu bar When a menu column is placed on the menu bar it is placed immediately to the right of the existing columns When a menu column is removed other columns shift to the left to fill in the void 6 4 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Starting UI Toolkit gt Body This region is where all of your windows lists and tabs are displayed It occupies the entire area between the menu bar and the information line gt Information line This single line section between the body and the footer is used to display dynamic screen specific information For example a brief description of the input required for the current input field might be displayed here gt Footer This is an optional section that is placed on the bottom of the screen immediately beneath the information line It can be zero to four lines The footer is used in conjunction with the header and the information line to present information to your users Like the header the footer usually contains more static application specific information The following code is executed once in the start up routine It initializes
136. es you to S DE Composer UI Toolkit s visual user interface designer for Windows environments We will take you through the steps of designing an input window and several of the objects it can contain Important Terminology 4 2 Defines several of the terms used in this chapter What Is Composer 4 3 Describes what Composer is what it looks like and how to run it Using Composer 4 8 Walks you through the design of an input window that contains predefined input fields imported from your repository radio buttons check boxes selection list fields a drilldown to a second input window lines standard input fields and command buttons This section also describes how to save and close a script file close a project and compile your script Designing Your User Interface Important Terminology Important Terminology What is an object In this manual when we refer to an object we mean any window list class menu column window field input field selection window entry menu entry text line box or button Each object is an independently designed element that has certain characteristics and values and exhibits certain behavior What is a window The term window refers to the window you re designing and encompasses general windows input windows and selection windows gt A general window usually conveys information such as error or informational messages gt An input window contains one or more defined input fields i
137. esentation of the date formatted as DD MMM YYYY DD MMM YY or a truncated version of the latter If no value is passed it will return the current system date as the default If the length of the alpha variable is too small to contain the entire date it will be truncated record avar11 all avar9 a9 avar6 ab avarll date 2450767 avar11 01 JAN 1997 xcall date avar9 2451125 avar9 25 DEC 97 xcall date avar6 2451125 avar6 25 DEC Converting numeric values or alpha dates to numeric dates NDATE transforms any numeric value to its equivalent numeric representation of the date formatted as YYYYMMDD or YYMMDD Alternatively it converts an alpha formatted date to a numeric formatted date If no value is passed it returns the current system date as the default If the length of the destination is too small to contain the entire date the date will be truncated record avar4 a4 avar6 ab avar9 a9 avar4 ndate 2451125 avar 1225 avar6 ndate 25 DEC 1997 avar 971225 xcall ndate avar9 2451125 avar 19971225 Converting numeric and alpha dates to a day of the week WKDAY takes either a numeric formatted date or an alpha formatted date and returns the ordinal day of the week for that date If the alpha format is used any portion of the date that is omitted will default to the system date record day 7 a Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday amp Thursday Friday Saturday group crimb
138. est skeleton generator utility see Testing Your Synergy Code in the Preparing Your Synergy Server Code chapter of the Developing Distributed Synergy Applications manual gt return status information in the form of status codes as well as results rather than displaying an error message If you are modifying existing routines you may want to convert them to AVAL functions to do this which enables you to return a status value without altering your argument list See VAL functions in the Understanding Routines chapter of the Synergy Language Reference Manual For robust client side code write your client side code to check for errors both xfServerPlus errors and errors from your client code Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus Design Considerations Guidelines to improving performance and resilience v v v v Minimize the number of trips to the server Minimize expensive operations such as starting your xfServerPlus connection Plan for multiple points of failure When determining what to include in your client side script keep in mind that client side script can be edited in a web browser or even disabled by the user Avoid including business logic that you don t want the user to tweak Favor client side processing over server side processing for simple field level validations that don t require server side data Take into account that informatio
139. et a title is specified and lines are drawn to organize the screen into logical sections The SET commands create input sets groups of fields to be processed or accessed as a unit And on Windows systems three buttons OK Cancel and Help will be displayed The BUTTON_SET command specifies that these buttons will appear horizontally at the bottom of the screen three buttons per row Step 2 Loading input windows Just like we had to load our menu columns with UI Toolkit we also must load our input windows The routine that does this is I LDINP xcall i_ldinp customer_inp g_utlib customer D_NOPLC Notice in the sample that the definition of the window is taken from the default window library the file open on the channel contained in g_utlib and that we are not placing it on the screen at this time D_NOPLC It is a common practice to load all windows and menu columns in your initialization code and then place them only when needed Step 3 Displaying an existing record To display read only data to a user use I DISPLAY to display or load the data into the window Then the U_POPUP routine can be used to hold the information on the screen until the user presses ENTER display_record xcall e_enter xcall u_window D_REMOVE So we can restore the screen customer_inp D_ALL D_PLACE xcall e_sect View customer info D_INFO D_CLEAR D_LEFT xcall i_display customer_inp custo
140. f the data division or parameter section for this routine For a more comprehensive discussion of these statements see the Synergy Language Statements chapter of your Synergy Language Reference Manual Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 5 3 Programming in Synergy Language What Is Synergy Language Data division A data division contains classes structures records fields groups literals temporary definitions references to data segments located outside of the program and possibly definitions of external functions that are referenced in the procedure division In addition we highly recommend that each routine contain comments that describe the purpose of the routine and define any interactions with other routines If the routine is an external subroutine function or method the arguments that are passed to and returned from the routine should also be defined The end of the data division and the start of the procedure division is defined by the PROC statement Procedure division The procedure division contains the logic and operational statements that will be executed to make your program perform the task you desire Each statement will be executed according to the syntax and semantics defined in the Synergy Language Reference Manual Synergy Language allows for data manipulation file and terminal I O program logic control arithmetic operations and conditional execution By combining these capabilities you should
141. face What Is Composer The order in which the objects are listed is the order in which they are generated when the script file is written or updated Files or objects that can be expanded are preceded by a plus sign Expanded files or objects are preceded by a minus sign To expand or collapse a file or object double click on it Script files or objects that have not been fully compiled display the letter U for unprocessed Using Help Composer has an extensive online Help system to give you instructions for just about anything you ll need to do If you can t find the information you need in this guide you can search the online Help for additional options and procedures gt From the Help menu select Composer Help Topics or click the Help Topics button on the toolbar D oO From the Help Topics screen see figure 4 5 you have three ways to search for information gt Click the Contents tab to browse through topics by category Help Topics Composer Help EEG Contents Index Find Click a topic and then click Display Or click another tab such as Index Where do start Designing a user interface Working with projects Working with script files The Composer desktop Reference information If you need further assistance Print Cancel Figure 4 5 Using Composer Help 4 6 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Designing Your User Interface What Is Composer
142. fic 3 8 formatting code automatically 2 15 FTP 2 42 to 2 45 function DATE 5 21 5 22 IJPERIOD 5 21 NDATE 5 21 5 22 TS_TABSET 6 39 JWKDAY 5 21 5 22 beginning 5 3 FUNCTION statement 5 3 G g_entnam 6 15 g_fldnam 6 45 g_select 6 15 6 22 g_setsts 6 22 g_utlib 6 10 generating code segments 2 22 GET statement in client server environment 7 6 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 global format 3 8 screen components 6 9 variable 6 6 H h_general window 6 37 handle memory 5 17 header UI Toolkit screen 6 4 help associating window with field 6 38 Composer 1 9 4 6 context sensitive 6 36 to 6 38 creating window 6 37 displaying on information line 4 15 identifier specifying 3 10 message generic 6 37 online implementing 6 35 to 6 38 Repository 3 2 Workbench 2 21 routine syntax 2 18 to 2 19 routines outside current file 2 19 2 20 HTML Help 6 35 hyperlink input field prompt 4 13 method 3 13 4 15 l T O limitations of xfServer 7 6 terminal 6 3 I_ DISPLAY routine 6 20 I_INIT routine 6 22 I INPUT routine 6 17 6 25 6 46 I_LDINP routine 6 20 I_NEXT routine 6 22 i4 variable 5 23 identifier variable as 6 7 include file extension 2 36 indenting code automatically 2 15 information line 6 5 specifying text on 3 10 4 15 initialization setting 2 5 initializing input window 6 22 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 input defining display format 3 8 entry and display 3 10 information 3 9
143. from within Workbench or from the command line The type library you create can be used with Visual Basic Active Server Pages and other COM compliant client applications to call routines residing on the Synergy server We discuss two of these options below Visual Basic Visual Basic VB is a Windows front end development tool that enables you to write applications in the Visual Basic language Using Visual Basic enables you to develop a two tier application a VB application on the client accessing Synergy logic residing on a remote Synergy server See figure 8 1 VB is an interpreted language so the VB runtime must be deployed on the client ASP ASP is similar to JSP in that it is a combination of HTML coding and scripting language either Visual Basic Script or JScript The page returned to the user s browser is pure HTML Using Active Server Pages enables you to create a three tier distributed system which includes an end user machine running a web browser a web server and a Synergy server See figure 8 2 Because ASP is a Microsoft solution it requires a web server that supports ASP such as Microsoft IIS See the xfNetLink COM Edition section of your Developing Distributed Synergy Applications manual for detailed instructions on using xfNetLink COM xfNetLink NET Edition xfNetLink NET in conjunction with Microsoft s NET Framework SDK enables you to create a NET client for xfServerPlus NET is a multi face
144. g input information You can also get to the Input tab from the Field Definitions list Highlight the field you want to modify and select Edit Input Information from the Field Functions menu Specifying how input will be validated To specify how input will be validated do the following from the Field Definition input window 1 On Windows click the Validation tab or press CTRL TAB until the Validation tab is displayed On UNIX or OpenVMS press TAB until the Validation tab is displayed See figure 3 6 2 Enter the desired information in each input field and then exit the input window or move to a different tab in the dialog box to define additional information Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 3 11 Setting Up Your Repository Defining User Interface Characteristics Select when if ever Select whether Select whether Specify the minimum break processing will nonblank nonzero negative values are and maximum values occur for this field input is required allowed on a numeric allowed in a numeric field 8 Field Definition Field Definition idation Method Display Input Val Select e COMPANY whether the field has a list Break No Negative allowed No of valid Range minimum entries Range maximum Select Allow list No v M Match case f Match exact whether the fedis e if displayed as a selection list Enumerated No and specify selection Template ove
145. group of fields click on the first field and then CTRL click on all additional fields you want to include in the group 2 Click and drag anywhere on the field or on any field in the group except on a sizing handle until the field s outline is in the location you want Changing a prompt To change the prompt for an input field 1 Select the input field in the Application window 2 Click the Prompt property in the Properties window and type the desired text of your prompt Creating a line To add a line to your input window 1 Select the input window by clicking on it in the Application window 2 Click the Line button on the toolbar 3 Click and drag on the desired location in the Application window until the line is the desired orientation and size Drag vertically if you want a vertical line or horizontally if you want a horizontal line Creating a command button To add an OK button to your input window 1 Select the input window by clicking on it in the Application window 2 Double click the Button button on the toolbar 3 In the Properties window Text is already displayed as the Face property so click the Text subattribute and enter the text OK 4 Click the Name attribute and enter the menu entry you want this button to generate in this case I_OK Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 4 11 Designing Your User Interface Using Composer You can repeat these steps to create Cancel and He
146. he Modify menu select Structures 2 From the Structure Functions menu select Add Structure The Structure Definition input window is displayed See figure 3 1 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 3 3 Setting Up Your Repository Defining a Record Layout for Use in an Application Enter a unique Enter a unique and structure name identifiable description for this structure 88 Structure Definition Select the Structure name CONTACT type of file you want to File type DBL ISAM X assign this Description Contact Master Record structure to pet Ene None Fadl OK Cancel Help Attributes Select a way to identify this structure uniquely if multiple structures will be assigned to one file or select None if the structure requires no tag Figure 3 1 Defining a structure 3 Enter the desired information in each input field and then exit the input window Defining fields To define the necessary fields in your new structure along with their data types and sizes 1 With the new structure highlighted select Edit Attributes from the Structure Functions menu 2 From the Attributes menu select Fields 3 From the Field Functions menu select Add Field The Field Definition input window is displayed See figure 3 2 3 4 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Setting Up Your Repository Defining a Record Layout for Use in an Application Enter a Enter a unique Enter the maximum number of Enter 1 unle
147. he old object file with the new one However you don t have to do anything else Because your programs contain only a pointer to the object file to be executed and the executable library keeps track of where the new object is located you don t have to relink your programs to take advantage of the change When your program is executed the Synergy runtime merely gets the new copy from the executable library gt more efficient distribution process Because your executable program contains only a referential pointer to another program image you can simply replace the executable library instead of redistributing an object library and the commands necessary to relink the application When the new executable library is installed your changes are already in effect gt creation by the Synergy linker You can either use an existing object library and create an executable library that contains all of your object files or you can have the linker put the object files directly into an executable library For instructions on creating an executable library refer to the Building and Running Synergy Language Programs chapter of Synergy Language Tools Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 5 7 Programming in Synergy Language Compiling Linking and Running Your Program Restrictions Once an image is inserted into an executable library it cannot be removed If you want to delete some images from an executable library you must delete
148. he project is no longer active the variable is unset or reset to its original value if it was already set when Workbench was invoked 2 6 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Where Do You Begin To make Workbench load the environment variables from the synergy section of synergy ini and then synuser ini gt At the Workbench command line or in the Open tab of the Project Properties dialog box enter the following command syn_set_synergy_ini path where path is the directory path to which the SFWINIPATH environment variable will be set The environment variables will be loaded from the synergy section of the synergy ini and synuser ini files in that path If path is not specified Workbench uses the default path for synergy ini and synuser ini as defined in Setting Environment Variables and Initialization Settings in the Environment Variables chapter of Environment Variables and System Options If syn_set_synergy_ini is not called in the project s Open tab it will be called after all project open commands Environment variables set with syn_set after syn_set_synergy_ini is called are available in the environment for any command that Workbench spawns Be aware however that the Synergy tools dbl dblink etc may read the synergy section of synergy ini which will override settings made in the spawned environment when these tools are launched from Workbench W
149. his channel If the list is being expanded in both directions the file must be opened twice once for the forward READS and once for the reverse READS In other words a channel must be dedicated to the list load method for each load direction Step 4 Load your list input window and selection column Before you can associate your list input window with a list the window must be loaded And like other UI Toolkit routines that get input from the user the list processor s selection routine recognizes a set of reserved menu entries The following statements to load both of these list components appear in the program s start up routine Make sure you load your list input window and selection column with the D NOPLC argument the input window and selection column will be placed and removed with the list automatically xcall m_ldcol lsel_col g_utlib list_sel D_NOPLC xcall i_ldinp customer_lst_inp g_utlib cont_l_inp D_NOPLC 6 32 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries Step 5 Create the list All of the components are in place and ready to be assembled We create our list with a call to the UI Toolkit routine L_CREATE Although the syntax is different L_CREATE can be compared to Toolkit s load routines in that it goes out to the window library finds the specified definition and loads it into memory The creation of the lis
150. ibrary The channel number on which this library file is opened is stored in the global variable g_utlib Our examples contain many references to this variable However your application can also have other window libraries open To do so simply use Toolkit s open routine U_OPEN to open the library in input mode To access any secondary window library simply pass the channel variable you passed to U_OPEN to the load routine 6 10 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries Creating Script Files and Window Libraries Script files are text files created by Composer or a text editor You can create window libraries using Composer Script or Proto For information on how to use Composer see chapter 4 Designing Your User Interface For information on how to use Script and Proto refer to the Script and Proto chapters of your UI Toolkit Reference Manual Creating and using menu columns windows and lists Creating menu columns UI Toolkit provides windows style pull down menus in both Windows and non Windows environments A menu column is a list of entries that pull down from the menu bar The menu bar can accommodate many menu columns although only one can be pulled down at any given time The menu bar and its associated columns are activated by pressing ALT on Windows or CTRL P on UNIX and OpenVMS Navigation through th
151. ic format to which Synergy DE windows are saved workspace A group of related projects in Workbench Glossary 8 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Index A access key 3 17 accessing memory 5 15 activating menu 6 11 Active Server Pages 8 6 Active Server Pages NET 8 7 ActiveX Diagnostic Utility starting 2 8 adding record 6 21 to 6 22 address server 7 5 advantages of Synergy DE 1 2 alias 2 22 to 2 26 customizing 2 24 expanding 2 17 2 22 parameters 2 22 Alias Editor dialog box 2 24 alias slk file 2 22 aligned integer 5 23 allocating memory 5 13 allowable entry specifying 3 12 alpha date converting from numeric value 5 21 5 22 to numeric date 5 21 5 22 Application window Composer 4 4 application developing 1 7 1 9 array defining for text window contents 6 28 arrive method 3 13 4 15 in distributed application 8 9 receiving arguments 6 46 using 6 45 to 6 47 ASP See Active Server Pages attribute 4 2 4 5 B behavior of field defining 3 9 to 3 13 bitmap graphic on command button 4 12 blank allowing in input field 3 12 body of screen 6 5 bounds checking 5 10 break processing 3 12 8 9 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 building program 5 6 customizing commands for 2 34 to 2 36 from Workbench 2 31 button adding to input window 4 11 bitmap graphic on 4 12 defining 6 20 BUTTON_SET script command 6 20 Cc caption window 6 4 case converting 3 11 matching 3 12 CASE statement pro
152. id when naming a menu entry that you want to return as an event to your program A detailed list of each reserved entry and its associated function can be found in Appendix B of the UI Toolkit Reference Manual T Text window viewing and display functions TS_ Tab set functions gt C_ Composite window functions gt E Editing routine functions gt I_ Inputroutine functions gt O_ Key mapping or renditions gt S_ Selection window and list navigation functions gt gt U_ Hot entry processing Sample menu script The following commands define three menu columns This code would reside in a script file Column general General entry o_help Help key F1 entry o_exit Exit key F4 entry o_abandon Abort key A entry g_about About end Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries column main Main entry customer Customers entry vendor Vendors end column input Tnput entry i_prev Previous field key UP entry i_next Next field key DOWN entry e_left Move left key LEFT select 1 entry e_right Move right key RIGHT select r end The first three qualifiers in each menu column definition the command the name and the text are required and must be specified in order In each COLUMN line the first qualifier after COLUMN is the column name This nam
