In addition to the basic edit functionality, the File Manager® editor provides a set of actions to improve productivity. These actions are available in the File Manager® menu toolbar, as toolbar items, or directly from the editor's pop-up menu.
The toolbar menu and toolbar items |
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The File Manager® plug-in editor pop-up menu |
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Follow the links for more detailed explanations of the actions.
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Database Position |
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Delete records |
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Find/Replace action |
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Turns on or off hex lines |
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Page down cached records |
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Page up cached records |
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Save |
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SHOW options |
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Switch editor mode |
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Validate editor contents |
This action allows the user to position on an IMS segment within the IMS database.
The Database position is specified using Database Positioning dialog which is shown in the picture below. On this dialog select the segment and its parents in the hierarchy that you wish to position on, fill in the Segment key values and File Manager® IMS will position on the IMS segment.
Database Positioning dialog |
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This action deletes the currently selected records in the editor. A Delete all records checkbox provides the option of deleting the entire contents of the resource.
Once records are deleted, they are removed from the editor for display. However, the records are not deleted from the original source unless a Save is performed explicitly.
The delete confirmation dialog allows you to specify an option to delete all records (see below). If you try to execute delete action without a valid selection in the editor, then this option is selected by default.
Delete records options dialog |
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This action enables you to search for a specific pattern (either by a string literal or hex value) within the currently edited IMS database. Furthermore, you can issue a replace command which replaces the occurrences of searched patterns with the specified replacement pattern. Find/Replace options are specified using Find/Replace dialog which is shown in the picture below.
Find/Replace dialog |
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After a Find/Replace command is issued the result is reflected in the editor contents. The picture below is a screenshot of File Manager® editor after successfully issuing a Find command to the current edit session (note that fields containing the search pattern are highlighted). The Find/Replace dialog remains active as long as the current edit session is open, so you can interactively specify search commands.
After successful execution of a Replace command, the records are modified in the editor for display. However, the changes to records are not committed to the edited resource until a Save is executed explicitly.
Example of search result |
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This action toggles hex lines on or off.
The File Manager® IMS editor only caches a subset of records locally for display. The number of cached records are controlled in the File Manager® preference page. This allows efficient transfer of data from mainframe to your desktop machine, particularly when you are working with a resource containing a large number of records.
This action moves the cached records forward. That is, it retrieves records which follow the last record cached in the current cache window. This action is equivalent of issuing DOWN nn command, in that it positions the editor's cursor forward by specified number of records (nn).
The File Manager® editor only caches a subset of records locally for display. The number of cached records are controlled in the File Manager® preference page. This allows efficient transfer of data from mainframe to your desktop machine, particularly when you are working with a resource containing a large number of records.
This action moves the cached records backward. That is, it retrieves records that precede the first record cached in the current cache window. This action is equivalent of issuing UP nn command, in that it positions the editor's cursor backward by specified number of records (nn).
This action saves the modified records, that is, the changes are made to the resource on a permanent basis. This action is only applicable in an edit session and only becomes available when the editor contents are modified.
This action controls how records are grouped (grouping options) and which should be displayed to the user (shadow line options). These options are specified using the Show and Shadow Lines Options dialog (shown below).
These options control whether similar types of records should be grouped together or not.
These options control whether a shadow line should be displayed to represent a specific type of grouped record.
SHOW options dialog |
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This action switches between Formatted (table) mode (if a template/copybook is applied) and Character mode.
This action validates any changes to the currently edited records. If any errors exist, then they are reported to the user. If validation is successful, or if the user chooses to ignore the errors, then the changes are reflected in the edit session. However, changes are not saved to the currently edited resource until a Save is explicitly executed.