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IBM eNetwork Communications Server for Windows NT
Host Publisher Feature, Version 6.01
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Host Publisher Hints and Tips

Host Access Screens

When the integration object recognizes a pre-defined screen when playing the Data Loop macro, it pauses the Data Loop macro until it has processed the screen. During this screen processing, the integration object collects data to return to the Page Server.

Screen recognition

The integration object recognizes screens by the appearance of specific text at specific locations on the terminal. You can configure screens by following these steps:
  1. show the terminal window
  2. navigate to the screen of interest
  3. mark the text with the mouse
Choose text that is the same each time the screen appears, and is unlikely to appear on any other screen in the same position.

Although it is not necessary, it is extremely beneficial for your host application screens to have unique identifiers. These are usually a combination of characters and numbers in one of the corners of the screen. Many mainframe programmers have placed these in their code. If your host screens do not contain identifiers, it is worth the effort for you to work with your company's host application programmers to get them added. If this is not possible, you need to search for as many unique strings as possible to narrow down a particular screen's identity.

Tip: It is often useful when recording macros to send the Clear key frequently. This helps to clean things up, making the next screen look the same, no matter what came before it. Often this helps your macro continue when minor changes occur in host output. It might be especially useful to begin and end your macros with Clear.

Data Items

You can define Data Items on a screen by giving them a name and a screen location. Use the name in the DYNA tags in the Web page to refer to the data collected using this data item. The screen location is the region on the screen where text is gathered to supply the data for this data item. If your Web page uses the DYNABLOCK tag, you can define a data item with multiple screen lines to gather repeated instances of the same sort of data (e.g., multiple records).

The integration object collects data for a screen's data items as soon as it has recognized the screen, before executing any screen macro.

Screen macros

After collecting data items on a screen, the integration object executes the screen macro, if one is defined and its execution criteria are met. After executing the screen macro, it collects the same data items from the same screen locations. Screen macros are only useful for navigating through an application where the same kind of information is being presented at the same place on each screen, e.g. scrolling to view additional data records.

Screen macros can be executed according to one of three criteria:

  1. A fixed number of times
  2. While a given text is at a given screen position
  3. Until a given text is at a given screen position
To execute the screen macro a fixed number of times, specify how many times to execute it.

To execute the screen macro while, or until, specific text appears, mark the text with the mouse. You can also specify a maximum number of times to execute the macro.

Scrolling for data

Recognizing end of data

If your application always presents the same number of screens of data, the screen macro can be defined to execute a fixed number of times. Otherwise, it is necessary to find a way to recognize the final screen of data.

Experiment with your application to find some text that appears only at the last screen of data, or appears on all but the last screen of data (to use the "execute until" or "execute while" execution criteria). In some applications, such as FILELIST, a blank area appears on the screen where the last screen record is usually displayed.

Nesting

It is possible to recognize another screen during execution of one screen macro, and collect data from that screen. However, the second screen cannot execute another screen macro.

You can use this to handle applications in which each iteration of the screen macro navigates through several distinct screens. You can recognize these "secondary" screens from the currently executing screen macro and collect data items from them, but you cannot run screen macros from them.


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IBM eNetwork Communications Server for Windows NT
Host Publisher Feature, Version 6.01