153. ield and reposition the cursor for input For alpha fields you can create a list of correct entries to be displayed for the user the user will be able to select only from that list of valid options Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries Of course many other data validation options are available you can require nonblank or nonzero input to a field specify the help window for the field provide text to be displayed on the information line when the field is processed define a field s paint character specify a field s display format string identify routines to call when the user enters or leaves a field and more For more information on arrive and leave methods see Using Methods on page 6 45 With Repository you can define a field s characteristics once and all input script references to that field definition are assured the same characteristics If you need to change a field attribute for instance you have a department field that has an associated selection list and you want to add another department all you need to do is add that department to the selection list in your repository and rebuild your window library The next time your application is run every instance of that field on every screen in the application will contain the additional department You can also override any Repository characteristic except the data type
154. ield if C_LNAME and C_FNAME Is key complete call test_for_duplicates if duplicate then call init jInitialize for next input end endusing return init xcall u_message atrim cmpny already exists xcall i_init customer_inp customer customer return menu_choices using g_entnam select O_EXIT O_ ABANDON done TRUE G_ABOUT xcall u_about TITLE VERSION datecompiled endusing return Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 21 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries record_complete store customer_ch customer SERR_NODUPS store_error call init return Here the input processor has control of all input until one of three events occur gt The user makes a menu selection gt lt A break field is processed gt Every field in the input set has been input to After the call to I INPUT we test for one of these three events and call an internal subroutine to handle the event The key to understanding input processing is understanding the structure of the input processing loop and the tests performed to determine the exit event As we did in menu processing we use global variables provided by UI Toolkit to determine the event that caused I_INPUT to exit In our example we first examine g_setsts to find out if input processing is incomplete If the value is true nonzero we know input processing is incomplete eithe
155. ies Workbench File Edit Search View Project Build Debug Document Macro Tools Synergy DE Window Help inal NMAR MK AVSOlSSSIBO l Uw eo a E contact dbl D MyFiles Contact contact dbl Main example include ids gbl include WND tools def record date pall D es Pi Source Files H Header Files A Toolkit Script Files Other Files xcall u_rstrend xcall date date D_CENTER xcall u_start cv 1 1 7 Load renditions from reditions file xcall e sect CUSTOMER PROFILE D HEADER xcall e_sect date D_FOOTER xcall m_ldcol general_col g_utlib xcall m ldcol main_col g_utlib Search Results Wa Preven amp References 6 ld output general D_GLOBAL syn set synergy ini Line 4 Workbench command line Col No Selection RW REC Ins oD Figure 2 2 Typing at the Workbench command line Setting environment variables in Workbench To set an environment variable when a Synergy project is open gt At the Workbench command line or in the Open tab of the Project Properties dialog box enter the following command syn_set var value where var is the environment variable you want to set and value is the value you want to set it to This command overrides any variable set globally at a DOS prompt or in synergy ini while the current project is active If value is empty Workbench unsets var from the environment while the project is open When t
156. iguration 1 If you re in the Project Properties For filename dialog box click the Configurations button If not select Configurations from the Build menu The Project Configuration Settings dialog box is displayed 2 Click New The Create new configuration dialog box is displayed 3 Enter the name of the configuration you want to add and select a configuration whose settings you want to copy Click OK when you re finished 4 Highlight the configuration you want to make active and click the Set Active button Click OK when you re finished You can later change the active configuration from the Build menu by selecting Set Active Configuration and then selecting the desired configuration from the submenu Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 13 Developing Your Application in Workbench Setting Up Your Development Environment Adding a project to a workspace You can add a project to a workspace either when you create that project or later When you are creating a new project select the Add to current workspace radio button on the Project tab of the New dialog box See figure 2 5 To add a project to a workspace after the project has been created 1 From the Project menu select Insert Project into Workspace The Add Project to Workspace dialog box is displayed 2 Type or select the name of the project file you want to add to the current workspace Sharing workspace and project files can cause project corrupt
157. in the background the server program continually accepts requests from any client computers The server program s executable file is rsynd exe rsynd UNIX or rsynd exe and rsdmse exe OpenVMS WIN You can optionally log information related to xfServer To view the log choose Event Viewer from the Administrative Tools window The log of events appears under the rsynd source o The event log fills up quickly Remember to clear your event logs You can also monitor which files are open who opened them and whether they are locked by using the Monitor utility See The Monitor Utility for Windows in the General Utilities chapter of Synergy Language Tools Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 7 9 Accessing Data Remotely with xfServer What Is xfServer UNIX xfServer includes utilities you can use to manage your client server system To use these utilities add the appropriate option specification when you invoke the rsynd command For example to start the Monitor function so you can track client server activity use the m option when you execute the server command rsynd m The rsynd options m and v do not restart the existing rsynd daemon They merely return the server version v or enable monitoring m See The Monitor Utility for UNIX in the General Utilities chapter of Synergy Language Tools for additional information about monitoring the client server system VMS xfServer inc
158. in the command s in the above editor control The command s will be executed when the project is opened 7 Cancel Help Figure 2 17 Specifying project open commands The commands that you specify in this dialog box are executed before any initialization settings in the synergy section of synergy ini are loaded and set For details about specific commands select Search from the Help menu and search for those commands To save effort we recommend setting SFWINIPATH instead of individual settings Refer to TAN SFWINIPATH in the Environment Variables chapter of Environment Variables and System Options for details Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 33 Developing Your Application in Workbench Customizing Your Development Environment Customizing and adding commands You can customize the commands for compiling building debugging and executing for a project for a project type or for a file with an extension associated with Synergy DE when no project is opened For example if you have a version control system you can specify that the Build command on the Build menu is build or make or any other command you want it to be Alternatively you can specify a batch file that designates which files to build Workbench also enables you to create any number of tools to perform any desired commands Two customizable tools User 1 and User 2 are provided for you or you can create a brand new tool No
159. ing these routines you can standardize your installation procedures and simplify your maintenance overhead In addition to providing you with a mechanism for having a single set of sources for multiple platforms Synergy Language provides you with an excellent methodology for making data portable across platforms If you use the Synergy DBMS utilities and take advantage of the system supplied subroutines for ISAM file creation creating multikeyed access files on any supported platform is quite painless You do not need expertise in creating files on the target platform simply run your creation program and populate your database files with the supplied utilities The process is the same on any supported platform Synergy DE makes porting an opportunity not a problem Creating a source file If you are creating your source files for the first time it is important that you do it correctly as you may be able to use some of these routines as templates for future development Selecting an editor 5 2 Professional Series Workbench includes a Synergy Language sensitive visual editor that automates code formatting and provides keyword recognition and completion popup argument lists for Synergy routines and integration with the Synergy compiler If you re developing on Windows we recommend you use this visual editor to simplify your editing process Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Programming in Synergy Language What Is Synerg
160. inp 1 64 placement 2 2 title Company Contact field display a64 fpos 1 1 end Step 2 Define your list class As you can see there isn t much to a list class definition In the sample below we define a page as containing five items reserve one line for the header and specify the load method The list will be placed at row 1 column 15 listclass customer_list items 5 headers 1 load_method load_cust placement 1 15 end 6 30 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries Step 3 Create the load method Because your application does not call the load method directly you do not control the arguments passed to it you must write the routine to conform to the arguments that the list processor passes The arguments must match the format below exactly Communication between the subroutine and the list processor is accomplished through the request argument a_request A list can be expanded a new item added at the top at the bottom or at the top or bottom depending on settings specified when the list is loaded from the window library If the list is being loaded in both directions your load method will check the request argument to determine whether the next new item is to be added to the top or the bottom Do not depend on the order in which items are requested when two way loading is enabled because the u
161. inp_wndid inp_setnam amp a_inprec if passed a_disfld xcall i_disable inp_wndid a_disfld Can t modify the key field freturn D_OK notfound xcall u_msgbox Entry not found freturn D_EMITTEDERR endfunction The contents of WND inpinf def are displayed below group inputinfo a inp_wndid 14 Input window ID inp_setnum 14 Set number inp_setndx 1i4 Set index field number within set inp_fldnum gid Field number within input window inp_nulinp 14 Performing null input TRUE FALSE inp_fldtype 14 Field type D_ALPHA D_DECIMAL D_FIXED D_TEXT D_INTEGER D_USERTYPE inp_empty 14 Is the field empty inp_setnam 14 Pointer to name of current input set inp_fldnam 14 Pointer to name of current input field 6 46 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Using Methods inp_usertype i4 Pointer to user defined data type inp_usertext i4 Pointer to user text string inp_pre_atr i4 Input processing attributes inp_pre_clr i4 Input processing color inp_dsp_atr i4 Field display attributes inp_dsp_clr i4 Field display color inp_clr_atr i4 Field clear attributes inp_clr_clr i4 Field clear color inp_entered i4 Data modified inp_return 14 RETURN key pressed inp_navevent i4 Type of navigation occurring see tools def endgroup See also The UI Toolkit Reference Manual for infor
162. input windows text windows selection windows menu columns and list classes These definitions are in a special binary format that is optimized for processing by Toolkit Benefits of window libraries Window libraries enable you to make changes to the visual portion of your application without having to rebuild the associated code Because the joining of these two parts is not done until the program is executed you can change the visual portion of your application by changing your script files and rebuilding the associated window library A further benefit of window libraries is that you can have multiple libraries that use the same procedural code Your basic application can be exactly the same but you can have a different window library for each customer or department For example your procedural code could process a module that determines a user s security level Based on this information you could open a different window library that matches the security level associated with that user One window library has an opening menu with 10 choices another has an opening menu with 5 choices Your application s procedural code does not require any change to restrict access to choices that are not on the menu the choices simply do not exist for a user if the associated menu entries are not displayed Specifying a window library When you initialize UI Toolkit using U_START the first argument you specify is the name of your primary window l
163. internal value assigned by UI Toolkit that associates a keyboard s escape sequences with menu entries The name of a function code For example on a PC the default name of Function 1 is F1 A repository format that can be used by a field definition in any structure A pointer to the base of the memory segment Glossary 3 Glossary HTML hyperlink method information line input field input information input set input window integer data Java JavaServer Pages JSP key key map key map file leave method License Manager linking Glossary 4 HyperText Markup Language the authoring language used to create documents on the World Wide Web A subroutine that s called when the user clicks on an input field prompt A single line at the bottom of the screen body that is used to display messages and general information A window field associated with a set of characteristics that defines how terminal input and display are to occur Determines how input must be entered and how it will be displayed and interpreted A list of one or more fields in an input window It defines the default order for processing fields A window that contains one or more input fields A byte oriented binary representation of a signed whole number An interpreted language used to write applications and applets A web page that combines HTML and programming code written in JavaScript When a browser requests a
164. ion or abnormal side effects AN We strongly recommend that workspace and project files reside on your local hard drive 2 14 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Editing Synergy Code with the Workbench Editor Editing Synergy Code with the Workbench Editor Professional Series Workbench includes a language sensitive visual editor that provides automatic code indentation Synergy Language recognition Synergy Language compiler integration gt gt gt gt Context Tagging gt repository awareness context sensitive routine help Setting up automatic code formatting and completion To set up or customize automatic code indentation and completion 1 From the Tools menu select Options gt File Extension Setup and click the Indent tab if it is not already selected 2 Inthe Extension field select dbl 3 In the Indent style field select Syntax indent so that the editor will indent your code according to Synergy Language syntax when Enter is pressed and type the number of characters that each level should be indented If Indent with tabs is checked pressing Tab or Enter will indent with tabs rather than spaces The value in the Tabs field sets the tabbing increment or individual tab stops We recommend that the Tabs value be either the same as or a multiple of the value of aN Syntax indent If these values do not match tabs will only be inserted when the curs
165. ject Package for project dialog box select the Tools tab if it s not already displayed Enter the desired information in each input field as shown in figure 2 18 Then exit the dialog box Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Customizing Your Development Environment Select the configuration Select the tool you want to change you want to modify or click New to define your own tool from scratch Click the arrow key to display a selection list of variables to help you build your desired command Type the command you want the specified tool to execute W Project Package for Synergy DE ys Settings for All Configurationy Build Select Capture Compie li output to capture e a ne the command s Debug Execute Generate Syneray Prototypes Type or select the directory from which to run the command By default commands are run from the working directory rw output and process it with Workbench s built in error message processing facility 7 Output to build window I Build First Do not check this J Clear build window Command is Slick C macro box for COM Java I Verbose output or NET projects Select Output to Type the text that build window to Jessa ing focity will appear on the send captured l F Project menu as output to the build the menu entry for window this tool Indicate the quick sel
166. k the OK button You can also define display input validation and method information by moving to those tabs before clicking OK These tabs are discussed in Defining field attributes on page 3 9 Make sure the Excluded from Language field is not checked you will need to be able to access the fields you define later You can ignore the Template overrides section for this example Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 3 5 Setting Up Your Repository Defining a Record Layout for Use in an Application Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each field you want to define We suggest you define all of the example fields except the fax modem and notes fields which you can define by following the instructions in Defining a field by copying an existing one on page 3 6 Defining a field by copying an existing one If a field you re defining is similar to an existing field you can make a copy of the first field and then modify it to create a new field For example in our sample application you can create the fax and modem fields by copying the phone field To copy a field Highlight the field you want to copy in the Field Definitions list From the Field Functions menu select Copy Field Enter a unique name for the new field and modify the information in any of the remaining input fields as desired then exit the input window Reordering fields The order in which the fields are listed determines the order in which they will exist
167. key in a sales transaction file ReportWriter can access sales information for each company when you create a report of your business contacts We recommend that you set up every relation you can think of that a ReportWriter end user might possibly need To define a relation Highlight the structure you want to define a relation for in the Structure Definitions list If the Attributes menu is already present on your menu bar skip steps 1 and 2 and go directly to step 3 From the Structure Functions menu select Edit Attributes From the Attributes menu select Relations From the Relation Functions menu select Add Relation The Relation Definition input window is displayed See figure 3 10 Enter the name of the access or foreign key 28 Relation Definition ojx you want to relate Relation name f Enter the name of the From str structure to which you From key want to relate the first structure To structure Enter the name of an To key ____ conpany_Nane access key to which you want to relate the From OK Cancel Help Figure 3 10 Defining a relation Enter the desired information in each input field and then exit the input window Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each relation you want to define Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Setting Up Your Repository Defining Files for ReportWriter Defining a file Defining your database files through Repository enables you to access those files from
168. lar third party SQL databases gt easily create and maintain your application Draw and maintain user interface elements in a visual environment Easily add new features to accommodate your customers changing needs Quickly customize and localize your user interface gt keep your applications portable Develop your applications in any environment Windows virtually all UNIX platforms OpenVMS and in most cases deploy in other environments by simply relinking gt save time Save development and maintenance time by creating and reusing object and executable libraries Call routines or share information with applications written in other languages Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 What Is Synergy DE What Is Synergy DE gt use functional depth Develop complete applications by working only at the high level such as in Composer or by calling environment supplied subroutines or drop down to the core level where you have complete flexibility to customize all aspects of your application gt manage the development process Eliminate duplication of work by reusing supplied and custom libraries and centralizing all data definitions where the entire development team can access them and ensure consistency between efforts gt reduce maintenance Centralizing data definitions and libraries means that changes can be made in one central location rather than throughout thousands of lines of codes Getting Started wi
169. le containing the tag is displayed and you can double click on it to edit the file Otherwise the tag symbols are listed and you can double click on a tag symbol to go to that tag If the source file contains a INCLUDE as the first line in the file the Symbol tab does not AN display the definition of tag symbols in the file Adding files to the workspace s tag database 1 From the Tools menu select Tag Files or click the Tag Files button on the Symbol tab The Tag Files dialog box is displayed See figure 2 11 E Context Tagging Tag Files Workspace Tag File D MyFiles Contact Contact vtg Auto Updated Tag Files b DBL Tag Files Fa Documents and Settings User My Documen C Program Files Synergex SynergyDE workbench builti Select the tag file you want to add files to Click Add Files Done f Add Files Add Tree Remove Tag Fie Remove Src File Options Up Down Add Tag File Retag Src Files Rebuild Tag File Auto Tag Figure 2 11 Adding files to a tag file 2 Select the tag file you want to add files to and click the Add Files button The Add Source Files dialog box is displayed 3 Inthe File name field type or browse for the name of a file you want to add and click the Open button The file you select will be added to the list of files in your tag file 4 Repeat steps 2 and 3 for as many files as you want to add Setting
