Site-Specific Online Information

You can make site-specific information available online to Natural ISPF users in either of two ways:

  • As menu-related online help texts displayed when the user issues the HELP command from a particular menu. See the subsection Site-Specific Help;

  • As text presented in screens organized in a tree structure through which the user can navigate. The first (root) screen is displayed when the user issues the UINFO command. See the subsection Site-Specific Information - UINFO.

You can write both types of text with the Editor using the same syntax.

The subsection Text Syntax contains a full description of the definition syntax.

This document covers the following topics:

Site-Specific Help

All help texts are usually stored as Natural members in the FNAT system file. Texts supplied with the product are stored in the System Help Library. You must not modify these texts. If you wish to create your own help texts, you must use the User Help Library.

The following topics are covered below:

Overwriting Existing Help

Overwriting an existing help text means creating a member in the User Help Library with the same name as a member in the System Help Library. When a user invokes the help text with the HELP command, the text is searched first in the User Help Library. Only if the member is not found there is the help text supplied with the product in the System Help Library displayed.

The member name of each existing help text is displayed at the end of the command line of the help screen.

For example, if you issue the command: 

HELP SPLIT

the system help screen explaining the SPLIT command is displayed: 

   HELP----------- SESSION COMMANDS (working with N-ISPF) SPLIT ----->>> continued
   COMMAND ==>                                                           SPLIT
  
    SPLIT         Splits the screen to start a new Natural ISPF
                  session. The screen
                  is split at cursor position. The new session is started
                  in the lower part of your terminal screen.
                  You can change the size of the screen portions devoted
                  to each session by moving the cursor to where
                  you require the screen division and repeating the SPLIT
                  command.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Enter-PF1---PF2---PF3---PF4---PF5---PF6---PF7---PF8---PF9---PF10--PF11--PF12---
        Help  Split End   Suspe Rfind Rchan Up    Down  Swap  Left  Right Curso

The member name in the System Help Library is SPLIT, displayed top right in the command line. If you wish to create a different help text for the SPLIT command, create the member SPLIT in the User Help Library.

Defining New Help Texts

You can write new help texts as members in the User Help Library. Typically, you will write new help texts for USER-type menus. To display the member as the result of the HELP command, you must specify the member name of the help text in the HELP= line of the menu definition, or reference the member in another help member (see the subsection Text Syntax).

For examples of help text definitions, see any member in the System Help Library.

Site-Specific Information - UINFO

Site-specific information texts can be any information of interest to the user. The first information screen is displayed when the user issues the command UINFO.

You must define the first (root) screen in the member UINFO in the User Information Library. The syntax of the text definition is the same as for site-specific help texts (see the subsection Text Syntax). You can define information screens in a tree structure.

Note
When defining information members, you are advised to use a naming convention. For example, you could name each member according to its level and number within the tree structure using the same prefix (the root member is always UINFO). Alternatively, you could use the prefix ISPU and use the remaining 4 bytes for a self-explanatory indication of the member contents.

An example of site-specific information is contained in the following subsection.

Text Syntax

Information and help text members consist of two types of lines: lines of text to be displayed and special lines for blank lines and navigational purposes.

Text lines can contain special characters to start and end text attributes:

Character Explanation
# Starts highlighting (number sign, hexadecimal 7B).
+ Activates reverse video: use this attribute for words for which there is a separate help text.
@ Deactivates attributes (commercial at, hexadecimal 7C).

Note
See Special Characters at the end of this documentation for a list of special characters with their hexadecimal values.

The special lines are defined by an ampersand (&) in Column 1 followed by a character and navigational instructions. The following table lists all available options including their format and maximum length:

&H header (A50) Where the string header is displayed in the header line of the information screen.
&L Creates a blank line in the information screen.
&F member (A08) Where member is the name of the member to be displayed when the end of the current text is reached and the user presses the ENTER key or issues the command DOWN (PF8).
&B member (A08) Where member is the name of the member to be displayed when the user issues the command UP (PF7) from the top of the member.
&U member (A08) Where member is the name of the member to be displayed when the user issues the command UP LEVEL (L + PF7) from the top of the member, or the command BACK.
&S navigation-command member Where navigation-command invokes the member when the user enters the navigation command in the command line of the current screen. Navigation commands can consist of up to 4 characters and provide a menu-like selection mechanism to the user to display information from the next level in the information screen tree structure.

Example

Below is an example of a UINFO member definition: 

  EDIT-NAT:SYSISPIU(UINFO)-Program->Struct-Free-45K --- >>> Versioning is invoked
   COMMAND===>                                                    SCROLL===> CSR
  ****** ****************************** top of data *****************************
  000010 &H Demo site info system
  000020 &S 0 ISPUNET
  000030 &S 1 ISPUPROD
  000040 &S 2 ISPUBAT
  000050 &L
  000060      Please select whatever you like
  000070 &L
  000080     #0@  Demo site NETWORK
  000090     #1@  Installed products
  000100     #2@  Batch job limits
  ****** **************************** bottom of data ****************************
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Enter-PF1---PF2---PF3---PF4---PF5---PF6---PF7---PF8---PF9---PF10--PF11--PF12---
        Help  Split End   Suspe Rfind Rchan Up    Down  Swap  Left  Right Curso

Note that the numbers 0, 1 and 2 are defined as navigation commands that invoke the corresponding members when the user enters these numbers in the command line. This means that member ISPUNET contains information on option Demo site NETWORK, member ISPUPROD contains information on option Installed products and member ISPUBAT offers information on option Batch job limits.

When a user issues the command UINFO, the following screen is displayed: 

   INFO----------------------- Demo site info system -----------------------------
   COMMAND ==>                                                           UINFO
  
        Please select whatever you like
  
        0   Demo site NETWORK
        1   Installed products
        2   Batch job limits
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Enter-PF1---PF2---PF3---PF4---PF5---PF6---PF7---PF8---PF9---PF10--PF11--PF12---
        Help  Split End   Suspe Rfind Rchan Up    Down  Swap  Left  Right Curso

The user can display information on the displayed items by entering Option Number 0, 1 or 2 in the command line.

For examples of site-specific help texts, see the member NEWS and related members in the System Help Library. This member defines the help screen displayed as a result of the command NEWS, which is handled similarly to the command UINFO.

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