Specifying Dialog help messages (standard or client Screen)

You specify help on a Screen, a Data Element, or an error message in the -GE Lines of the Screen.

About this task

To document a Screen, a Data Element, or an error message, you can indicate two types of line:
  • A C line to enter a comment.
  • A T line to call a Text.

You can enter the Text name directly in the Description column.

You can also select it in the Link column in one of the following ways:
  • Click the Link column and click the button that is displayed in this column. It opens a selection wizard with all the available Texts. You can select a whole Text or some sections only. To select sections, click the + sign in front of a Text and select one or more sections. Click OK.
  • Place the cursor in the column and enter the name directly. To make the input easier, you can open a content assist wizard by clicking Ctrl and the space bar simultaneously. If you start entering a name, the content assist displays the instances that start with this input. If you enter the name of an instance that does not exist and if you validate, the input is discarded.
When the Text is selected in the Link column, it is automatically copied out to the Description column, where you can complement the input.
Table 1. Positions in the Description column
Positions Contents
6 - 11 Text
12 - 13 Selected sections, or ** to select all sections
Note: You can assign comment lines to explicit manual errors on the Dialog -GE Lines. These lines will not be accessible, from the standard help function program, in the generated transactions.
To indicate an online help on a Data Element, a Screen, or an error message, you must respect the following coding:
  • For the Screen documentation, the documentation lines must be entered on the Screen -GE Lines. You must respect the following positions in the Description column:
    Table 2. Positions in the Description column
    Positions Contents
    1 - 5 Blanks
    6 Comment
    6-11 Text called on a T-type line
    12-13 Section code (** for all sections) on a T-type line.

    The Screen help that the user can call through the help function in the generated transactions is constituted of the C or T lines of the Screen -GE Lines, and of the U, C, or T lines of the Segment.

  • For the Data Element documentation, the C or T lines must follow an F line that refers to the Data Element.
    You must respect the following positions in the Description column:
    Table 3. Positions in the Description column
    Positions Contents
    1 - 3 Blanks
    4 0 (zero)
    5 Blank
    6 Comment
    6-11 Text called on a T line
    12-13 Section code (** for all sections) on a T line

    The Data Element documentation that the user can call through the help function in the generated transactions is constituted of the C or T lines that are assigned to the Data Element, of the Data Element description lines, followed by the error messages that are generated for the Data Element, and, if appropriate, their related documentation lines.

  • For the error message documentation, the input depends on the error type:
    • For the explicit error messages (except errors on Data Elements), you must respect the following positions in the Description column:
      Table 4. Positions in the Description column
      Positions Contents
      1 - 4 Error code. It is blank after a U,C, or T line that is associated with the error.
    • For an error with an automatic message or an error on a Data Element, you must respect the following positions in the Description column:
      Table 5. Positions in the Description column
      Positions Contents
      1 - 3 Error code.

      It remains blank after a F, U,C, or T-type line.

      4 Position of the help message.

      For example, you can enter 2, 4, or 5 to indicate a comment on the line after the error message whose type is 2, 4, or 5.

      5 Blank
      6 Comment
      6-11 Text called on a T-type line
      12-13 Section code (** for all sections) on a T-type line

What to do next

You must then generate the error messages. To do so, you must create an Error Message instance and associate it with the Dialog. The Error Message instance groups the generation options of the error messages for this Dialog. You must then generate the Error Message instance.


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