170. le it Creating executable libraries As useful as object libraries are they have limitations If your source code changes not only do you have to recompile the module but you also have to relink every application that included that particular object file This could be time consuming if your application is large and the object file you have changed is common to most of your programs To address this issue as well as others Synergy Language provides a feature called executable libraries An executable library is different from an object library in that the object file is not included in the executable program Instead the linker includes a referencing pointer to where the routine is located in the executable library When the Synergy runtime executes your program and the routine is called the runtime knows how to execute the code from the executable library Four advantages of using an executable library instead of or in addition to an object library are gt smaller programs If you have a subroutine that is called by several programs and you re not using an executable library each executable program contains a complete copy of the compiled subroutine As a result your programs are larger in size and use more memory when executing Using an executable library can significantly reduce the size of your program images gt time savings As with an object library if you change an object file you have to recompile the file and replace t
171. leases it end 5 16 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Programming in Synergy Language Advanced Features Static vs volatile handles Handles are classified as one of two types static or volatile gt Static handles are persistent and do not get released when the activation level of the generating routine is exited They are stored as positive numbers gt Volatile handles are dynamic and go away along with the routine activation level They are stored as negative numbers Both static handles and volatile handles go away when the entire program is exited or the handle is explicitly released Dispatching routines dynamically Synergy Language provides a system routine XSUBR that enables programs to determine at runtime what external routine will be called This capability provides a multitude of opportunities for the application developer to provide flexibility in routines Consider the case where the name of a routine to be called is returned to a UI Toolkit program with a special prefix You could add a completely new feature to the code simply by changing the menu column in the window library and adding the routine to an associated executable library You wouldn t have to change any code or even relink the application Consider the following script definition column functions Functions entry s_rolodex Rolodex entry s_calculate Calculator entry s_diary Diary entry s_mailbox Mail end The
172. lementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Managing Display Levels with Environment Processing Local and global screen components By default when you load a window or column it is local to the current environment This means that any subsequent environment cannot delete it from Toolkit memory although it can be removed from the screen and when the environment that loaded it is exited the window or column is deleted If you want any environment to be able to delete a window or column or if you don t want a window or column to be deleted when the environment that loaded it is exited you can promote the window or column to global status by passing an argument to the Toolkit routine that loads it See also The Environment Routines chapter of your UI Toolkit Reference Manual for more information about environment processing Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 9 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Managing Window Libraries to Store and Retrieve Display Components Managing Window Libraries to Store and Retrieve Display Components Much of what you will do as you develop with UI Toolkit is to separate your procedural code from your display information The procedural code will remain in your program source but the display information will reside in script files These script files will be processed into special ISAM files called window libraries that store the definitions of Toolkit screen components
173. lications manual provides additional information about building a distributed computing system 1 8 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 What Is Synergy DE Using the Documentation Using the Documentation Getting Started with Synergy DE This manual is primarily intended for experienced developers who are new users of Synergy DE tools It provides a technical overview of all components of Synergy DE as well as a task oriented cookbook for developing with Professional Series Like a tutorial this guide walks you through the basic tasks illustrated in figure 1 2 that you will perform as you develop your Synergy application It also discusses client server and web development Online Help Composer has a complete online Help system including context sensitive help The Composer Help system provides online instructions for performing any task in Composer You can search for information about any topic and then display that information with hypertext links to additional related information on the screen The context sensitive help informs you to how to proceed from the current point or defines your current options Workbench also has an online Help system as do many of the Synergy DE utilities Synergy DE reference manuals and user s guides Here s a list of other manuals that will assist you in using Synergy products gt Synergy Language Reference Manual Describes the syntax of all statements functions subrou
174. listed in the Project files field If you want to add a new configuration to this project see Defining multiple configurations of a project on page 2 13 below Exit the dialog box when you re done unless you want to define other project properties To add additional files including ActiveX controls later right click on the project in the Projects tab of the project toolbar and select Add Files The dialog box in figure 2 6 is redisplayed Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Setting Up Your Development Environment Add Source Files 2 fx Lookin E Contact gt 2 ea amp contact dll Contact sde E corp txt E makefile gl simple c E simple def Select the files you want to add to your project Use CTRL click to select more than one file at a time Click Open to add the selected files to your project Files of type Figure 2 7 Adding files to a project Defining multiple configurations of a project The most common use of project configurations is to enable you to have a debug version and a release version of your project without defining two different projects To accomplish this you can either configure your build commands to place the object code in different directories or perform a rebuild after switching configurations In addition the build commands for the debug version need to specify any debug options To add a conf
175. lled down would position you to the Abort choice Pressing a again would position you to the About choice Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 11 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries 6 12 Using reserved entry names The menu entries described so far return as events to be processed by your program But another class of entries is handled automatically by UI Toolkit without ever exiting the Toolkit routine from which they were selected These are called reserved entries When any menu selection is made Toolkit checks the entry name before returning to your program If it recognizes the entry as one of the set of reserved entry names Toolkit performs the associated task and then resumes processing without returning to your program These reserved entries are used to activate many of the standard functions of UI Toolkit so you don t have to Commands to control text editing field navigation context sensitive help and list navigation are among those enabled by reserved entries To take advantage of these capabilities Choose the functions you want to enable Include the appropriate reserved entry name in a menu column Place the column on the menu bar You don t have to write any code you don t have to call any routines just activate the feature by enabling your user to select it from the menu bar Below is a list of reserved prefixes to avo
176. lling by including them in an ELB or shared image and using the Method Definition Utility to define them in the Synergy Method Catalog SMC xfServerPlus receives a request to execute a Synergy routine from the remote client translates the request executes it and returns the results to the client xfServerPlus uses the dbs service runtime xfNetLink Synergy Edition xfNetLink Synergy is a set of routines distributed with Synergy DE Professional Series These routines work in conjunction with xfServerPlus to execute Synergy routines stored on a remote machine Using xfNetLink Synergy you can create a two tier distributed application consisting of a Synergy user interface on the client accessing Synergy logic residing on a remote Synergy server See figure 8 1 A Synergy front end provides your users with a familiar look Because the client API is provided by Synergy Language you can use it on all supported Synergy platforms The Synergy runtime must be deployed on the client There are two ways to use xfNetLink Synergy RXSUBR and the xfNetLink Synergy API and the routine call block API You can use other Synergy DE tools to develop your xfNetLink Synergy application Composer provides drag and drop GUI development as well as platform independence and Workbench can be used to edit your Synergy code For more information see the xfNetLink Synergy Edition section of your Developing Distributed Synergy Applications manual For details o
177. loaded above reside in cust_lib In this example the input and select menu columns are loaded but not placed on the menu bar Because this is the only place in the application that loads these columns and this code is only executed once there is no need to pass the optional search argument Notice too that the general column is promoted to global status All global menu columns are placed on the menu bar to the left of local columns regardless of their placement order By making the general column global we can also take advantage of UI Toolkit features that allow placement and removal of columns by their local or global status Step 3 Processing menus The following sample code demonstrates basic menu processing While placed menu columns and their entries are accessible in almost every UI Toolkit routine that receives input from the user M_PROCESS is the Toolkit routine that forces the menu bar to process Below is one method for giving your user a list of options at the start of an application It assumes that the entry names returned by M_PROCESS match the name of the programs they activate do begin xcall m_process customer if g_select begin xcall e_enter xcall m_column D_REMOVE D_LOCAL xcall xsubr g_entnam xcall e_exit end end until done_flg 6 14 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries The code starts
178. logic residing on a remote Synergy server See figure 8 1 ASP NET Active Server Pages NET are similar to Active Server Pages They are a combination of HTML coding and scripting language For ASP NET that language can be any Common Language Runtime compliant language the most commonly used languages are C and VB NET Using ASP NET enables you to create a three tier distributed system which includes an end user machine running a web browser a web server and a Synergy server See figure 8 2 ASP NET requires a Windows web server running Microsoft IIS Web services Web services are business components that provide functionality to a web or desktop application They serve as black boxes callers use the API that you publish and don t need to know anything about the inner workings of the component Web services provide you with discreet reusable components They are easily upgraded and can be called by multiple applications Because Web services are a NET solution you can write them in any language that supports NET however they can be deployed only on Windows servers running Microsoft IIS A Web service is not a complete solution It is simply a component that is called by another application Web services must be published on the web so that anyone can use them which requires that you establish and adhere to strict security protocols See the xfNetLink NET Edition section of your Developing Distributed Synergy Appli
179. lp buttons or any additional buttons you desire The Name properties for standard Cancel and Help buttons should be O_ABANDON and O_HELP For nonstandard buttons you can assign functionality in one of two ways gt Inthe Name property enter the name of a menu entry as instructed in step 4 above gt Inthe Method property enter the name of a method routine that will perform special processing or click the drilldown button to display the Choose Method File dialog box in Workbench so you can select or create a source file that contains or will contain the method routine code See Using code templates on page 2 26 for more information You can also enter the name of an executable subroutine library in the Library subproperty If you want to create a button that displays a bitmap graphic instead of text simply select Bitmap as the Face property and then enter the name of the bitmap file including the full directory path or logical A button can also have a quick select character which enables the user to simulate clicking the button in your application by pressing ALT character If you want the button to have a quick select character click the Select character attribute and enter the quick select character If the button contains text the first occurrence of the quick select character will be underlined Designing an input window from scratch Now we re going to create an input window whose fields have not been predefined in Reposit
180. ls To launch one of these applications or to bring it to the forefront if it s already running do one of the following gt From the Synergy DE menu select the desired application gt Click the desired toolbar button as shown in figure 2 3 Composer Repository 40 uae as Script Compiler Method Definition Utility Synergy DE Online Manuals Figure 2 3 The Synergy DE toolbar When Composer is selected if a Synergy DE project is open and a script file is active Composer is launched with that script file If no script file is active or no script files exist in the project the Launch Composer dialog is displayed where you can select an existing script or create a new script to edit in Composer We do not recommend or support the maintenance of multiple versions of Workbench or Composer If you are planning to maintain multiple versions of Synergy DE you must remove the older versions of Workbench and Composer before installing the newest version The following utilities are also available from the Utilities submenu gt ActiveX Diagnostic utility gt Script to Repository Conversion utility gt Synergy Control Panel Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Accessing Synergy DE Tools Method Definition utility Synergy Type Library Configuration utility Synergy NET Configuration utility SMC ELB Comparison utility Variable Usage utility v v v v
181. ludes a utility called servstat that you can use to manage your OpenVMS server system See The servstat Program in the General Utilities chapter of Synergy Language Tools for more information See also 7 10 gt The Configuring xfServer chapter of your Installation Configuration Guide for additional information about setting up your xfServer system gt Chapter 8 Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus for information about logic access Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 8 Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus Overview 8 2 What Are xfServerPlus and xfNetLink 8 3 Describes xfServerPlus and the four xfNetLink editions Design Considerations 8 8 Discusses some of the issues you will need to consider to create a successful distributed application 8 1 Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus Overview Overview Synergy DE enables you to create robust two tier and multi tier distributed applications including web enabled thin client solutions using xfServerPlus xfNetLink and Professional Series Workbench Using these tools you can update your existing Synergy applications by adding a modern interface without completely rewriting your Synergy code The user interface can be handled through applications written in Synergy Visual Basic Java or a NET capable language such as C or VB NET Or you may choose to develop a web solution using Active Server Pages A
182. ludes the Professional Series Development Environment toolset an integrated launchpad that brings these tools together Synergy Language sensitive code editing capabilities and project management tools Professional Series Workbench is only available on Windows What Is Professional Series Workbench 2 3 Defines Professional Series Workbench Where Do You Begin 2 4 Describes how to set up the startup environment and how to run Workbench Accessing Synergy DE Tools 2 8 Explains how to launch Synergy DE tools from Workbench Setting Up Your Development Environment 2 10 Describes the benefits of using workspaces and projects and explains how to create them Editing Synergy Code with the Workbench Editor 2 15 Explains how to edit a file automate code formatting and completion based on your own company style display popup help for routine syntax and work with tag files Generating Synergy Code Segments 2 22 Describes how to use aliases and code templates to quickly generate Synergy Language UI Toolkit code for some of the more common code structures including your own method routines Analyzing Your Code 2 28 Describes the analysis tools that can help you identify which routines are called by a specified routine and which routines call a specified routine Compiling Building Running and Debugging 2 31 Describes how to compile build and run your project from Workbench as well as how to customize compile build debug a
183. ly 5 18 registering memory 5 14 relation defining 3 18 keys 3 16 relational operator 5 20 renaming object 4 5 reordering fields 3 6 report defining fields for 3 15 displaying field in 3 15 justifying data 3 16 ReportWriter 1 5 defining fields in Repository 3 15 to 3 21 Repository 1 5 3 1 to 3 21 defining record layout 3 3 to 3 6 ReportWriter files 3 15 to 3 21 user interface characteristics 3 7 to 3 13 displaying list of valid data 3 2 getting help 3 2 input fields in 6 16 6 17 6 19 starting 2 8 3 2 repository converting from script file 2 8 field adding to input window 4 9 requirements xfServer 7 9 reserved entry defining column for 6 17 loading 6 17 prefixes 6 12 text editing 6 26 using 6 12 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 resizing field 4 13 memory 5 13 object 4 13 restriction executable library 5 8 routine dispatching dynamically 5 17 displaying argument list 2 18 identifying type 5 3 moving between in Workbench editor 2 19 ROUTINE token 2 27 running Composer 4 3 program 5 5 5 8 customizing commands for 2 34 to 2 36 from editor 5 8 from Workbench 2 31 Repository 3 2 runtime 1 5 service 8 3 S SAVE debugger command 2 32 saving script file 4 16 structure 3 6 work Composer 4 16 screen default UI Toolkit 6 4 restoring 6 8 script command BUTTON_SET 6 20 COLUMN 6 13 END 6 13 ENTRY 6 13 SELECT 6 25 SET 6 20 script file 4 2 closing 4 17 compiling 4 17 converting to reposito
184. manage your data from one central location and create comprehensive reports An underlying philosophy If you were building a house you would need many tools ranging from the very powerful to the very basic Having these tools readily available would reduce the time and maximize the efficiency with which you could complete the job This same principle applies to developing a business application Well chosen accessible tools make the job a lot easier Using the right tool for the right job is the fundamental philosophy of Synergy DE Using Synergy DE you can focus most of your resources on your vertical or custom application because Synergy DE takes care of your systems level development Advantages of Synergy DE 1 2 Synergy DE enables you to gt take advantage of one of the most highly scalable distributed technologies Unique Synergy multi tier technology enables you to scale your application from one stand alone machine to an enterprise wide system hosting thousands of users gt open your Synergy business logic and data to a variety of thin client technologies Using Synergy DE xfNetLink and xfServerPlus you can build distributed solutions that enable Web browsers Visual Basic front end applications Active Server Pages or Synergy thin clients to access Synergy routines and database files gt maintain database independence Third party applications can access your Synergy data and your Synergy application can access popu
185. mands using the New button although they will not appear in the menu Adding file extensions to Workbench Workbench enables you to specify your own file extensions for source files include files and UI Toolkit script files in Synergy DE projects For example unless you specify additional script extensions only scripts with the extension wse will be recognized in Composer and Workbench The extensions you specify will be added to the appropriate dialog boxes in Workbench To specify a new filename extension for a Synergy DE project 1 From the Synergy DE menu select Utilities gt File Extensions 2 Enter the desired information in each input field see figure 2 19 and then exit the dialog box Click to add the specified extension Type the file extension you want to add File Extension Maintenance xi File extension Select the type of file you re ii eS adding an extension for C Source file C Header file File extensions If you want to disassociate an extension from Synergy select it here and then click Remove Figure 2 19 Specifying different script extensions 2 36 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 3 Developing Your Application in Workbench Customizing Your Development Environment If you ve added a UI Toolkit script file extension and you want the default for a script file to be something other than wsc change the default extension in Composer by doing
186. mation on all Toolkit methods including input methods list methods and environment methods Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 47 7 Accessing Data Remotely with xfServer What Is a Client Server System 7 2 Defines a client server system and identifies its benefits What Is xfServer 7 5 Explains what you can expect from your xfServer system operation the basic requirements for setting up your system and the client and server components of your system Accessing Data Remotely with xfServer What Is a Client Server System What Is a Client Server System A client server system is a computer network in which one or more computers act as clients requesting services or access to data and one or more computers act as servers processing the clients requests The primary objective behind setting up a client server system is to set up some computers on a network as user interface specialists and some computers as shared data specialists A basic client server model In a basic two tier client server model the bulk of the application including the user interface and logic processing resides on the client machine See figure 7 1 The client is usually a PC but it can also be a workstation connected to a multiuser system The data as well as the logic that maintains the data s integrity is centralized on the server When a client application needs to access remote data it sends the request over the network
187. mber of session servers in the free pool these temporary processes are deleted after servicing the client s request xfServer operates on OpenVMS as follows 1 The connection manager receives a request from a client application 2 The connection manager assigns a session server process from the pool of processes 3 The assigned process completes the connection to the client application 4 The process services the client s request During processing the connection manager won t assign the process to another request After the process has completed the client s request the process sends a message back to the connection manager and waits to be reassigned See figure 7 4 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 7 7 Accessing Data Remotely with xfServer What Is xfServer Process Waiting for Waiting for completes assignment assignment connection Connection Manager z a Assign process Status ql Server receives client request AIAN A Actual Client Server Processing Figure 7 4 OpenVMS server processing How the user sees the system You may be asking yourself Will my users have to perform any extra steps to access the files on the server Your users will see the application operate exactly as it did before Data requests and transfers between the client and the server will be completely transparent to the
