The Generation Manager

The generation manager lists all the instances that must be generated again in the location. A pdp file must exist for all of them. The generation manager indicates all the files whose code is desynchronized with the design of the instance itself or of an instance that is involved in its generation. You must use it to request a multiple or global regeneration of the desynchronized files in the local workspace.

To display this view, select Window > Display the view > Other > Pattern Driven Programming > Generation Manager.

To start computing the files to regenerate, click Refresh in the view toolbar.
Note: To reduce the computation time, you must open the location in the Design Explorer view. Moreover, if the workspace was created by a migration, the files must be indexed with the Rebuild local workspace choice of the contextual menu in the Design Explorer view.

Content of the table

The table of this view contains the following columns:
  • Design displays all the instances to be generated again in the opened location. These are the instances of the generatable entities such as Programs, Screens, Copybooks, or Error Messages. The instances are displayed with their extensions. The extensions of all the entities are listed in Icons, extensions, and generation patterns of entities.
  • Generation product displays the generated files of the instances that are displayed in the Design column. Several files can be generated for one instance. For example, the COBOL file and the map file are generated for a Screen. The extensions of the generated files according to the entities are documented in the embedded help pages of Starting the various generation types.
  • Pattern displays the pattern that was used for each generation. For the list of all the generation patterns, see Icons, extensions, and generation patterns of entities.
  • Modified design displays the instances whose design was modified. These instances are the generatable instances themselves, or instances that are called in generatable instances. For example, if the format of a Data Element that is called in Programs was modified, all the Programs that call the Data Element are indicated. The generation manager creates as many lines as Programs that call this Data Element.

    If several modifications were brought to the same design, only one line is displayed for the first modification. The number of additional modifications is displayed between parentheses. The tooltip that is associated with the column displays the first 10 modifications.

  • Generation date displays the date of the last generation for each instance. Blank lines correspond to instances that have never been explicitly generated. These instances have been automatically generated by the migration help but never validated.
  • To regenerate indicates whether the instance that is displayed in the Design column must be generated again.
    Important: If a design that is used in the generation of an instance was modified, all the instances that use the modified design are displayed in the To regenerate column. For example, if a keyword was added to a Library, all the instances that use the generation parameters of this Library are to be generated again.
  • Error in design indicates whether the instance that is displayed in the Design column contains an error. If so, it cannot be generated again.

You can select multiple lines. You can also select all the lines with Ctrl + A. The number of the selected lines is indicated.

With the contextual menu, you can open the design or the COBOL editor of the instance, or generate the instance again. If you select more than one line, you can then start a multiple regeneration.

Sort in the table

You can sort the columns in the ascending or descending order of their line values by clicking the arrow in the header of each column. You can also click the triangle (View menu) in the view toolbar and select Sort by. You can specify a sort order for each column. For example, the first column can be sorted in an ascending order while the second column is sorted in a descending order. When the same value is displayed on several lines, the column is sorted on the previous columns.

Display of the short labels in the table

By default, the long labels are displayed in all the columns.

You can display the short labels in the Design, Generation product, Pattern, and Modified design columns. To do so, click the triangle (View menu) in the view toolbar and select Display the short labels. The list of the four columns is displayed. By default, none of the columns are preceded by a check mark, which indicates that they do not display the short labels. Click a column to select it. It will then display the short labels. If you click the column again to remove its check mark, it will then display the long labels again.

If you choose to display the short labels, the location and the project hierarchy are not displayed in the first three columns. In the Pattern column, only the pattern name is displayed.

Filters in the table

You can filter the display of the lines in the table by entering a character string in the filter text input field that is located before the table. Only the lines where a column contains the filter text are displayed.

By default, the filter applies to the content of all the columns. However, you can limit the filter scope to some columns. To do so, click the triangle (View menu) in the view toolbar and select Filter scope. All the columns are listed. The columns that are preceded by a check mark are included in the filter scope. Click a column to clear its check mark. It will then be excluded from the filter scope. If you click the column again, it will be included in the filter scope again.

The filter applies to all the content of the Modified design column. It even applies to the content that is displayed in the tooltip or that is not visible because it is beyond the 10th modification.

The wildcard character * replaces a character string and ? replaces a character. They are optional at the end of the string.
Example: You can display all the instances of a particular entity by entering the wildcard character * and the entity type. If you enter *datalement in the filter field, the table displays all the designs where a Data Element has been modified. The extensions of all the entities are listed in Icons, extensions, and generation patterns of entities.

If the columns display the long labels, the slashes that are included in the labels act as word separators. The filter then applies individually to all the words of the labels.

When you start typing in the filter field, a button becomes available. Clicking it clears the field and restores the list as it was initially displayed.

Export the result in a CSV format

You can export the data that is displayed in the Generation Manager view by clicking Export Generation Manager data in the toolbar. In the export wizard, you must select a file with a .CSV extension. Then, if you click Next, you can select the data to be exported. The data is then exported in a CSV format that can be used in a spreadsheet program.

The lines of the .CSV document are sorted according to the sort order of the view. All the lines are included in the document, even the lines that are displayed in the tooltip or that are not visible because they are beyond the 10th modification. All the lines are also included in the document, even if the result that is displayed in the view is partial because a filter is applied.


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