2.14.9 Use Panel Groups for Help Text

Instead of the LANSA help text display facility, IBM's UIM Panel Groups may be used to present the user defined help text at execution time. With Panel Groups, the window size and positioning on the screen are cursor sensitive. Panel Groups may also increase the performance of the help text presentation.

Panel Groups are created from source written in the UIM tag language (for further details on this language, refer to the IBM supplied Guide to Programming Application and Help Displays). LANSA creates this source from the help text entered through the LANSA facilities. When using UIM help panels with LANSA, some special considerations apply and these are listed in 2.14.11 Help Text Considerations when using Panel Groups.

To enable the use of Panel Groups in LANSA, the text string '*UIMHELP' should be entered in data area DC@OSVEROP. Further details on this data area and its use are in the Version Dependency Data Area DC@OSVEROP. Setting the string '*UIMHELP' in DC@OSVEROP causes LANSA to:

• Prompt for the creation of Panel Groups after exit from SEU during a help text edit session.

• Compile processes and functions in a way that they use Panel Groups for help text when executed later. This includes Field, Function and Process level help text.

• Cause export and import jobs to include help text Panel Groups, if they exist, for the objects included in the export list.

The text string '*UIMHELP' must be set at compile time if Panel Groups are to be used for help text presentation. A function compiled while the text string IS NOT set will not look for a Panel Group at execution time, even if the string is then set, and a Panel Group exists for the help text. Vice versa, a function compiled while the text string IS set will look for a Panel Group at execution time, even if the string has been removed. If the Panel Group does not exist, a message saying that help text is not available will be displayed by the UIM manager, even if help text would be available through the LANSA facility. To disable the use of Panel Groups by a function, the function must be re-compiled with the string '*UIMHELP' removed from data area DC@OSVEROP.

The text string '*UIMHELP' also must be set at the time that an export or import is run if Panel Groups are to be included. Note that the LANSA help text source itself is still included in the export or import. To revert to the display of the help text using LANSA instead of the Panel Groups, processes and functions can be recompiled with the string '*UIMHELP' removed from DC@OSVEROP.