188. mer Fill the window with data xcall u_popup g_utlib customer Freeze the screen xcall e_exit Then restore the screen return Return to where we were In this example a new environment is entered to enable us to reverse screen changes when we are done Next U_WINDOW is called to remove all other windows and place the customer window I_DISPLAY is then called to load the window with data Once the window contains the data to display U_POPUP is called to update and freeze the screen When the user presses ENTER the new environment is exited returning the screen to the state it was in when display_record was called Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries Step 4 Adding a new record An input window that is used to get user input is processed in a loop Consider this example process window xcall e_enter xcall u_window D_PLACE customer_inp Place at default position do begin Begin input loop xcall i_input customer_inp customer customer input_col amp select_col text_col if g_setsts then Menu entry or break field begin if g_select then call menu_choices Menu selection else call break_fields Break field end else call record_complete Input set complete end End input loop until done clear done xcall e_exit return break_fields using g_fldnam select CMPNY begin Check after each f
189. miliar software system The generated list of called routines can be especially useful when you are converting legacy systems into components Or if you want to expose a method in a component generating a call tree of that method enables you to view all the methods called from that method which can help you determine the scope of work needed to expose the method Launching the call tree A call tree can only be generated when a workspace is loaded 1 From the Symbols tab of the project toolbar right click on the routine for which you want to generate a call tree To locate the routine you want expand the Workspace folder and then the Global Functions or Global Procedures subfolder depending on whether you re looking for a function or a subroutine respectively 2 Select Calls or uses from the context menu A call tree is displayed for all methods under the selected method See figure 2 15 The call tree continues searching through submethods until either there are no more submethods the submethods loop back recursively to an existing method or the call tree reaches a method that is defined outside of the project To place your cursor at the beginning of a call in the Workbench editor double click on that call in the Symbol Uses Calling Tree window Determining what appears in the call tree To toggle which items are included in the call tree 1 Right click in the Symbol Uses Calling Tree window to display the context menu
190. ming language gt xfNetLink COM Edition which enables a client to call Synergy routines residing on a remote server machine using a standard COM calling mechanism gt xfNetLink NET Edition which works in conjunction with Microsoft s NET Framework SDK 1 6 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 What Is Synergy DE Developing an Application Developing an Application Figure 1 2 illustrates how you can use Professional Series to develop your application Create a workspace and projects launch Synergy tools create and edit source files Define record Define user interface Define files for Define a schema layout characteristics generating reports for the database ReportWriter XfODBC f dbcreate utility Design user interface interactively Create reports Create a system catalog to eee a an translate Synergy j Workbench editor l data for the xfODBC driver UI Toolkit subroutines Support user interface Synergy Language i Write supporting code Compile and link Synergy application Figure 1 2 Developing an application with Synergy DE Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 1 7 What Is Synergy DE Developing an Application Developing a distributed application Synergy DE also provides the capability to design and deploy your Synergy application in two tier or multi tier systems See chapter 8 Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus The Developing Distributed Synergy App
191. mple programs you will notice that we try to convey information about the type of variable and its use by the name we choose Defined values are uppercased and begin with D_ global variables begin with g_ subroutine arguments begin with a_ menu column IDs have a _col suffix input window IDs an _inp suffix list IDs a _Ist suffix and so on We encourage you to adopt a similar approach in the applications you develop Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 7 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Managing Display Levels with Environment Processing Managing Display Levels with Environment Processing Among the most tedious tasks an application programmer must deal with is writing the code that captures the current screen so it can be restored after some interruption has taken place In fact many applications simply do not allow any external interference with the display during input But no matter what kind of application you write there will be situations in which you would like to alter some or all of the screen to display information or perform input and then when done return the screen to its former state This ability to take a snapshot of the screen and then clean up and restore its original state at some future point is called environment processing Instead of writing hundreds of lines of code each time you need to alter the screen you simply make a single Toolkit subroutine call to enter a new environmen
192. n a tree C MyFiles Contactscontact dbl r B contact dbl view See figure 2 10 l Pcancell E Pcontact_drillf i DF_STORE DF_WRITE E Pcustomer CST_TBBHT CST_TBBMARGIN gt CST_TBBWD CST_TBHT CST_TBMARGIN GLOB_INIT Pdsp_input Pexample L Phyperlink gt BrP aoje s Oo er To jump to a particular main routine function or subroutine in the source file double click on the routine name in the project toolbar Figure 2 10 The Defs tab Working with tag files If you have multiple source files you ll probably want to use the editor s tag file feature A tag file lets you move between files using CTRL commands or get context sensitive help for routines located outside the current file A tag file is automatically created for each new project with the name of the project and the extension vtg You can add files to this file or create additional tag files if you desire Once a tag file is created it automatically updates in the background when you make edits We recommend that custom tag files be placed in directories outside the Synergy DE AN directory tree Any custom tag files should reside on your local hard drive Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 19 Developing Your Application in Workbench Editing Synergy Code with the Workbench Editor The Symbol tab of the output toolbar displays tags for the word under the cursor If only one tag is found the source fi
193. n help you spend less time writing and debugging ensure standard coding practices and speed your applications to market A The Workbench editor is based on SlickEdit technology from SlickEdit Inc Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 3 Developing Your Application in Workbench Where Do You Begin Where Do You Begin Starting Workbench gt From your SynergyDE folder on the Start menu select Workbench The Workbench desktop looks like this Project toolbar Edit window Synergy DE toolbar contact dbl D MyFiles Contact contact dbl Professional Series Workbench Project Build Debug Document Macro Tools Synergy DE Window Help el al A 3 oiess wa ls 4 WR P Main example include ids gbl include WND tools def Header Files record Toolkit Script Files date all Gi other Files xcall u_start cv xcall u_rstrend 7 Load renditions from reditions file xcall date date xcall e_sect CUSTOMER PROFILE D HEADER D_CENTER xcall e_sect date D FOOTER D LEFT xcall m_ldcol general_col g_utlib general D_GLOBAL xcall m_ldcol main_col g_utlib main line4 Col No Selection RWIREC Ins foD Message area and command line Output toolbar Figure 2 1 The Workbench desktop Running Workbench for the first time after installation runs the update_synergy command which initializes Workbench and creates the SlickEdit configuration directory C Documents and
194. n making remote calls using a routine call block see the Synergy Routine Call Block API chapter of the Synergy Language Reference Manual Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 8 3 Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus What Are xfServerPlus and xfNetLink Client Workstation Remote Synergy Server socket connection for transmission of function calls and results xfServerPlus Client application standard ELB routine call Synergy routines in ELBs routine information provided here Synergy Method Catalog create update Method Definition delete Utility Figure 8 1 xfNetLink and xfServerPlus in a two tier configuration xfNetLink Java Edition xfNetLink Java is a Java client for xfServerPlus that works in conjunction with Sun Microsystems Java programming language Java is an interpreted language and is supported on a wide variety of platforms including Windows UNIX and OpenVMS Using xfNetLink Java Synergy business logic can be accessed from any Java capable environment such as Java applications JavaServer Pages or Java applets in web pages We discuss two of these options below Together xfNetLink Java and xfServerPlus handle the creation of a connection between the client machine and your Synergy machine as well as the translation of data from Java to Synergy and back to Java Starting with version 7 5 1 xfNetLink Java makes it easi
195. n must travel back and forth across the wire especially for web applications For example you should limit the number of records displayed on the user s browser or display them in reasonably sized chunks rather than sending hundreds of records Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 8 11 Glossary access key Active Server Pages ASP ActiveX alias Application window arrive method attribute bounds checking break field check box client Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 A true key in a database file which is used to specify relationships between files A web page that combines HTML and programming code written in Visual Basic Script or JScript When a browser requests an Active Server Page the web server executes the embedded program allowing the web page to interact with databases and other programs A set of technologies developed by Microsoft that provides the ability to develop active executable objects for Windows applications and web sites A name that represents a directory path or a section of code A directory alias expands to a complete directory path which means you don t have to type the entire path when prompted for a filename or a directory An extension specific alias expands to the syntax for a routine or to an entire method or processing loop An area in Composer in which you can design your user interface A subroutine called to perform special processing before
196. name Co ee Type the requested names or IDs for the alias code segment you want to add to your program Figure 2 12 Entering alias parameters 2 22 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Generating Synergy Code Segments Workbench is distributed with aliases for the following code segments Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Code segment Alias Application move event synmeappmove Application resize event synmeappsize Application state changed synmeappstate Application century method synmecentury User defined data check field method synmechkfld Application close event synmeclose User defined data display field method synmedspfld User defined data edit display field method synmeedtdsp Application input override method synmeentrst User function key override method synmefkey User help method synmehelp User utilities method synmeutils Input field arrive method synmiarrive Input field change method synmichange Input field display method synmidisplay Input field drill method synmidrill Input field edit format method synmieditfmt Input field hyperlink method synmihyper Input field leave method synmileave List arrive method synmlarrive List double click method synmldblclk List leave method synmlleave List load method synmlload Tabset method synmtab 2 23 Developing Your Application in
197. name of the library file to use the existing library file on compilation or Append to append the current compilation to the existing Window library library file a C 4Spnergy myscript ism eal Overvrite C Append Compile Scripts Setup Either select the Select all check box to select all script files in the project for compilation OR select the Script files script files you want to compile by checking the box to the left of each script C Program Files S M C Program Files SynergyDE composer Scr nergyDE composer S cript2 wse Type or select the name of a file to which the compiler will write any errors encountered Error log during compilation T Filename Synergyimyscript err Click Compile to compile all of the specified script files ___ LHi o Cance o Hep Figure 4 8 Compiling a script 2 Select the scripts you want to compile and enter the desired information in the other input fields Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 4 17 Designing Your User Interface Using Composer 3 If you want to compile the selected scripts right now click Compile If you want to compile later click OK to exit the dialog box When you compile the Script compiler reads the selected script files and converts them to a window library ISAM file To compile scripts later gt From the File menu select Compile Scripts If you have not
198. nce Manual If a context ID is passed to the subroutine the 7U_HTMLHELP call displays the help topic for the context ID If no context ID is passed or if there s no help topic for the context ID the help system opens with the table of contents displayed proc xcall e_method D_METH HELP help method This registers the help method defined below xcall mb_entry cont O_HELP Help F1_KEY xcall ib field build_id selecti D FLD SIZE 10 D FLD TYPE Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 35 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Implementing Online Help amp D_DECIMAL D_FLD_POS 2 2 D_FLD PROMPT amp Enter a number D_FLD_FPOS 2 19 amp D_ FLD HELP Alink B Help Method subroutine help method a_ident a Context ID This is what you specify with the help qualifier for FIELD the help_id argument for AX_INPUT etc include WND tools def proc if passed a_ident then u_htmlhelp D_HH HELP_CONTEXT myhelp chm a_ident else u_htmlhelp D_HH_DISPLAY_TOC myhelp chm xreturn endsubroutine Implementing native Toolkit help Toolkit includes features that enable you to easily provide context sensitive help in your application You define your help windows in a script file and then compile them into a window library Toolkit enables you to specify with a FIELD option or a Toolkit subroutine argument which help window t
199. nd Keywords check boxes on the Auto Complete tab of the Extension Options dialog are selected when you type a partial keyword a drop down list of possible keywords is displayed Use the up and down arrow keys to highlight the keyword or alias that you want and select it by pressing Enter or the spacebar For instance if you type exit the keywords EXITLOOP and EXITTRY are displayed in a drop down list Compiler directives although recognized as keywords are not automatically completed in AN this way If you want to customize the color of your keywords and compiler directives see Customizing keyword color coding on page 2 37 To turn on keyword completion and set the minimum number of characters at which the editor will complete the keyword for you Select Tools gt Options gt File Extension Setup The Extension Options dialog box is displayed In the Extension field select dbl and click the Auto Complete tab if it is not already displayed Select the Enable auto completion check box Select the Keywords checkbox In the Minimum prefix length field type the minimum number of characters to type before the drop down keyword list is displayed and then click OK Taking advantage of syntax expansion _ gt N When syntax expansion is enabled Workbench will insert the corresponding block ending keyword s whenever you type a block beginning keyword followed by space at the end of a line Examples of block
200. nd execute commands for individual projects 2 1 Developing Your Application in Workbench Customizing Your Development Environment 2 33 Discusses how to customize the way a project is opened define script extensions other than wsc add your own commands to the Workbench menu add or remove buttons from the Workbench toolbar change the tagging delay or turn tagging off completely access the version control tool of your choice and copy or save your customization settings Using Workbench for Non Windows Development 2 41 Describes how you can use NFS based mapped drives or FTP to make Workbench your primary editor on non Windows systems 2 2 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench What Is Professional Series Workbench What Is Professional Series Workbench Professional Series Workbench is an enhanced version of the Professional Series Development Environment PSDE Workbench makes moving between Repository Composer and other Synergy DE components easier as you develop your applications Workbench s smart fully customizable language sensitive editor provides color coding automatic indenting standardized code templates project tag capability for recognizing and accessing routine code and many other code automating features It enables you to take advantage of automated script compiling and many other features that can streamline your development efforts In short Workbench ca
201. nd modify them graphically Repository Repository is the tool you use to define and maintain the data that will be used in your application or in reports that can be created with Synergy DE ReportWriter or xfODBC It provides a method of managing data structures and fields in one centralized location so that you can modify a field throughout your application simply by changing one definition in your repository Synergy Language Synergy Language is a high level business programming language that encourages structured system independent modular code Beyond the basic statements that specify processing to be performed Synergy Language includes a large number of prewritten external subroutines and functions a source level debugger graphical user interface support and a fast and efficient system independent file structure Synergy DBMS The Synergy DBMS system includes everything needed to create and manage high speed keyed access and ordered sequential access databases ReportWriter ReportWriter is an end user application that retrieves integrates and consolidates data into columnar ad hoc reports You can customize and include ReportWriter as part of your application either predefining reports for your customers to run or enabling them to design their own reports Synergy Runtime Synergy Runtime supports the actions requested by your Synergy DE applications during execution Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 1 5
202. nefit of UI Toolkit you should incorporate an event driven style of programming Event style programming means that after all the components are in place your program will call a Toolkit routine to get its user input This routine will manage all interaction with the user until one of a set of special events causes it to exit Your program then tests to determine the event that occurred and takes the appropriate action Usually after the action has taken place your program will want to return to the Toolkit routine that generated the event to get further input from the user Therefore most Toolkit routines that get input from the user are placed at the top of a loop Including tools def Every UI Toolkit program must NCLUDE WND tools def Contained in tools def are the global variables that enable your application to communicate with the Toolkit routines With these global variables your programs can test for the event that caused a Toolkit routine to exit determine the current state of a Toolkit component instruct a Toolkit routine to perform a task or function in a particular way specify to a Toolkit load routine the channel on which the primary window library is open and pass or retrieve many other pieces of valuable information Also in tools def are the defined values with DEFINE used as arguments to the Toolkit routines Most of these arguments are just a numerical value If you examine tools def you can see most of the
203. nergy Method Catalog 8 3 Synergy NET Configuration utility 2 9 Synergy Prototype utility See Prototype utility Synergy runtime 1 5 Synergy Type Library Configuration utility 2 9 Synergy DE 1 1 to 1 10 advantages of 1 2 components 1 4 definition 1 2 philosophy 1 2 synergy ini file 2 5 2 33 synfunc 2 24 syninp 2 24 synlist 2 24 synmeappmove 2 23 synmeappsize 2 23 synmeappstate 2 23 synmecentury 2 23 synmechkfld 2 23 synmeclose 2 23 synmedspfld 2 23 synmeedtdsp 2 23 synmeentrst 2 23 synmefkey 2 23 synmehelp 2 23 synmeutils 2 23 synmiarrive 2 23 synmichange 2 23 synmidisplay 2 23 synmidrill 2 23 synmieditfmt 2 23 Index 10 synmihyper 2 23 synmileave 2 23 synmlarrive 2 23 synmldblclk 2 23 synmlleave 2 23 synmlload 2 23 synmtab 2 23 synmwbutton 2 24 synmwelick 2 24 synmwclose 2 24 synmwevent 2 24 synmwmax 2 24 synmwmin 2 24 synmwmove 2 24 synmwrest 2 24 synmwscroll 2 24 synmwsize 2 24 synsub 2 24 syntab 2 24 syntax expansion in Workbench 2 17 T T_GETLIN routine 6 29 T_SETUP routine 6 27 T_VIEW routine 6 28 tab method 6 40 to 6 41 set changing active tab 6 40 creating 6 39 populating 6 39 processing 6 40 tabbed dialog 6 39 to 6 41 tag file 2 19 to 2 21 adding files to 2 20 creating extension specific 2 20 to 2 21 custom 2 19 TCP IP protocol 7 8 telephone number formatting 3 8 template file 2 26 customizing 2 26 tokens in 2 27 terminal I O 6 3 Terminal Services Workbench on 2 7 terminology Composer
204. ng commands for 2 34 to 2 36 from editor 5 7 from Workbench 2 31 lis filename extension 5 5 Index 6 list 6 29 characteristics of 6 30 combining with window s 6 42 to 6 44 creating 6 33 expanding 6 31 loading input window 6 32 item into 6 30 processing 6 29 6 33 structure of items in 6 29 list class 6 30 listing file 5 5 load method 6 30 changing at runtime 6 32 channel requirements 6 32 creating 6 31 loading item into list 6 30 list input window 6 32 menu column 6 13 6 27 text window 6 27 local screen components 6 9 logic separating from data access 8 9 from user interface 8 9 logical benefits of using 5 18 setting 5 19 using 5 18 longword aligned integer variable 5 23 lowercase converting to uppercase 3 11 M M data reference operation 5 15 M_LDCOL routine 6 13 M_PROCESS routine 6 14 main routine beginning 5 3 MAIN statement 5 3 manual accessing online 2 8 map file 5 6 map filename extension 5 6 matching all characters 3 12 case 3 12 maximum value specifying 3 12 MEM_PROC routine 5 13 to 5 14 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 memory accessing 5 15 allocating 5 13 deallocating 5 14 defining structure 5 12 dynamic 5 12 to 5 17 registering 5 14 resizing 5 13 menu activating 6 11 navigating 6 11 processing 6 14 6 15 selecting from x menu bar 6 4 menu column 6 4 creating 6 11 to 6 16 defining 6 11 6 13 loading 6 13 6 27 menu entry defining 6 13 name prefixes to avoid 6 12 p
