3.10 The File Definition Menu

The file definition menu is used when creating a new file definition or reviewing/changing an existing file definition. The method by which the file definition menu is used can be visualized as follows:

                                __________

                               |          |

                               |   FILE   |

                               |  CONTROL |

                               |   MENU   |

                               |__________|

                                    |

                   _________________|_________________

                  |                                   |

    "Create a new file definition"  "Review or change a file definition"

       option chosen from menu            option chosen from menu

              ____|_____                          ____|_____

             |          |                        |          |

             |  SPECIFY |                        |  SELECT  |

             | NEW FILE |                        | FILE TO  |

             |   NAME   |                        | REVIEW / |

             |          |                        | CHANGE   |

             |__________|                        |__________|

                  |                                   |

                  |___________________________________|

                                ____|_____

                               |          |

                               |   FILE   |

                               |DEFINITION|

                               |   MENU   |

                               |__________|

              ______________________|____________________

         ____|_____    ____|_____   |   ____|_____   ____|_____

        |          |  |          |  |  |          | |          |

        |  FIELDS  |  |  LOGICAL |  |  |   FILE   | |   FILE   |

        |    IN    |  | VIEWS OF |  |  |VALIDATION| |  ACCESS  |

        |   FILE   |  |   FILE   |  |  |RULES AND | |  ROUTES  |

        |          |  |          |  |  | TRIGGERS | |          |

        |__________|  |__________|  |  |__________| |__________|

              ______________________|____________________

         ____|_____    ____|_____       ____|_____   ____|_____

        |          |  |          |     |          | |          |

        |  VIRTUAL |  |  BATCH   |     | DATABASE | |   LOAD   |

        |  FIELDS  |  | CONTROL  |     |ATTRIBUTES| |  "OTHER" |

        |  & CODE  |  |  LOGIC   |     |          | |   FILE   |

        |__________|  |__________|     |__________| |__________|

 

 

The file definition menu is the menu that is always used to create, review or change any of the components of the LANSA file definition and looks like this:

pppFILCRT              File Definition Menu (aaaaaa)                                                                                            Enter number of function or place cursor on same line and press Enter.                                                                          __  1. Review or change fields in file definition                           2. Review or change logical views of file                               3. Review or change file validation checks                              4. Review or change access routes to other files                        5. Review or change virtual fields                                      6. Review or change batch control logic                                 7. Review or change database file attributes                            8. Review or change file multilingual attributes                        9. Load definition of file not maintained by LANSA                     10. Exit from LANSA                                                                                                                                                                                                  File being worked with is . . . . : XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX   Name and library are  . . . . . . : XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX                                                                                       Fnn=Help  Fnn=Exit  Fnn=Cancel  Fnn=Messages

Note that the "aaaaaa" value shown in the screen title is actually displayed as Create or Review to indicate what action is being taken on the file definition.

By working from the file definition menu you can define, review or change the fields in a file, logical views, validation rules, access routes, batch control logic, database file attributes and load the definition of file not maintained by LANSA. Each of these components of the file definition is described in detail in the following sections.