Settings Menu - Preferences

On the Settings menu, click Preferences to configure unique settings before you begin modeling:

• General
• Import
• Entity
• Pattern
• Attribute
• Operation
• Command
• Recordset

General Preferences

Preferences control the behavior of the Design Tool. These settings do not have any effect on a model deployed on a server.

The following options are available on the General tab of the Preferences Setup dialog box:

Import Preferences

The following options are available on the Import tab of the Preferences Setup dialog box and are selected by default:

• Automatically select referenced elements

  When an element is selected in the left tree pane, all of the dependencies or references from that element to others are selected to be imported into the destination model.

  For example: If you select attribute A in the left pane that refers to a variable V at the bottom of that pane, this preference makes sure variable V is also checked automatically. If Automatically select referenced elements is not selected, variable V_notImported will be created after import, unless you manually select V. All references need to be resolved, either manually or automatically.

• Automatically select all sub items

  When an element is selected in the left tree pane all the children of the element are automatically selected to be imported into the destination model.

• Validate after import

  After importing the model, the model is validated and the results are displayed. It is important to validate your model and resolve any discrepancies that might have occurred during the import. There is a Validate option available on import dialog box.

• Confirm before overwriting existing element

  When you select an element that is already in the destination model the element is replaced. Select this option to confirm your decision before the element is overwritten. You can choose to stop displaying the confirmation message on the dialog box.

Entity Preferences

The following options are available on the Entity tab of the Preferences Setup dialog box:

• On undefined screen (except VT)

  Select Automatically create new entity if you want the Design Tool to automatically create an entity for each screen you traverse across in a host application. Whenever a new screen displays, you must define at least one pattern for the entity before you can move to the next screen. Note: This setting does not apply to character mode host application models.

• Character mode applications

• Automatically generate tabstops

  Specifies whether or not the Design Tool creates tabstops automatically as you add entities to your host application model. Note: This setting is designed specifically for character mode applications and will only function if you create a user-defined command list to move the cursor from the Advanced Model Properties dialog box. On the Model menu, click Properties and then click the Advanced button to open this dialog box.

• Use writable attributes as automatic tabstops

  Select this option to automatically include configured attributes as tabstops when creating new entities. If you want to use this option on an existing entity, select the Use writable attributes as automatic tabstops check box on the Cursor tab.

• Validation defaults

  Select Wait for cursor to direct the model to wait for the cursor to be on a specified row and column on the screen before validating the current entity.

• Other preferences

  Select Cache all attribute writes to temporarily store attribute values after they are written to the terminal screen. To erase the cached memory, issue an UpdateAttribute or UpdateAttributes command. Attributes are guaranteed to be written in the same order each time an entity is encountered.

Pattern Preferences

The following options are available on the Pattern tab of the Preferences Setup dialog box:

Default properties

• Field type (3270/5250 only)

  Specifies how the host has set a terminal display field attribute on the terminal screen. For example, the host may recognize a text field as an "unprotected" field while areas that cannot be edited by a user are "protected" fields. The default is No.

• Text color (3270/5250 only)

  Specifies the terminal display attribute of the text color that appears on a pattern. The default is No.

• Text

  Specifies that text characters, either typed into the Text box on the Pattern tab or selected from the terminal screen, be included when adding patterns to entities. The default is Yes.

• Case sensitive

  Specifies whether or not text, either typed or selected from the terminal screen, in a selected pattern is case sensitive. The default is Yes.

• Use display attributes for patterns

  Specifies what types of physical characteristics to look for on a host screen when adding patterns to entities. By default, the Use all display attributes that are uniform across a selected area option is selected. This means that the Design Tool will allow any display characteristics that are similar to be added as patterns on entities. The other option, designed mainly for VT and HP hosts, is Use only specified display attributes.

Default position

• Fixed, Relative to cursor

  Defines the settings (Row, Height, Col, and Width) that describe the actual position of the pattern on the host screen. Row can be defined with the row number or you can select from one of the following options: Any Row, Current Row, First Row, or Last Row. Col can be defined with the column number or you can select from one of the following options: Any Column, Current Column, First Column, or Last Column.

  Select either the Fixed or the Relative to cursor option. The default is Fixed and the coordinates of the pattern are automatically generated and can be viewed on the Pattern tab if pattern search is not defined relative to the cursor or in an expanded region.

  Tip: When defining a pattern, set the Row box to Current Row then configure the options in the Properties box. After you've configured the pattern properties, set the Row box to Any Row to ensure accuracy in your pattern configuration

Automatic generation (except VT)

• Generate patterns based on...

  Specifies the physical characteristics of the pattern to be recognized during auto-generation. You can generate patterns based on the following:

  • Field type
  • Text color
  • Field type and text color

Attribute Preferences

The following options are available on the Attribute tab of the Preferences Setup dialog box:

• Default position
• Name
• Automatic generation
• Advanced attribute preferences

Default Position

Specifies the actual position of the attribute on the host screen. Choose from the following options under Default position on the Attribute tab of the Preferences Setup dialog box:

Name

Specifies the name or names of the currently defined attributes. Under Name on the Attribute tab of the Preferences Setup dialog box, select from the following options:

Generate Attributes Based on

Specifies what types of characteristics the Design Tool should look for when generating attributes automatically. The following options are available:

• Every unprotected field (Default)
• Every field
• Every modified field

On the Attribute tab of the Preferences Setup dialog box, select Every Unprotected field when the Generate based on option is selected.

Advanced Attribute Preferences

Click the Advanced button on the Attribute tab of the Preferences Setup dialog box to open the Advanced Attribute Preferences dialog box. Use this dialog box to configure how the Host Integrator processes data after retrieving it from the host.