205. not be used You will need to use xfServer to access your repository Using NFS based mapped drives If you have problems with file loss or corruption before using an NFS mapped drive we strongly recommend that you add s3 to the end of the command shortcut that runs Workbench For example c synergyde workbench bin vs exe s3 Using the NFS protocol to map a drive enables desktop users on a network to access remote source files and window scripts from UNIX and OpenVMS If this option is too slow you ll probably want to tweak the performance of your file server Your NFS software can help you optimize performance We also recommend that you turn off automatic tagging in Workbench See Turning tagging off on page 2 38 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 41 Developing Your Application in Workbench Using Workbench for Non Windows Development Using FTP Workbench s built in FTP functionality provides the ability to import source code directly into the editor from any other system on your network Once you ve set up the session protocols Workbench s FTP tools enable you to edit remote code and compile it with the Windows compiler to check for errors If you ve set up your code to build on Windows you can link it and perform test runs in the Workbench editor You can then upload the modified source code to the original directory on the original platform simply by saving your work To set
206. nt variable and we also tell it what we want the environment variable to mean when we use it in our application or command line references In the example above we would set the environment variables in the following manner System Environment variable definition Windows set FINAPP c myapp finance UNIX FINAPP usr apps myapp finance export FINAPP or setenv FINAPP usr apps myapp finance OpenVMS define FINAPP userS disk1 myapp finance As you can see depending on your system you will need to set the environment variables in different places and using slightly different syntax Consult the Environment Variables chapter of Environment Variables and System Options for a more comprehensive discussion on how to set environment variables on your system Where you set your environment variables is usually a function of the scope that your environment variables must have If they are going to be needed by everyone who is on the system it may be useful to set them in some system initialization file If they are going to be used by just a few individuals it may be better to define them in individual log in command or profile files Talk with your system administrator to decide where and how environment variables should be set in your particular environment Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 5 19 Programming in Synergy Language Programming Tips Comparing data Two separate groups of relational op
207. nto which the user can enter data gt A selection window contains a group of predefined selections from which the user can choose What are attributes and properties An attribute is a characteristic of an object and a property is the value of an attribute For example color is an attribute and red is a property What is a script file A script file is an editable text file that contains special script commands to define and control user interface objects and their characteristics When you design your user interface in Composer the script commands are generated into a script file for you Once your script file is created it must be compiled The advantage of using script files is that your user interface objects are defined outside of your programs You can modify object properties without changing or recompiling your Synergy Language subroutines What is a project Composer organizes your script files in projects A project is a collection of one or more related script files for example all of the script files for a particular application 4 2 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Designing Your User Interface What Is Composer What Is Composer S DE Composer is a powerful user interface designer that enables you to create the elements of your interface graphically using the mouse and keyboard on Windows systems You can easily move resize and change the characteristics of your interface objects in a WYSIWYG
208. o d8 year d4 month a2 crimbo_day d2 endgroup 5 22 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Programming in Synergy Language Programming Tips proc open 1 o tt crimbo ndate 25 DEC incr year writes 1 Christmas is on a atrim day wkday 25 DEC amp next year it is on a atrim day wkday crimbo end If this program were run in the year 1997 the current year is assumed because the year is omitted the result would be Christmas is on a Thursday next year it is on a Friday Using compile time definitions Your application can take advantage of compile time definitions to provide a level of indirection in your code as well as make the code much more self documenting An additional benefit is that compile time definitions do not allocate any space in the data division These definitions can be contained in external files that you can conditionally include into your programs or code directly into your source programs Thus you can edit your code by modifying the value of the definition in a single source module that is included in your source programs Using integer data For performance reasons we recommend that you use longword aligned i4 variables for any variable in your program that won t be stored on disk This includes but is not limited to variables for things like loop counters values that are tested for conditionals and variables used in mathematical computati
209. o display when your user requests help When help is requested UI Toolkit displays the help window specified for the context and removes it when the user clicks the close button on the help window Step 1 Activating context sensitive help As we stated earlier o_help is the reserved entry that activates the UI Toolkit help routine You need to make this menu entry available wherever you want the user to have access to help information We suggest that the O_HELP reserved entry be included in your General menu column 6 36 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Implementing Online Help Step 2 Creating the help windows Creating the text for your help windows may be easier than you think In fact you may already have the bulk of the work done and simply need to reformat existing text into window definitions For example you may be able to borrow text directly from existing documentation using an editor to place it in a UI Toolkit script window definition As you will see from the example below you can create a template for your help windows that will give all of them the same look and feel and yet allow for variable length text in each window Modifications can be made to the window contents without having to worry about reformatting the data for presentation A special window called h_general Your window script should contain a text window named h_general This is a generic
210. o on Type the number of indents to which the cursor will automatically be indented after a PROC statement or subroutine label Figure 2 8 Setting code formatting options All of the above settings are global rather than project specific settings Editing a file 1 2 16 You can either create a new file or edit an existing one Do one of the following To Create a new file Do this Select File gt New In the New dialog box select DBL from the list of file types You can also specify a filename location and whether to place the file in the current project Edit an existing file Select File gt Open In the Open dialog box type or select the name of the file you want to edit The file opens in the edit window See figure 2 1 If the file is untitled or if it does not have a dbl extension save your file as a dbl file using the Save or Save As command Type or edit your code taking advantage of keyword completion and syntax expansion if desired as explained in the sections below When you re done making edits save your file again Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Editing Synergy Code with the Workbench Editor Taking advantage of keyword completion _ m FPF O N After you type a Synergy Language keyword the color of the text changes to signify that the editor recognizes a keyword If the Enable auto completion a
211. ocation of the routine or label or on its definition 2 Doone of the following To move from Press The invocation of the routine or label to the definition CTRL period CTAL The definition of the routine or label back to the invocation CTRL comma CTRL For example placing the cursor over sub1 in xcall sub1 and pressing CTRL period takes you to the definition of the subroutine sub1 Pressing CTRL comma returns to the xcall sub1 invocation Displaying online Help gt Do one of the following To find information about Do this The editor using a table of contents Select Help gt Contents The editor using an index or full text search Select Help gt Search The editor using a list of frequently asked user Select Help gt Frequently Asked Questions questions and their answers Other Synergy specific aspects of Workbench Select Synergy DE gt Workbench Help Topics A specific dialog box or error message Click the Help button in the dialog or message box Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 21 Developing Your Application in Workbench Generating Synergy Code Segments Generating Synergy Code Segments Aliases and code templates are time saving features of Workbench that generate common UI Toolkit code segments and method routines directly into your program Using aliases Workbench provides two types of aliases directory stored in the alias slk file
212. oject Properties dialog box see Customizing the way a project is opened on page 2 33 or using syn_set or syn_set_global on the Workbench command line see Setting environment variables in Workbench on page 2 6 Environment variables set in the environment are available to Workbench when it is started All appropriate initialization settings from the synergy section of synergy ini are set in the order in which they are specified in synergy ini Settings in synergy ini override any duplicate variables set at the environment level We set the variables from the active synergy ini when Workbench is started and again whenever a Synergy DE project is opened We restore the settings from the synergy ini that was active when Workbench was started whenever a project is closed Settings in a project s Open tab are specific to that project Accessing the Workbench command line Besides enabling you to set environment variables the Workbench command line can be used to execute Workbench or operating system commands and to run other programs You can display and move the cursor to the Workbench command line in one of two ways gt With your cursor in the edit window press ESC gt Click in the message area at the bottom of the Workbench window See figure 2 2 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 5 Developing Your Application in Workbench Where Do You Begin contact dbl D MyFiles Contact contact dbl Professional Ser
213. oject menu select Open Workspace The Open Workspace dialog box is displayed 2 Type or select the name of the workspace you want to open To close the current workspace select Close Workspace from the Project menu 2 10 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Setting Up Your Development Environment Creating a project Projects enable you to specify collections of files and build parameters that operate on those files They facilitate tagging files restoring edit sessions compiling from Workbench customizing builds loading files and managing version control and they enable you to define environment variables specific to a project We recommend that you create a project if you want to use one or more of these features You can create Synergy DE Synergy DE COM Component Synergy DE Java Component or Synergy DE NET Component projects among others in Workbench For instructions on creating a COM Java or NET component project see the appropriate chapter of the Developing Distributed Synergy Applications manual Creating a Synergy DE COM Component Project in the Creating Synergy COM Components chapter Creating a Synergy DE Java Component Project in the Creating Java Class Wrappers chapter or Creating a Synergy DE NET Component Project in the Creating Synergy NET Assemblies chapter To create a regular Synergy DE project From the Project menu s
214. on lname fname phone fax modem email notes type status sl tk rps pvcs odbc dte set nokey CUSTOMER address city state zip salutation lname fname phone fax modem email notes type status sl tk rps pvcs odbc dte end 6 18 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries Take a look at the input window below It s the same input window but in this example its field information is pulled from the repository The advantage to defining your fields in Repository is that all the qualifiers for each field are defined only once no matter how many times the field is referenced There is no need for the STRUCTURE command because the structure information is part of the repository definition If you include the repository definition in your program as well as you should a match between the data in your program and the fields in your window definition is ensured the input processor will automatically know where to put the data for each field regardless of the order specified or gaps left by the exclusion of any fields A downside to the repository approach is that to view field information you must select the structure in Repository and look at each field definition separately Notice in the example that the Iname and fname fields have a required qualifier Any qualifier not specified in the repository can be added in
215. on Windows Development Select FTP if you Type aname Type the host Select the Save password are connecting to to identify this name of the FTP check box if you want to save an FTP server profile server your password so you don t and then select a have to type it each time Host type of Auto Or select SFTP SSH if you are connecting to a Add FTP Profile General Advance Secure Shell Profile game Cancel SSH server that supports the SFTP Hogari Help subsystem and Server type FTP E type Auto 7 then select an Hosttype ao gt Auth type of Auto ueb rA j A M Save password Type your log on Transfer type Initial directory Filters ID and password C ASCII Remote Remote or select the Binary Local Local Anonymous login checkbox if your FTP log in uses Choose how files Type the initial remote Type the initial remote the anonymous will be transferred and local directories after and local filters The user ID by default For log in The local directory local filter only applies source files applies only to the FTP to the FTP Client select ASCII Client toolbar toolbar Figure 2 20 Adding an FTP profile Opening a file for editing 1 After you have started a connection click the Open tab on the Project toolbar A listing of FTP files is displayed 2 Double click on a file to open it 3 Edit the file as usual in the edit window Transfe
216. on page 2 20 for more information Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Editing Synergy Code with the Workbench Editor Displaying a list of valid operations for the current location To list the valid variables functions macros and so forth that can be used at a specific location press ALT period ALT at that location If there is text before the cursor the displayed list narrows down your options For example pressing ALT period after u_ provides a list of items that begin with u_ If you re specifying a record or group when you press ALT period after the record or group a list of all members in that record or group automatically appears If your cursor is at a field name or class variable followed by a period optionally followed by more text or in the case of a class variable by the method name and a right parenthesis the Workbench editor displays the list of subfields for the field in question matching text as described above You can do this with repository structures as well as long as you have INCLUDEd the repository in your source code See Including from a repository in the Discussion for INCLUDE in your Synergy Language Reference manual for more information Moving between routines in a single source file Each named main routine named function named subroutine macro BDs 7x and INCLUDE is represented on the project toolbar s Defs tab i
217. on the screen any methods special subroutines called by the list processing routines associated with the list and the number of header and footer lines are all part of the list class When the list processor is called it tries to perform the request your program passed to it If this request requires an item that hasn t been loaded onto the list the list processor calls your load method A load method is a subroutine written by you that the list processor calls each time it needs a new item Once an item is loaded the list processor manages that item itself storing its information in its own temporary files The load method is called only once per item regardless of the number of times that item is accessed A list item consists of two components gt The display component which is the formatted information as it is displayed on the screen gt The data component which is data that you associate with the item In the simplest case the display component matches the data component but there is no requirement that they be related Your load method should load the list s display component into its input window and the data component into its data area Step 1 Define your display window Our sample window contains a field that will be loaded as the title indicates with the company and contact names The data to be loaded into this field is constructed in the load method from the company fname and Iname fields input cstlst_
218. ons Many RISC platforms do not provide native math instructions that deal with nonaligned integers so Synergy Language uses emulated math operations if the integers are not on a longword boundary By using aligned integers you will realize a significant improvement in performance We strongly recommend that you do not store integer data in your data records as this could impede your ability to migrate your software to other platforms in the future Using CASE vs USING Synergex recommends using the USING statement which always generates the most efficient code The structures that are available matching on ranges matching on multiple values matching on expressions matching the null case matching on variables in the USING statement have always made it more powerful and more functional now the performance matches the functionality Using the CASE statement is only practical when the match strings are a series of alpha literals A further restriction on the CASE statement is that it must be bounded by a BEGIN END block if it is nested within an IF THEN ELSE structure Even if a CASE statement is not currently within an Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 5 23 Programming in Synergy Language Programming Tips IF THEN ELSE structure Synergex recommends encapsulating all CASE statements within a BEGIN END block to prevent possible confusion should an IF THEN ELSE be introduced into the code or that code segment be moved or copie
219. ontext sensitive 6 36 Open Command tab 2 33 OPEN statement 6 5 opening file 6 5 operator relational and string relational 5 20 order fields in structure 3 6 Index 7 P paint character specifying 3 10 Parameter Entry dialog box 2 22 philosophy of Synergy DE 1 2 phone number formatting 3 8 plus sign Object Manager 4 6 Properties window 4 5 popping up window 6 20 portability 5 2 positioning input field 3 10 4 11 primary key 3 17 PROC statement 5 4 procedure division 5 3 5 4 processing input 6 21 to 6 24 lists 6 29 6 33 menu 6 14 6 15 selection windows 6 25 tab sets 6 40 product support contacting x Professional Series 1 4 to 1 5 Professional Series Workbench See Workbench programming event driven 6 6 tips 5 18 to 5 24 project Composer 4 2 closing 4 16 Workbench adding files to 2 12 adding to workspace 2 14 benefits 2 11 compiling building and running 2 31 to 2 35 configurations of 2 13 creating 2 11 to 2 12 customizing 2 33 2 34 debugging 2 31 moving between files in 2 21 opening 2 33 prompt hyperlink 3 13 specifying 3 10 4 11 4 13 Properties window 4 5 property 4 2 setting in Composer 4 13 protocol TCP IP 7 8 Index 8 Prototype utility 2 9 PUT statement 7 6 Q quick select character 6 11 6 13 quitting Composer 4 18 R radio button specifying in Repository 3 10 RDBMS accessing 1 6 record adding new 6 21 to 6 22 layout defining 3 3 to 3 6 modifying 6 22 to 6 24 referencing data indirect
220. oolkit routines perform the appropriate operation on each of the platforms supported by Synergy Language What this means to your application is that your screen I O is platform independent Regardless of where your application is run your code does not have to change it lets the Toolkit routines handle any system differences It is even possible to create a single set of source files that runs as a Windows application on Windows systems and as a cell based application in a non Windows environment UI Toolkit does not change your program logic beyond the terminal interface Using Toolkit does not change the way you handle the data once it has been entered by your user So if you plan to convert an existing application much of your existing code may not need to be replaced Performing terminal I O To use UI Toolkit you must change your perception about how terminal I O is performed All terminal I O is done through the Toolkit routines Instead of doing I O at the field level you will do it at the record level Also gone is the need to position the cursor take the input refresh the screen after errors and then process the data Most data validation can be handled by Toolkit as well Gone is the need to manipulate each field in a record on an individual basis Your window definition can specify attributes for an entire record When processing the window you specify a data area and pass control to Toolkit When Toolkit returns you have a complete
221. op typing or using the mouse Most people find this value too low To change the tagging delay value From the Tools menu select Options gt Tagging Options Change the value in the Start tagging after seconds idle field You can experiment with this value to find the one that works best for you Depending on how fast you type you may want to set this value to a number like 15 or 30 In general faster typists will probably prefer a higher value than slower typists Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 37 Developing Your Application in Workbench Customizing Your Development Environment Turning tagging off 1 2 To turn off automatic tagging From the Tools menu select Options gt Tagging Options In the Tagging Options dialog box deselect Tag file on save and Background tag files When Background tag files is not checked Workbench only generates tags upon request Deselecting either of these options may cause all tagging to occur the moment you request AN it which might cause Workbench to appear to hang Interfacing with version control tools Workbench provides support for several popular version control systems To access these tools directly from Workbench From the Tools menu select Version Control gt Setup In the Version Control Setup dialog box select the version control system of your choice or create a new one using the Add button Click Setup and make any necessary changes to the ver
222. or is indented past a tab location We do not recommend specifying individual tab stops in the Tabs field The Workbench editor offers four styles of automatic code indentation to choose from for conditional statements IF CASE USING looping statements WHILE REPEAT FOR and BEGIN END blocks When you type such statements they are automatically indented based on the style you have selected For example as you type BEGIN beneath an IF statement both the BEGIN and the END statement which you can specify should be added automatically when BEGIN is typed are formatted and indented according to your chosen style To set this up 4 Click the DBL Options button The DBL Options dialog box is displayed See figure 2 8 5 Enter the desired information in each input field and then click OK 6 Click OK again to exit the Extension Options dialog box Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 15 Developing Your Application in Workbench Editing Synergy Code with the Workbench Editor Select the BEGIN END formatting you prefer poke ae if then if then if then if then begin begin begin begin x y x y x y x y end end end end Type the number of aae Sn SE ene the column at which comments will start Style 1 C Style 2 C Stle3 by default Default Comment Column T49 _ E Extended Syntax Expansion Select this check box to generate extended block endings such as ENDRECORD ENDCOMMON and s
223. ory Creating a drilldown input window The Last field has a drilldown button so we re going to create a second input window that s a drilldown from the first In our application our drilldown method for the field will display and process this second input window Here s what it looks like Last name Rosenthal First name Lisa C Mailing list C Marketing letter D Technical letter Home phone 501 555 3322 Date of birth 12 23 1939 Married Comments Difficult to reach co1 grad OK Cancel Hel 4 12 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Designing Your User Interface Using Composer To create the second input window in a default location 1 Double click the Input window button on the toolbar H 2 Click the Title property in the Properties window and enter the name of the title you desire Personal Info in this example Creating new input fields We haven t defined any input fields for this window in the Repository so this time you ll need to create the fields from scratch To add several new input fields to your input window 1 Select the input window by clicking on it in the Application window 2 SHIFT click the Input field button on the toolbar ry 3 For each field you want to create click and drag on the desired location in the Application window until the field is the desired size 4 Repeat step 3 until you ve created as many input fields as you like 5 Click any o
224. own Move down Key down line entry e_cdel Delete character Key del entry e_lclr Clear line Key X entry e_edel Clear to EOL Key E entry e_ilin Insert a line Key ins entry e_join Join lines Key J end column textview View text entry t_top Top of window Key T entry t_bottom Bottom of window Key B entry t_lside Left side of window Key L entry t_rside Right side of window Key R line entry t_pagup Scroll up page Key prev entry t_pagdwn Scroll down page Key next entry t_scrup Scroll up half page Key 8 entry t_scrdwn Scroll down half page Key 7 end Step 2 Define the text window The text window should be large enough to contain the text to be viewed or edited If the window is too large for the screen you must specify a display area that fits the screen UI Toolkit will use the reserved entries your user selects to manage the scrolling of the display This script window definition can be created in Composer or a text editor window text display_area 1 1 20 placement 2 end 99 jo AB 2 The sample above defines a window that is 99 lines long and 73 characters wide The display area is 20 by 73 and starts in row 1 column 1 of the window By default the window will be placed at row 2 column 2 of the display region U_WINDOW can be used to change the default placement Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3
225. pen users can use these and other features to navigate to other help topics To implement HTML Help or WinHelp you ll call U_HTMLHELP or U_WINHELP These routines wrap most of the functionality of the Microsoft HTML Help API and WinHelp API The state of the help system when it opens depends on the options you pass in the call and the features available in the help system table of contents index etc No matter which of these help formats you use you can use Toolkit s built in context sensitive help features to associate a field and in some cases a routine with a help topic These features include a replaceable help method the O_HELP reserved menu entry and context IDs for fields and some routines as discussed in Implementing native Toolkit help below One way to implement HTML Help or WinHelp is to register your own Toolkit help method and have that help method make the U_HTMLHELP or U_WINHELP call If you do this the O_HELP menu entry invokes your help method and context IDs you ve defined are automatically passed to the method For example with the following code an HTML Help system myhelp chm opens when the user presses F1 or selects Help from the menu A context ID may be passed to the help method so the help method has an argument that accepts a context ID For information on the cases in which a context ID is passed to the method see EHELP_METHOD in the Environment Routines chapter of the UI Toolkit Refere
226. pny When an asynchronous input method is called g_fldnam hasn t been loaded with the name of the current field the field that activated the method Instead an argument passed to your method contains information and pointers to information about the current field See Appendix E in the UI Toolkit Reference Manual for a description of asynchronous methods Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 45 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Using Methods The following code demonstrates the method for receiving the arguments passed to your change method A_inprec is the data area passed to INPUT WND inpinf def contains a group layout that matches the data passed as an argument to your method We use I_GETSTRING to get the name of the set the data will be displayed in function lookup_lmeth val a_data_entered nn Data entered by user a_data_stored yn Data in storage format a_pending_status n Result of Toolkit field validation include WND inpinf def Structure for input information a_inprec a Input record a_chn1 n Method data parameter from i_input call a_disfield a Method data parameter from i_input call include WND tools def proc if a_pending_status ne D_OK freturn a_pending_status fld_name i_getstring inp_wndid inp_fldnam find a_chnl a_inprec a_data_entered SERR_KEYNOT notfound amp SERR_EOF not found reads a_chnl a_inprec xcall i_display inp_wndid i_getstring
227. put 6 16 6 17 validation information 3 9 variable environment 5 18 benefits of using 5 18 setting 5 19 global 6 6 naming convention 6 7 using for identifier 6 7 Variable Reference Utility 2 9 version control accessing from Workbench 2 38 viewing text 6 26 text window contents 6 28 Visual Basic 8 6 Visual Basic NET 8 7 volatile handle 5 17 vpj file 2 11 vtg file 2 19 2 21 W Web services NET 8 7 weekday returning number of 5 21 5 22 window 4 2 composite 6 42 to 6 44 converting to text window 6 27 defining display 6 30 input processing 6 16 to 6 24 See also input window selection window text window Index 11 window library 6 10 6 11 WinHelp 6 35 WKDAY routine 5 21 5 22 word processor selecting 5 2 Workbench 1 4 2 1 to 2 35 accessing tools from 2 8 adding command to menu 2 34 to 2 36 customizing 2 33 to 2 40 distributed applications and 8 2 editor 2 15 to 2 21 non Windows development 2 41 to 2 45 project 2 11 to 2 12 compiling building and running 2 31 to 2 35 resetting environment variables 2 7 setting environment variables 2 6 starting 2 4 workspace adding project to 2 14 creating 2 10 opening or closing 2 10 wsc file 2 36 X xfNetLink 1 6 8 3 to 8 7 COM Edition 8 6 Java Edition 8 4 to 8 5 NET Edition 8 6 to 8 7 Synergy Edition 8 3 xfODBC 1 6 xfSeries 1 6 xfServer 1 6 7 1 to 7 10 executable file 7 9 T O limitations 7 6 OpenVMS 7 7 operation of 7 5 to 7 8 requirements
228. r a menu selection or a break has occurred Next we test g_select If it is true we know the user made a menu selection A USING statement determines the menu selection that was made If g_select is false the exit event was a break field this time the USING statement determines the field that activated the break If g_setsts is false no further processing needs to be done on this input set We store the completed record and initialize the window in preparation for the next record When I_INPUT exits it retains the context for the next time it is called The context is simply the next field to process By default it is always the field after the field that caused I_INPUT to exit So after a break field is processed or a menu selection is made when the program returns to the top of the loop and calls I_ INPUT again processing resumes right where it left off I NEXT see the example below changes the input context and I_INIT resets the input window to its initialized state The context for an initialized window is the first field in the input set See step 5 for another example of how to add a record Step 5 Modifying an existing record To use your input window to modify an existing record load the data into the window with I_DISPLAY Use I_NEXT to set the context the input field to be processed with the next call to IINPUT process xcall e_enter set customer do begin xcall i_input customer_inp set customer input_col select
229. r code and keep up with potential changes in the client server system architecture if your application uses logicals Ultimately your system will translate your file specification to the direct form and use it to access the data but under most Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 7 5 Accessing Data Remotely with xfServer What Is xfServer circumstances your program should not hard code the file location See Getting Started with xfServer in the Configuring xfServer chapter of the Installation Configuration Guide for more information about setting up logicals 1 0 limitations You are restricted to the I O limitations of the xfServer system See the Professional Series Portability Guide for more information on system specific limitations environment Remote fixed I O GET and PUT is not transparent between client server systems with different native line terminators for example Windows and UNIX To allow for this you may have to change client applications to support multiple operating system file types Your client application must know where the file is located and account for either zero one or two line terminators when specifying the destination record size A We do not recommend using GET and PUT statements in a heterogeneous client server How the server works remotely a P WIN UNIX The design for the Windows and UNIX xfServer platforms are similar with only a few differences On UNIX sys
230. re As when you were defining data fields for use by the Synergy compiler the first step is defining a structure 1 From the Modify menu select Structures 2 Select the structure you defined on page 3 3 Defining fields The next step in creating a user interface is to define the required input fields In our example we re going to use the same fields we defined on page 3 4 1 With your structure highlighted select Edit Attributes from the Structure Functions menu If the Attributes menu is already present on your menu bar go directly to step 2 2 From the Attributes menu select Fields 3 To view or edit the definition for an existing field highlight that field and press ENTER 4 Make sure the Excluded by ReportWriter field is not checked for any of the fields you will need to be able to access the fields you define later Determining how each field will be displayed in a report In addition to defining the field s general appearance which we did on page 3 9 Display information contains field data that affects how the field is used and displayed in a report To specify display information for a field 1 Highlight the field you want to modify in the Field Definitions list 2 From the Field Functions menu select Edit Display Information The Display Information input window is displayed See figure 3 8 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 3 15 Setting Up Your Repository Defining Files for
231. re in development mode you should build all routines in your application with bounds checking enabled When you are ready to release your application to production simply compile without bounds checking enabled and the size of the image will be reduced significantly Below are examples of conditions that will be reported when a program is compiled with bounds checking enabled Examples 5 10 When the following program is run the runtime will report an out of bounds condition because the code is actually referencing var 1 1 10 the first element of the array which has a real length of 2 Because you are trying to write 10 characters into a two character field the runtime will report an error main myroutine record var 10 d2 proc var 1 10 0001020304 endmain The following example will report an out of bounds condition if the subroutine is compiled with bounds checking enabled and the calling routine is compiled with bounds checking disabled This example illustrates why it s important to compile all your routines with bounds checking enabled Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Programming in Synergy Language Debugging Your Program record var LOd2 xcall subr var subroutine subr arg wa arg 2 ALO The first statement below will generate an out of bounds condition because ivar is defined as being i4 The correct way to clear both of these integer variables at the same time is to refer
232. redefined by UI Toolkit 6 12 method 6 30 arrive 3 13 4 15 change 3 13 4 15 display 4 15 drill 3 13 4 15 edit format 4 15 generating in Workbench 2 26 hyperlink 3 13 4 15 information 3 9 leave 3 13 4 15 subroutine specifying 3 12 4 12 4 15 using 6 45 to 6 47 See also arrive method leave method load method tab method Method Definition Utility 8 3 starting 2 8 2 9 METHOD statement 5 3 minimum value specifying 3 12 minus sign Object Manager 4 6 Properties window 4 5 modifying record 6 22 to 6 24 modular code 8 8 to 8 9 using ELBs 8 10 moving input fields 4 11 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 N naming object 4 5 variables 6 7 native Toolkit help 6 35 6 36 to 6 38 YNDATE routine 5 21 5 22 negative allowing values 3 12 NET calling Synergy routines from 8 6 to 8 7 Configuration utility See Synergy NET Configuration utility Framework SDK version 2 38 Web services 8 7 network hardware and software requirements 7 9 NFS based mapped drives 2 41 numeric converting from date 5 21 to alpha date 5 21 5 22 to date 5 21 5 22 0 O_HELP menu entry 6 35 o_help menu entry 6 15 6 36 object 4 2 5 5 copying 4 5 creating 4 8 4 13 renaming 4 5 size 4 13 object library 5 5 creating 5 6 filename extension 5 6 tip 5 8 Object Manager 4 5 OK button adding to input window 4 11 olb filename extension 5 6 OLB See object library online help Composer s 1 9 4 6 implementing 6 35 to 6 38 providing c
233. ribes how to access SQL databases from Synergy Language applications gt Professional Series Portability Guide Discusses the functions requirements and processes that are unique to each of the platforms on which Synergy DE runs so that you can design your application to be as portable as possible gt xfODBC User s Guide Describes how to access Synergy databases from ODBC applications gt Installation Configuration Guide Provides information about using License Manager to license your Synergy products configuring a client server system with xfServer and installing and configuring Connectivity Series products Also includes general information on Synergy DE installation and operating system requirements gt Developing Distributed Synergy Applications Using xfNetLink and xfServerPlus Describes how to build a distributed Synergy application with a Synergy Java COM compliant or NET front end that enables you to access Synergy routines and data remotely Other documents The following migration guides and white papers are available on the Online Manuals CD gt Synergy DE Quick Migration Guide gt Migrating Your Application to Windows gt Modularizing Your Synergy Code The First Step to Distributed Computing 1 10 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 Developing Your Application in Workbench This chapter introduces you to the Professional Series Workbench a visual development environment that inc
234. rn pointers to memory segments that were allocated outside of Synergy Language You can reference these segments from within your program if they are registered within your program The process of registration does not allocate memory it makes memory segments that are allocated externally available to your program as if they had been allocated by your program To register memory specify the DM_REG value as the first argument to 7 MEM_PROC a decimal expression that represents the size of the memory segment as the second argument and a platform specific sized integer address of the memory segment as the third argument The value of the function will be the handle of the memory segment For example align quad record addr D_LADDR size 14 proc xcall some_routine val size ref addr Call an external routine handlel mem_proc DM_REG size addr Register the memory This code will register the address that was passed into the variable addr Expressing the type and size of this variable by referencing the DEFINEd value D_ADDR ensures that this variable will match the system requirement of all platforms On 64 bit systems it will allocate an i8 field on 32 bit systems it will generate an i4 field DLADDR is conditionally defined for you by the compiler After the 7MEM_PROC function call the memory segment will behave exactly as if it were allocated from within this program Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Programming
235. rogram within the same source module thus reducing the number of compilations required to generate program objects All of your definitions are maintained across the routines requiring you to put definitions in only one place Structure of a Synergy Language program A Synergy Language program contains one or more prototype imports structures namespaces classes and routines A Synergy Language routine is composed of two main parts a data division and a procedure division The data division contains most of the declarations directives and statements necessary to identify the various data structures that will be referenced by the program statements The procedure division contains all of the operational statements that act on the data structures contained in the data division Any data structure that is referenced in the procedure division must either be defined in the data division of the routine with which it is associated or in the procedure division as a stack local variable You can define data structures that are not referenced in the procedure division but you cannot have references in the procedure division that are not previously defined in the routine Identifying your routine Your routine should start with a statement that identifies what type of routine you are creating The statements that identify routine types are MAIN SUBROUTINE FUNCTION and METHOD Each one of these statements tells the compiler that this is the beginning o
236. rompted to enter a permanent name In the Save lt Scriptn wsc gt As dialog box select the desired drive and directory and type the desired script filename in the File name field Click OK Composer generates a script file with the name you specified You are also prompted to save changes to your project In the Save lt Project psc gt As dialog box select the desired drive or directory and type the desired project filename in the File name field Exit the dialog box Saving a script file 4 16 To save a new or existing script file If the script has the temporary name lt Scriptn wsc gt where n is a number you are prompted to enter a script filename gt Click the Save Script button on the toolbar Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Designing Your User Interface Using Composer Closing a script file When a script file is closed all of its open objects are removed from the Application window To close your script file gt From the File menu select Close Script If the script has not been saved since the last time you made changes you are asked whether you want to save changes to your script Compiling your script You must compile your script before you can use it in your application To specify compilation options 1 From the File menu select Compile Scripts Setup The Compile Scripts Setup dialog box is displayed See figure 4 8 Select Overwrite to overwrite Type or select the
237. rrides options J Range P Match exact M Allow list M selections M Hatch case Enumerated Select whether a numeric Specify whether the value in an Specify whether alpha or field should return a alpha or user field must match user field input must match decimal value for a text the case of a specified all characters in the entry selected from an allowable entry specified allowable entry allow or selection list Figure 3 6 Defining validation information You can also get to the Validation tab from the Field Definitions list Highlight the field you want to modify and select Edit Validation Information from the Field Functions menu Specifying method subroutines for a field You can assign the following types of method subroutines to an input field gt Arrive method gt Leave method Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Setting Up Your Repository Defining User Interface Characteristics Drill method Hyperlink method Display method Edit format method v v v v v Change method An arrive method subroutine is called to perform special processing before an input field is processed while a leave method subroutine performs additional processing after an input field is processed for example validating the input If a drill method subroutine is specified a drilldown button is displayed after the field in Windows environments The subroutine is called when the user clicks the drilldown button s in Windows or sele
238. rring files between your local machine and an FTP host The FTP Client dialog box enables you to open several FTP sessions at one time and then jump from session to session as desired 1 From the File menu select FTP gt Client to display the FTP Client toolbar 2 Right click on the local or remote file listing to display a menu of operations from which to choose Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 2 43 Developing Your Application in Workbench Using Workbench for Non Windows Development Type the number of Type the FTP port number seconds to wait for a reply from the Add FTP Profile FTP server Select the Keep alive check box to J Use firewall proxy set in default FTP opfions keep a connection Genera Advanced OK Timeout sec E Port J 21 Keep alive I Resolve links JV Auto refresh Cancel Help Upload filename case Remote to local directory mapping alive even when idle ae spars Teserve Case Force lowercase Local root Force UPPERcase Select which case should be used for the remote filename based on the local filename Select the Auto refresh check Type a remote path anda box to update the host directory local path to indicate how one listing after each operation maps to the other Figure 2 21 Adding an FTP profile advanced settings Closing a connection 1 2 3 Open the FTP Profile Manager dialog box File gt FTP gt Profile Manager if it s not
239. ry What Is Repository Repository enables you to define the structure of your data in a centralized location without redundancy Repository can then supply this information to the Synergy compiler for processing application files to Composer for building a user interface and to ReportWriter for creating reports Because data is only defined once changes need only be made once For example if you want to expand a field that appears throughout your application one simple change to your repository does the trick Starting Repository To start Repository do one of the following gt From the Workbench toolbar select Repository gt From your SynergyDE folder in the Start menu select Repository gt Atacommand prompt type dbr RPS rps If you are not in the directory that contains dbr exe DBLDIR bin must be in your path Getting help From any field in any input window in Repository you can access context sensitive help for that field If you re not sure what information to enter in a field Place your cursor in the field Press F1 or click the Help button Displaying a list of valid data for a field Many fields in Repository also enable you to display a list of available selections To display such a list gt With your cursor in the field select List Selections from the menu See also 3 2 Your Repository User s Guide This includes instructions for using all features of Repository as well as informa