• Fetch

Remove blanks—Select from the Leading, Trailing, or All check boxes to remove spaces that come before, after, or appear anywhere in fetched data.

• Update

Erase to end of attribute— Select this check box to instruct the Host Integrator to concatenate as many spaces as necessary to make the length of the input match the length of the attribute. For more information on this attribute, see Erase to End of Attribute for Attributes.

• Character mode data entry

• Don't wait for echo (Default)— Select this option to transmit the string to the host and immediately move to the next action. Always use this option for block mode applications. For character mode applications, use this option only when you know that data will not be echoed back to the terminal screen. For example, many times alphanumeric keys are used to move between screens and are not echoed.

• Wait for same number of characters to echo—Select this option to wait for the same number of characters to be sent back to the terminal screen after data has been transmitted to the host. To detect the number of echoed characters, Host Integrator transmits the data and waits for the cursor position to move the same number of columns as the length of the data transmitted. For example, if you transmit the name George as your password, a host will often echo six spaces instead of the original text. With this option selected, Host Integrator waits for the cursor to move six columns from the cursor position when the name George was transmitted to the host before moving on to the next command.

• Wait for string to echo at cursor—Select this option to wait for the exact data string to be written back to the terminal screen after data has been sent to the host. This is the most robust option to select when working with character mode hosts. Note: With character mode applications, the cursor must be wherever characters are being written to the screen. For this reason, use this option to synchronize with the host application.

• Wait for next tabstop—Select this option to wait for the cursor to appear at the next tabstop after transmitting data. If tabstops have been defined on the Cursor tab, then the Host Integrator waits for the cursor to appear at one of the defined locations. If no tabstop definitions are applicable, then the Host Integrator waits for the cursor to be anywhere on the screen that is outside the attribute or recordset field to which the data is being written.

• Wait for next tabstop or string to echo at cursor—Select this option to wait for the exact data string to be written back to the terminal screen or to wait for it to appear at the next appropriate tabstop. This option is not recommended.

Operation Preferences

The following options are available on the Operation tab of the Preferences Setup dialog box:

• Default Properties - You can set the Timeout for operations. The default is 10 seconds.

• Operation generation - The default is to automatically generate operations, and prompt to approve each new operation. If you automatically generate operations, you can choose to add operations silently. You can also choose not to generate operations at all.

Operation Generation Preferences

On the Operation tab in the Preferences Setup dialog box, click the Advanced button to open the Operation Generation Preferences dialog box.

• Block mode applications
• Ignore unmodified fields - When generating operations automatically, only record modified fields
  • Ignore empty fields - When generating operations, ignore fields that are empty
  • Record attribute contents with command - Specifies the command to use when recording attributes during operation generation.
    • Default value command
    • TransmitToAttr command with an option to Apply default value to server

• Include CheckOperationCondition command - Specifies whether or not a CheckOperationConditions command is added to an operation being generated by the Design Tool.

• Character mode applications

  • Record initial cursor position - Specifies whether or not to record the first position of the cursor on the terminal screen during operation generation.

See Operations for more information on these options and Operation Command Summary for descriptions of commands.

Operation Command Preferences

You can set this option on the Command tab of the Preferences Setup dialog box:

• Default Properties - Set the Timeout for commands. The default is 5 seconds.

Recordset Preferences

The following options are available on the Recordset tab of the Preferences Setup dialog box:

• Default top position
• Default record size
• Default bottom position
• Cache all field writes
• Advanced recordset field preferences
• Recording preferences

Recordset Top Position

Recordset Record

Specifies the size of the each recordset. The default is Fixed. Select this option if your recordset takes up a set number of rows. Select Variable to specify where the beginning and end of a recordset are on an entity. Use the Recordset Layout tab to define specific coordinates.

Recordset Bottom Position

Cache All Field Writes

• Creates a temporary storage area for data assigned to recordset fields. To globally configure all recordset field data to be cached on new entities, select the Cache all field writes box on the Recordset Preferences dialog box.

• To cache recordset field data on a selected entity, select the entity in the Entity window and select the Cache all field writes box on the Recordset Fields tab.

• When data is assigned to a field from within the Design Tool or from a Host Integrator API, it will be stored in this area rather than the default behavior of being written directly to the terminal. In an operation, field data can be assigned using write commands like DefaultValue and TransmitToField. When using a Host Integrator connector, field data is assigned with methods like UpdateRecords or UpdateRecordByFilter. When Cache all field writes is selected, the field data assigned by the Design Tool or the Host Integrator connector is temporarily stored until an operation issues an UpdateAttribute or UpdateAttributes command to write the stored data to the terminal screen. Alternatively, an operation can call UpdateAttribute for each field in the desired order, inserting other commands in between as needed to modify cursor positioning, synchronize with the host state, or meet any other requirements to be executed by the operation.

Advanced Recordset Field Preferences

On the Recordset tab in the Preferences Setup dialog box, click the Advanced button to open the Advanced Recordset Field Preferences dialog box.

If you are not working with a character-mode host, the controls in the Advanced Recordset Field Preferences dialog box are unavailable.

The following options are available:

• Fetch: Remove blanks

Select the Leading, Trailing, or All check boxes to remove spaces from fetched data.

• Update: Erase to end of field

Select this check box to concatenate as many spaces as necessary to make the length of the input match the length of the field.

• Character mode data entry

Recording Preferences

This option is available on the Recording tab of the Preferences Setup dialog box: When field text is hidden. This setting is designed for block mode applications.