240. ry 2 8 creating 6 11 extension 2 36 saving 4 16 Script utility starting 2 8 scrolling through text window 6 28 sdkvars bat file 2 38 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 segmented key 3 17 SELECT script command 6 25 selection list field adding 4 14 specifying in Repository 3 12 selection window creating 6 24 to 6 25 defining 6 24 dynamic 6 25 processing 6 25 server 7 1 to 7 10 accessing remote files 7 5 defined 7 2 job of 7 4 See also xfServer server side code 8 11 error handling 8 10 service runtime 8 3 SET script command 6 20 SFWINIPATH environment variable 2 33 shared image 5 8 8 10 sharing data 7 4 shortcut 6 11 6 13 size field 3 4 4 13 object 4 13 SMC ELB Comparison utility 2 9 source code creating 5 2 5 3 SQL Connection 1 6 SQL OpenNet 1 6 stack 6 8 starting UI Toolkit 6 4 6 5 static handle 5 17 string relational operator 5 20 structure adding 4 9 assigning to file 3 20 changing field order 3 6 defining 3 3 data 6 28 memory 5 12 saving 3 6 STRUCTURE token 2 27 structure specific format 3 8 subattribute viewing or modifying 4 5 Index 9 subroutine beginning 5 3 dispatching dynamically 5 17 SUBROUTINE statement 5 3 support contacting x Symbol tab 2 21 syn_init_proj 2 7 syn_set command 2 6 syn_set_sdkvars macro 2 38 syn_set_synergy_ini command 2 7 Synergy Control Panel 2 8 Synergy DBMS 1 5 Synergy Language 1 5 5 1 to 5 24 benefits 5 2 5 3 defined 5 2 program structure 5 3 Sy
241. s of the new memory segment The contents of the remaining memory in the segment is undefined The pointer to the new memory segment will be returned in the variable handle1 To return unwanted memory to the system simply specify a lesser value as the second argument For example handlel mem_proc DM_RESIZ size cards 52 2 handlel This code will remove the last 624 bytes from the memory segment The size of the memory segment will now be 624 bytes Any information that existed in the returned memory will be lost The pointer to the memory segment will be returned in the variable handle1 Do not assume that this pointer will be unchanged Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 5 13 Programming in Synergy Language Advanced Features 5 14 Deallocating memory To return memory to the system specify the DM_FREE value as the first argument to the MEM_PROC function and the handle of the memory segment as the second argument The function value will be returned as zero 0 and we recommend that this value be assigned to the handle Any data reference operations against a handle with a zero value will generate an error condition that can be trapped For example handlel mem_proc DM_FREE handlel1 This code releases the memory that was previously allocated and sets the value of handle to zero Registering memory Your program may call external routines written in other languages or system functions that retu
242. ser can change the order in which items are loaded for any given list In the example below each new item is added to the bottom so you don t need to check a_request Using a global variable for the input channel the file was opened at start up in the main routine the load method reads sequentially through customer ism from top to bottom one record per call constructs the display string and calls I DISPLAY to update the list s input window with the display for each new item In addition to the visible portion data must also be associated with each item A_data is the data area passed to the list processor L_SELECT or L_PROCESS and the list creation routine L_CREATE Once the item s data has been returned by the load method to the list processor your program can use it to search the list for a specific item determine the current list item perform file look ups load an input window for modification or viewing just to name a few things It is important that you pass the data area to be associated with the list to all the list routines and that you load it with the appropriate data in your load method When the load method READS encounters end of file it skips the load logic and sets a_request equal to D_LEOF This tells the list processor that no more items are to be added to the list From this point on the list processor will not call the load method again and instead will manage all list items itself subroutine load_cus
243. set up any script compilation options this command compiles the default set of scripts which is all scripts in the project Exiting Composer To exit Composer gt Do one of the following gt Click the Control Bar s Close button gt From the File menu select Exit 4 18 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 5 Programming in Synergy Language This chapter introduces Synergy Language and steps you through building and running a simple application It also acquaints you with features of the Language that will help you optimize performance and simplify maintenance What Is Synergy Language 5 2 Defines what Synergy Language is and briefly describes the structure of a Synergy Language program Compiling Linking and Running Your Program 5 5 Describes the procedures required to transform your source modules from text files into object files and finally into an organized structure that is executed by the Synergy runtime This section also provides a short explanation of object libraries and executable libraries Debugging Your Program 5 9 Explains how to include and use the debugger in your application Advanced Features 5 12 Describes how to use dynamic memory and how to dispatch routines dynamically Programming Tips 5 18 Provides a variety of suggestions and introduces several capabilities of Synergy Language that will help your programs run more efficiently and make them easier to maintain 5 1
244. sion control commands depending on your preferences or procedures Click OK The Get and Put toolbar buttons are now enabled For additional information refer to the online Help system see Displaying online Help on page 2 21 and select Version Control from the index Understanding the NET Framework version used by Workbench 2 38 When you create a NET project Workbench determines which version of the NET Framework SDK is installed on your system and runs the syn_set_sdkvars macro which runs sdkvars bat to set up the environment for that version For Synergy DE 9 1 3 the only valid Framework version is 2 0 If you get a Workbench cannot locate a valid version of the NET Framework SDK message you need to install Framework SDK version 2 Workbench adds the syn_set_sdkvars macro to the project open command Project gt Project Properties and select the Open tab for the current project so that it is run automatically every time the project is opened thus ensuring that the environment is set up properly each time Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Customizing Your Development Environment Copying customization settings These instructions explain how to copy certain Workbench customization settings to another machine or to another user in a Terminal Services or shared configuration The customizations that can be copied are aliases template files project t
245. ss unique field and identifiable characters the field can this field is name to description for contain as well as the arrayed identify the this field number of decimal places if field in your definition file and program the field is implied decimal BE Field Definition Display Input Validation Method Select what Field name type of data Template name the field will Description Company name contain Type Alpha v Class Size so Prec User data Check this Coerced type box if this field is a Overlay field group Structure name Pp Overlay Member prefix i J Use by compiler If the field is an overlay to Excluded by Language Toolkit ReportWriter Web I Do not name link another field P ter the name Template overrides ai field at Description Type Size Prec Dim f Uger data Coerced type 0 e tieid a 3 M Language f Toolkit ReportWriter Web which the areg k overlay begins Cancel Help Check the appropriate box es if you don t If you want the overlay to begin at want this field to be available to the an offset position enter the number Synergy compiler UI Toolkit Composer that should be added to the starting ReportWriter and xNetLink position of the field being overlaid Figure 3 2 Defining a field 4 Enter the desired information in each input field using the example fields listed on page 3 3 and then clic
246. ssign a structure that has the same file type as the file to which you re assigning From the File Definitions list select Assign Structures from the File Functions menu From the Structure Functions menu select Add Structure Enter the name of a structure to assign to the file Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each structure you want to assign From the General menu select Exit twice to return to Repository s main menu Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Setting Up Your Repository Defining a Database Schema for xfODBC Defining a Database Schema for xfODBC A component of xfODBC the dbcreate utility uses repository data definitions to generate a system catalog which prepares a Synergy database for ODBC access A system catalog describes a Synergy database in a way that the xfODBC driver can understand You can run dbcreate either from the command line or from within the xfODBC Database Administrator DBA When you define data for use by xfODBC your repository should contain a complete set of structures tags fields and file information templates for similar fields and well chosen keys and relations See Setting Up a Repository in the Preliminary Steps chapter of the xfODBC User s Guide for detailed instructions Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 3 21 4 Designing Your User Interface Now that you ve set up your repository you can start designing your user interface This chapter introduc
247. stead of specifying the channel we pass a variable that is returned by U_LOPEN with the next available channel The second argument is an alpha literal that specifies the open mode Next is the filename The primary difference between U_OPEN and OPEN is the way errors are handled Because U_OPEN is an external subroutine ONERROR or the I O error list doesn t work Instead open errors are handled by passing an error variable in the sixth position If an error occurs on the open it is trapped and the error number is returned in the error variable The loop we have set up doesn t Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 5 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Starting UI Toolkit exit until the error variable returns false If the error variable returns true control returns to the top of the loop and a new file is created All calls to U_LOPEN should pass an error variable and test it before continuing do if error begin Create data file only if it doesn t exist xcall isamc cdat size customer 2 Start 1 length 45 amp start 127 length 32 DUPS MODIFY xcall u_open customer_ch u i cdat error end until not error U_CLOSE is refreshingly simple To close the file we just opened we call U_CLOSE and pass the file s channel variable If we had other files to close we could pass their IDs here as well xcall u_close customer_ch Using event style programming To realize the full be
248. t function code function name global format handle Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Glossary A subroutine called when the user clicks a drilldown button on Windows or selects a drilldown menu entry in non Windows environments A drill method is primarily used to look up additional information or display a dialog box Memory that is allocated as the program requires it The system allocates the memory and returns a pointer to the base of the memory segment A subroutine called by Toolkit whenever the text in the field is being formatted for editing purposes See executable library A program state that consists of the current definition of the screen and any terminal settings An abbreviation defined at the operating system level for a device directory or path name Also called a logical The set of characters emitted by a keyboard when a key is pressed A group of subroutine executable modules in a single file created by the Synergy linker A temporary file management system consisting of a single physical file that contains multiple logical scratch files accessed in a stack manner A design for a set of characters comprised of typeface point size width and spacing For example within the Helvetica typeface there are many different fonts 10 point italic 12 point bold and so forth The way data will be displayed in an input field or the way a field will be displayed in a report The
249. t When you enter a new environment a snapshot is taken of the screen saving all of the characteristics of the previous environment In the new environment you can alter the display add or remove screen components open files get input modify screen sections When you re done another simple subroutine call exits the environment and restores the original screen What makes this capability so powerful is that you can nest this processing If you need to save multiple layers you simply take multiple snapshots By encapsulating your code in callable routines with a single point of entry and a single point of exit you can have display routines themselves save and restore the screen It does not matter which routine calls a display routine the routine starts by entering a new environment thus preserving the existing screen When the routine is done it simply exits the environment restoring the screen to its former state You cannot skip environments Environment levels are not identified they are managed on a stack and are exited in the reverse order from which they were created The routines that are used to save and restore environments are the simplest routines in UI Toolkit To save a copy of the current screen and enter a new environment xcall e_enter To exit an environment and restore the screen to its previous state xcall e_exit These routines have no arguments 6 8 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Imp
250. t establishes the controls that will be used by UI Toolkit to manage the list This is where the list s display and data components are assigned the second argument to L_CREATE is the ID of the list input window and the third argument is the data area to be associated with the list Each of these variables is passed by the list processor as arguments to your load method xcall 1l_create customer_lst customer_lst_inp customer g_utlib amp listclass D_NOPLC This sample code creates a simple list that will be loaded from top to bottom the default The list is loaded into UI Toolkit memory at start up but is not placed on the screen The customer record is established as its data area it must be passed in all calls to the list processor as well L_CREATE also has additional arguments that control such things as the manner in which the list is loaded and its placement on the screen Step 6 Process the list The template for processing a list is quite similar to that for processing other UI Toolkit objects A loop structure calls the Toolkit processing routine L_SELECT This routine processes the list selection style The first time L_SELECT is called the list processor determines that it needs an item It calls the load method which returns with an item to be added to the list The list processor adds the item and because the list class says there are five items on a page it repeats this step four more times As soon as a p
251. tLink and xfServerPlus Professional Series Workbench online Help system S DE Composer online Help system Product support information If you cannot find the information you need in this manual or in the publications listed above you can call the Synergy DE HelpDesk Support department at 800 366 3472 in North America or 916 635 7300 To purchase a HelpDesk Support agreement contact your Synergy DE account manager at the above phone numbers Before you contact us make sure you have the following information v v v v v v v The version of the Synergy DE product s you are running The name and version of the operating system you are running The hardware platform you are using The error mnemonic and any associated error text if you need help with a Synergy DE error The statement at which the error occurred The exact steps that preceded the problem What changed for example code data hardware before this problem occurred Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Preface gt Whether the problem happens every time and whether it is reproducible in a small test program gt Whether your program terminates with a traceback or whether you are trapping and interpreting the error Synergex Professional Services Group If you would like assistance implementing new technology or would like to bring in additional experienced resources to complete a project or customize a solution Synergex Professional Services Group
252. te that any customized tool you create can only be activated from the menu and cannot be bound to a toolbar button or key press Customizing commands for a project h gt o You can modify the command lines for existing tools or add new tools that can be used by an entire project Open the project if it is not already open From the Project menu select Project Properties In the Project Properties For project dialog box select the Tools tab if it s not already displayed Enter the desired information in each input field see figure 2 18 and then exit the dialog box Once your project is set up you can simply select Compile Build Debug or Execute from the menu Customizing commands for the Synergy DE project type _ gt N 2 34 You can modify the command lines for existing tools Compile Build Debug and so forth or add new tools that Workbench will use when creating a Synergy DE project Close any open workspaces and files From the Project menu select New Click the Customize button In the Customize Packages dialog box select the configuration you want to change the template for for example Synergy DE and click the Edit button Because Synergex reserves the right to override user settings in future versions of Workbench we recommend you do not change the project packages for Synergy DE COM Component Synergy DE Java Component or Synergy DE NET Component In the Pro
253. ted technology that provides numerous solutions See the Microsoft website or one of the many third party resources available for detailed information about NET Using the component generation tools in xfNetLink NET you can create a Synergy NET assembly component that references Synergy methods defined in the Synergy Method Catalog These tools can be accessed from within Workbench or from the command line The assembly can be used in any NET environment to call routines residing on the Synergy server For example the client Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Accessing Logic Remotely with xfServerPlus What Are xfServerPlus and xfNetLink might be a Windows application written in a NET capable language such as C or Visual Basic NET or a web application that uses ASP NET or a Web service We discuss a few of these options below The NET redistributable i e runtime must always be deployed on the Windows client machine Although NET is a Microsoft solution your Synergy routines can reside on any supported Synergy platform Visual Basic NET Visual Basic NET VB NET is a Windows front end development tool that enables you to write applications in the Visual Basic NET language While VB NET is similar to Visual Basic Microsoft has made significant changes See the Microsoft web site for details Using VB NET provides you with a two tier solution a VB NET desktop application on a Windows client accessing Synergy
254. tems xfServer operates as follows The server receives a request from a client application The server s dispatcher starts a new session server process server thread on Windows The new session server completes the connection to the client application The session server processes the client s requests After the process has completed all of the client s requests the session server process server thread on Windows terminates See figure 7 3 Because Windows and UNIX servers can handle multiple clients requests quickly and starting a new session server process is transparent to the user standby session servers are not needed Instead a Windows or UNIX server starts a new session server only when it receives a new client request Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Accessing Data Remotely with xfServer What Is xfServer Process completes connection A Start process Server receives client request Actual Client Server processing Figure 7 3 Windows and UNIX server processing VIMS AA xfServer starts a pool of session server processes at server startup These processes maintain and communicate their status I m busy or I m waiting for a client request to the server connection manager As the session server pool is depleted by client requests connection manager starts additional servers in order to maintain the free pool If there are a sufficient nu
255. th Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 1 3 What Is Synergy DE Elements of Synergy DE Elements of Synergy DE The following Synergy products comprise Synergy DE Connectivity Series Professional Series Workbench or Development Environment Figure 1 1 The components of Synergy DE Professional Series Both Professional Series Workbench and Professional Series Development Environment include the components listed below In addition Professional Series Workbench provides an interface that not only launches all of these components but features a Synergy Language sensitive visual editor xfSeries as well as project management tools Professional Series Workbench is only available on Windows UI Toolkit UI Toolkit gives you all you need to create your application s user interface including an extensive set of subroutines to handle your environment maintenance and menu input text selection and list processing 1 4 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 What Is Synergy DE Elements of Synergy DE Composer Windows only Composer is an interactive user interface design tool You draw windows and input windows just the way you like graphically assigning properties that are immediately reflected on your screen and Composer generates the appropriate script commands to define your objects Composer also accepts predefined input windows and fields from Repository so you can view a
256. the following gt Run Composer gt From the Options menu select Composer gt Click the File tab and in the Default Extensions section change the Script file value Exit the dialog box Customizing keyword color coding 7 Synergy keywords compiler directives and operators are automatically displayed in a different color from the rest of your code To change the colors that are displayed From the Tools menu select Options gt Color Coding In the Lexer name field of the Color Coding Setup dialog box select dbl Select the Keywords radio button to change the default keyword color the Preprocessor radio button to change the default compiler directive color or the Operators radio button to chanage the default operator color Click the Colors button In the Color Settings dialog box click the desired text color in the Foreground field or change the Red Green and Blue values as desired You can also change the background color by selecting a color in the Background field Change the color of any other screen element by selecting the one you want to change in the Screen element field and performing step 5 Exit both dialog boxes when you re finished customizing colors Changing the tagging delay You can customize how often tagging takes place by changing the number of seconds of idle time before tagging begins on a changed buffer The default value is 3 which means open files are retagged immediately after you st
257. the server in the MIS department xfServer is what enables the server to accept client requests for data and send data back to the client PCs This section describes how the xfServer system works locally at the client application level and remotely at the server level How your application works locally Access files using a server address To access remote files you must specify the server name in your file specifications You can do this directly or using a logical The direct file specification method is to append the server name to the filename in your Synergy Language statements and subroutines The server name in the form server can be either the host name of the server or the server s fully qualified domain name An alternate form of a server file specification is address where address is the server s IP address on the network For example if your server s host name is yubby and the IP address is 234 52 47 128 you can specify the file using either of the following forms fileeyubby or file 234 52 47 128 If you are accessing a file on a separate domain you can specify the file in the following form file yubby subdomain com A remote file specification cannot reference another remote file specification when the first AN file specification is on Windows We recommend that you use a logical to specify the server address rather than using a direct specification It is much easier to maintain you
258. ther Object toolbar button to cancel creation mode Setting input field properties Specifying a prompt 1 Select the input field in the Application window 2 Click the Prompt attribute in the Properties window and type the desired text of your prompt If you want your prompt to be a hyperlink that calls a subroutine to perform special processing whenever the prompt is clicked double click the Methods attribute to display the Hyperlink method attribute Then click the Hyperlink method attribute and type the name of a hyperlink method subroutine you ve written or plan to write or click the drilldown button to display the Choose Method File dialog box in Workbench so you can select or create a source file that contains or will contain the method routine code See Using code templates on page 2 26 for more information Hyperlink prompts are displayed in green Setting size You ll probably want to make sure your input fields are the right size To size a field 1 Select the field by clicking on it in the Application window 2 Inthe Properties window look at the Size property Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 4 13 Designing Your User Interface Using Composer 4 14 If the size is not what you want type a new size or click and drag on one of the field s sizing handles in the Application window Adding a check box You can either display an existing input field as a check box or create one from scratch using th
259. thods attribute to display the method attributes 2 Click the desired method attribute and either type the name of a method routine you ve written or plan to write or click the drilldown button 3 Ifyou click the drilldown button Workbench will be launched or brought to the top and the Choose Method File dialog box will be displayed if the specified method is not in any of the source files in the current project In the Choose Method File dialog select or create a source file that contains or will contain the code for the method you are specifying In chapter 6 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit you will write sample arrive and leave method subroutines Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 4 15 Designing Your User Interface Using Composer Saving your work When you re finished defining the input windows in our exercise you have several options gt Close your project gt Save or close the current script file gt Continue defining user interface objects in this script file or create and modify other script files for additional practice Closing your project 6 When you close your project Composer will prompt you to save any unsaved script files as well as the project itself To close the active project From the File menu select Close Project When prompted as to whether you want to save changes to your script click Yes Because your script still has a temporary name you are p
260. tines compiler directives utilities and environment variables included in Synergy Language Also documents other features of the Language such as program organization expressions indexed sequential access method ISAM system options compiler and runtime errors the message controller and the debugger gt Synergy Language Tools Describes the programming tools that are used with Synergy Language the compiler linker librarian and runtime the debugger the Synergy DBMS file management system and general utilities Also documents the Synergy Language error messages gt Environment Variables and System Options Lists and discusses all of the environment variables and system options available in Synergy DE gt UI Toolkit Reference Manual Describes the syntax of all Toolkit subroutines and utility programs which are used to create and maintain state of the art user interfaces Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 1 9 What Is Synergy DE Using the Documentation gt Repository User s Guide Explains how to define data in Repository and describes its utility functions Also describes the syntax of Synergy Data Language statements and Repository information retrieval subroutines gt ReportWriter User s Guide Explains how to use ReportWriter to access and organize your data into useful reports Includes a tutorial and describes the ReportWriter utility functions gt SQL Connection Reference Manual Desc
261. tion about Repository utilities the Synergy Data Language which describes the contents of a repository and the subroutines that enable you to access repository data from within an application Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Setting Up Your Repository Defining a Record Layout for Use in an Application Defining a Record Layout for Use in an Application The most efficient way to define data fields is in one central location a data repository rather than in each of the programs that make up your application The same definitions can then be accessed by multiple applications across multiple systems You will first need to define a structure and then define the data fields required by your application including the data type and size of each field As an example for this chapter and the ones that follow we ve designed a simple application that maintains business contact information It requires the following data fields company a45 address a45 city a25 state a2 zip pad salutation a4 lname al6 fname al6 contact a32 phone ald fax alo modem alo email ad7 notes ad7 type al0 status ald sl al tk par rps rar pvcs al odbc al dte eal Defining a structure The first step in defining a record layout is to create a new structure In Repository the term structure refers to the entire record definition or the combination of field and key characteristics To define a structure 1 From t
262. to the server The server can wait for client requests while processing requests from connected client applications The computer selected to be the server must be capable of pre emptive multitasking Any computer hosting a client application becomes a client A client application is simply an application that uses client capabilities such as the runtime included with Synergy Language version 6 1 or greater or Synergy DE xfODBC application logic processing user interface processing record retrieval processing Wn d AMAIAN y Figure 7 1 A two tier client server configuration Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Accessing Data Remotely with xfServer What Is a Client Server System A multi tier client server model The first multi tier client server architecture was the three tier model see figure 7 2 which divides processing into essentially three layers gt User interface collecting data from the user gt Database serving accessing data gt Business logic processing data user interface processing record retrieval processing application logic processing SIF SS y Figure 7 2 A three tier client server configuration The three tier architecture led to an n tier architecture in which many application servers can be created to perform parts of the processing involved in any of the three layers but most commonly in the applic
263. tomer a_listid yn List ID a_request a RETURNED LP communication variable a_data a Data area customer record a_inpid iii Input window ID a_disabled pA Flag for disabling an entry a_itemindex yn The item s ordinal position in the list include WND tools def include ids gbl Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 6 31 Implementing Your User Interface with UI Toolkit Creating Script Files and Window Libraries record display a65 proc begin reads custload_ch customer eof xcall i_display a_inpid display atrim cmpny amp atrim fname lname a_data customer exit eof xcall i_init list_inp a_req D_LEOF end xreturn endsubroutine Because load methods are just external subroutines your application program can use all of the power of Synergy Language to select or construct the items to add to the list If you choose not to specify the load method in your LISTCLASS definition or if you want to use a different load method the L_METHOD subroutine enables you to specify or change the load method at runtime If your load method loads items sequentially from a file the record pointer must be on the next record to be loaded If the load method retrieves data on the same channel used to update the database file there is no assurance that the pointer is on the correct record Therefore you must open the input file on a channel dedicated to the load method No other I O can occur on t
264. ules and using the rules of Synergy Language creates another file that contains the instructions to perform the program actions you have specified The output from the compiler is called object code and is sometimes referred to as an object file Most applications are composed of many of these individual object files that are bound or linked together into a single executable program By default the compiler expects the input source module to have the extension dbl If your programs follow this convention you will not have to specify a filename extension in your compiler commands The compiler creates output files with the following default extensions Extension File type dbo Generated object file lis Listing file We recommend using these default filename extensions so that other tools for example Windows Explorer will know what type of file it is For instructions on compiling your program refer to the Building and Running Synergy Language Programs chapter in Synergy Language Tools You can also compile your program directly from Professional Series Workbench by doing the following 1 Make sure the file you want to compile is open 2 From the Project menu select Compile Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 5 5 Programming in Synergy Language Compiling Linking and Running Your Program There are many other ways to request a source compile on various platforms For example Favs Seren
265. ultiple values with a single entry or your application may not behave as expected and may match on values that were not intended Consider the following sample code case value of begincase TAN call a_process Catches every entry that starts with A AB call ab_process That means you can never get here ABC call abc_process Or here endcase 5 20 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Programming in Synergy Language Programming Tips The CASE and USING statements perform evaluations in a top down manner Therefore in the above code any value that would match the second or third case would by definition have to match the first To make this work correctly the order of the cases must be reversed as follows case value of begincase Matches the following values ABC call abc_process ABC ABCC ABCD ABCDE AB call ab_process AB ABD ABE ABB A call a_process any remaining values starting with A endcase Understanding the behavior of the different relational operators will enhance your productivity and provide you with more options as you code your application Manipulating dates Synergy Language provides the capability to transform dates to and from a numeric representation which enables you to perform mathematical operations on the dates Adding and subtracting periods of time determining differences between dates and determining what day of the week a particular date falls are simpl
266. up a dbl specific tag file You might want to set up a separate extension specific tag file for files that for one reason or another you don t want to include in your project For example if you have a set of INCLUDE or source files that you don t modify very often or that are used by other developers such as your core routines you probably want to maintain them outside of your project Setting up separate tag files for such files lets you use the editor s tagging features for all symbols not just the symbols in your project including being able to view popup help for routines that aren t part of the current project 2 20 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Developing Your Application in Workbench Editing Synergy Code with the Workbench Editor To set up a dbl specific tag file 1 From the Tools menu select Tag Files or click the Tag Files button on the Symbol tab 2 Click the Add Tag File button 3 Inthe Add Tag File dialog box select DBL from the list and then click OK 4 Inthe Add Tags Database dialog box enter a name for the new tag file and click Open The default filename is tags vtg 5 The Synergy DE file extensions are listed in the Files field of the Add Tree dialog box Click OK 6 In the Tag Files dialog box click Done when you are finished Moving between files in your project To jump to the definition of a routine or label in the source file or vice versa 1 Place the cursor on the inv
267. vantage of multiple input sets to either add or modify data If we determine in the dup_chk internal subroutine that the record exists we read the data and load it into the input window with DISPLAY Notice that we change the input set from customer to nokey This is because we will be modifying an existing record and don t want the user to modify the primary key If you look in the script definition for the customer window you ll see that the nokey input set contains all fields except the primary key cmpny Because I DISPLAY flags every field as having input entered in it I_ NEXT is called to set the context to the first field in the nokey input set When dup_chk returns to the input processing loop and re executes I_INPUT the input window will contain the data to modify and the user will not be able to access the cmpny field If the FIND statement fails to find a matching record it skips the code that updates the input window and returns to the input loop to continue add processing Creating selection windows 6 24 Selection windows are a powerful way to present a set of valid options to your user If you specify a list of values for a field in either its script or repository definition when that field is processed a selection window containing those choices appears Your user can only select from those choices If several of your input windows contain fields that share a set of valid choices you can create a single selection
268. view_col column view_text xcall e_enter u_window D_PLACE text_winid 1 1 xcall t_view text_win view_col view_help xcall e_exit return Extracting data from a text window Once the user has finished editing we can do one of two things to save the input gt Store the contents of the window into a window library gt Extract the information from the window into our program s data area so it can be processed in some manner Our example extracts the data to the program To store the window and its contents to a window library see the U_LSAVE subroutine in the Utility Routines chapter of the UI Toolkit Reference Manual Step 7 Define a data structure to hold the window contents The first thing needed to extract the data from a text window is an alpha array with at least as many elements as there are rows in the text window The size of each element should match the number of columns in the window In the example we allocate an alpha array whose dimension is based on a compiler definition NUMLINES We use a DEFINE so we can use the same value as an upper boundary when we unload the window data into the array If at some point in the future the text window needs to change size we only have to change the value in the DEFINE all references to this value will remain synchronized define NUMLINES 99 Number of lines in text window record textline LNUMLINES a73 6 28 Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3
269. windows To move about in your selection windows in a non Windows environment it is handled automatically on Windows create a menu column that contains the selection window reserved menu entries S_ In most cases you will associate each entry with a shortcut The arrow keys are a logical choice If you pass the column ID as the fifth argument to I_INPUT the column will be placed whenever a selection field is processed and removed as soon as that selection field is exited The sample below uses the reserved entries and associates them with the arrow key shortcuts It is to be loaded but not placed at start up column sel_col Selection keys entry s_up Up key UP entry s_down Down key DOWN entry s_right Right key RIGHT entry s_left Left key LEFT end Dynamic selection windows We have only discussed static selection windows in this section UI Toolkit also provides routines that enable you to build selection windows at runtime This feature enables your application to create and modify selection windows based on factors that are not determined until the program executes For example selections can be loaded from a file based on security or license status See the Selection Routines chapter in your UI Toolkit Reference Manual for more information Creating text windows One of the most difficult things to code is an editor for text entry Many applications require editing capabilities whether it
270. xactly what happens with each menu event Of course if the number of possible menu selections is large the selection statement can become quite unwieldy making the XSUBR approach more desirable XSUBR is also more flexible enabling you to create a generic menu processing routine and also to add an unlimited number of menu entries without modifying your code What has been discussed here is only a portion of the capabilities of UI Toolkit menu processing Consult the Menu Routines chapter of your UI Toolkit Reference Manual for a comprehensive description of the Toolkit routines that affect menu processing Additional options offer such features as menu creation at execution time manipulation of menus in environments and submenus Because menu processing drives all Toolkit processing a thorough understanding of how menus work is essential Creating input windows 6 16 With an understanding of menu processing we are ready for the next logical step How do we display and retrieve information from our users The answer input windows To use a UI Toolkit input window your perspective has to change In your old style of programming you had to deal with each field as a separate entity taking care to position the cursor correctly display the prompt and then read the data Once your program had the data you had to decide if the data was valid and perhaps reformat it If an input error was detected you had lots of code to erase the scre
271. y Language If you do not use the Workbench visual editor you may use any popular word processing or text editing software such as Microsoft Word or Notepad or an editor from the command line It really does not matter as long as the editor you use is capable of writing out the final result as an ASCII text file with no additional formatting or header information embedded in the file Most word processing products will generate this type of file if you save your document as text only If your editing tool appends its own extension to your files you may want to change that at the system level to take advantage of the defaults of the Synergy DE components or to adhere to standards in your development organization We recommend using the default extension dbl for Synergy Language source files Creating your modules Once you have chosen your editing tool you can begin creating or modifying your source code Establishing a standard for your development is an important part of the decision process for a successful development effort Once development has been ongoing for some time it is difficult to retrofit standards into existing code Choose some standard methodology and try to stick to it You can obtain our suggested coding standard by contacting your Synergy DE account manager A major benefit of Synergy Language is that you can group multiple routines in a single source module This enables you to combine subroutines that are unique to a p
272. ynfunc a synmeappmove synmeappsize synmeappstate synmecentury synmechkfld Param Name Click to delete the selected parameter Developing Your Application in Workbench T Surround with xcall e enter load input window xcall i_ldinp inpwnd g_utlib if error s ibegin s ixcall u_message Cannot load insu Delete Parameters Window ID inpnam Window name methset Window event inpdat Structure Click to modify the name prompt or initial value of the selected parameter Figure 2 13 Editing an alias Creating your own alias 1 2 v Generating Synergy Code Segments Select the Surround With check box to only display aliases that can be used with the Surround with context menu entry Type your changes to the code that will be generated when the alias is expanded Click to delete the selected alias Click to change the order of the selected parameter in the Parameters dialog box From the Tools menu select Options gt File Extension Setup and select dbl in the Extension field From the General tab click the Aliases button The Alias Editor dialog box is displayed See figure 2 13 Click the New button The Enter New Alias Name dialog box is displayed Enter the name of the alias you want to create and then exit the dialog box In the editor field of the Alias Editor dialog box type the code that will be generated when this alias is expanded Click the A
273. zing Your Code 2 28 Viewing a call tree of external routines 2 28 Viewing where a method is called 2 29 Browsing an ActiveX control 2 30 Compiling Building Running and Debugging 2 31 Checking compilation errors 2 31 Debugging a project 2 31 Customizing Your Development Environment 2 33 Customizing the way a project is opened 2 33 Customizing and adding commands 2 34 Adding file extensions to Workbench 2 36 Customizing keyword color coding 2 37 Changing the tagging delay 2 37 Turning tagging off 2 38 Interfacing with version control tools 2 38 iv Getting Started with Synergy DE 9 1 3 3 08 Contents Understanding the NET Framework version used by Workbench 2 38 Copying customization settings 2 39 Using Workbench for Non Windows Development 2 41 Using NFS based mapped drives 2 41 Using FTP 2 42 3 Setting Up Your Repository What Is Repository 3 2 Starting Repository 3 2 Getting help 3 2 Displaying a list of valid data fora field 3 2 Defining a Record Layout for Use in an Application 3 3 Defining a structure 3 3 Defining fields 3 4 Saving your structure 3 6 Defining User Interface Characteristics 3 7 Defining a structure 3 7 Defining how input is redisplayed in afield 3 8 Defining fields 3 9 Defining field attributes 3 9 Defining Files for ReportWriter 3 15 Defining a structure 3 15 Defining fields 3 15 Determining how each field will be displayed in a report 3 15 Defining a format 3 16 Defining a key to your record 3 16

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