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The Natural program editor is used to create and modify the source code of a Natural object of the type program, subprogram, subroutine, helproutine, copycode, text or class.

The Program Editor documentation is organized in the following parts:

• Invoking the Program Editor

• Editor Command Line

• Top Information Line

• Editing Area

• Bottom Information Line

• Editor Commands

• Editor Commands for Positioning

• Line Commands

• Special PF-Key Functions

• Cursor-Sensitive Commands

• Saving and Cataloging Sources

• Exit Function

Related Topic:

For information on Unicode and code page support for Natural editors, see Editors in the Unicode and Code Page Support documentation.

Invoking the Program Editor

To invoke the program editor

• Use the system command EDIT as described in the System Commands documentation.

  When the program editor is invoked, an editor screen similar to the example below appears:

  > > + Program SAGDEMO Lib SAGTEST All ....+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7.. 0010 ** EXAMPLE 'SAGDEMO': DISPLAY 0020 ************************************************************************ 0030 DEFINE DATA LOCAL 0040 1 VIEWEMP VIEW OF EMPLOYEES 0050 2 PERSONNEL-ID 0060 2 NAME 0070 2 BIRTH 0080 2 JOB-TITLE 0090 END-DEFINE 0100 * 0110 READ (3) VIEWEMP BY BIRTH 0120 DISPLAY PERSONNEL-ID NAME JOB-TITLE 0130 END-READ 0140 END .... 0280 ....+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+... S 14 L 1

  The editor screen contains the following items (from top to bottom): the editor command line, the top information line, the editing area and the bottom information line. These items are explained in the following sections.

Note:
If Natural ISPF is installed and the editor profile option ISPF Editor as Program Editor is set to Y, instead of the program editor, either the Natural ISPF main menu (if the EDIT command is entered without an object name) or the Natural ISPF editor screen with the specified object is invoked.

Editor Command Line

The editor command line is indicated by the leftmost greater than sign (>) in the top line of the editor screen. In the command line, you can enter one of the following:

• Any Natural system command.

  For example: The system command CHECK can be used for checking the syntax of source code and SAVE for saving source code (see also Saving and Cataloging Sources).

  For other system commands related to maintaining and using object sources, see Editing and Storing Programming Objects in the System Commands documentation.

• One or more editor commands.

• The name of a Natural program to be executed.

Additionally, the top line can contain the following items (from left to right):

Top Information Line

The top information line of the editor screen is a scale line. It can contain the following:

• A message indicating object modification. This information is only displayed if the editor profile option Source Status Message is set to Y (see Editor Profile).

• The programming mode (structured or reporting) currently in effect. When a Natural object is read into the source work area, the mode is set to the one which was in effect when the object was saved with the SAVE or STOW command. This information is only displayed if the editor profile option Source Size Information is set to Y (see Editor Profile).

  For information on the differences between structured and reporting mode, see Purpose of Programming Modes in the Programming Guide.

Editing Area

The editing area of the editor screen contains the numbered lines where you add or modify source code.

The editing area is either empty or contains source code that was last read into the source work area with the command EDIT or READ as shown in the example of a program in Invoking the Program Editor.

When you read in the source of an existing object, the entire source code is loaded into the source work area and is available for editing. However, depending on the size of the source, the editing area may not show all of the lines that belong to the source. In this case, you have to scroll down the source (see Editor Commands for Positioning) to go to the line you want to view or modify.

In addition, if you use split-screen mode, the editing area displays fewer lines of source code. See also Split-Screen Mode.

To create or edit source code, you can perform multiple functions:

• Type in or update code directly in the relevant source line.

• Use one or more editor commands as described in the relevant section.

• Use one or more line commands as described in the relevant section.

When performing multiple functions, consider the following:

• Only one insert line command (.I) can be performed at a time.

• You can enter multiple commands in the command line of the editor: you can enter more than one editor command, but only the last command entered in the editor command line can be a system command. For example:

  SC 'MOVE',-2,RENUMBER

  Note:
  Natural treats the editor command N like a system command. N corresponds to the system command RENUMBER.

• If you have changed the source code by typing in a modification or by using an editor command, a system command cannot be entered until you press ENTER.

Dynamic Conversion from Lower to Upper Case

You can activate or deactivate dynamic conversion to upper case, by setting the appropriate editor profile options Editing in Lower Case and Dynamic Conversion of Lower Case to Y (Yes). All source code you enter in the editing area is then converted to upper case, with the following exceptions:

• The contents of a Natural object of the type text remain as entered.

• A text string that is not a hexadecimal constant and is enclosed in apostrophes remains as you enter it.

• A comment indicated by the character string blank-slash-asterisk ( /*) remains as you enter it.

  Caution:
  If the character string slash-asterisk (/*) denotes an executable part of a statement, it must be specified without a blank character in front of the string (/*). The string will otherwise be considered a comment.

Bottom Information Line

The bottom information line of the editor screen is a scale line. It can contain the following:

• Current Source Size

  The size (number of characters) of the current source. As source lines are stored in variable length in the source work area, trailing blanks within a source line are not counted; leading and embedded blanks are counted. This information is only displayed if the editor profile option Source Size Information is set to Y (see Editor Profile).

• Char. Free

  The number of characters still available in the source work area. This information is only displayed if the editor profile option Source Size Information is set to Y (see Editor Profile).

• S

  The size (number of lines) of the source being edited.

• L

  The number of the source line currently displayed as the top line.

Editor Commands

Editor commands are entered in the command line of the program editor. The command parameters must be separated either by the input delimiter character as defined with the Natural session parameter ID (the default delimiter character is comma (,)) or by a blank. When multiple commands are entered, these must also be separated by the delimiter character or by blanks.

The editor commands available are described in the following table and in the section Editor Commands for Positioning. For explanations of the syntax symbols used in the editor commands, refer to System Command Syntax in the System Commands documentation. An underlined portion of a command denotes a valid abbreviation.

Editor Commands for Positioning

Editor commands for positioning are entered in the command line of the program editor. The following commands are available for positioning:

Line Commands

Line commands are entered in the first position of a source line. The line commands provided by the program editor are listed below. The notation (nn) or (nnnn) indicates a repetition factor. The default repetition value is 1 (with the exception of the .I command; see below). For explanations of the syntax symbols used in this section, refer to System Command Syntax in the System Commands documentation.

Note:
You are recommended to enter a blank at the end of each line command. This prevents the editor from attempting to interpret any information existing on the line as part of the line command.

Notes for Line Commands:

• If both the commands .X and .Y are applied to one line, it is treated as being marked with an X and with a Y; the line marker actually shown to reflect this status is a Z.

• If the direction indicator is set to + (plus sign), the copied, inserted or moved lines are placed after the line in which the corresponding command was entered; if the direction indicator is set to - (minus sign), the copied, inserted or moved lines are placed before the line in which the command was entered.

Special PF-Key Functions

The following special functions can also be controlled using PF keys:

Example of *CURSOR on PF Key:

The following are instructions for using a PF key to which the value *CURSOR is assigned.

1. In the PF and PA Keys section of the Editor Profile screen, enter *CURSOR next to PF6.

2. Open the program editor, type in the following text, and press ENTER:

   > > + Program Lib SAGTEST All ....+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7.. 0010 MOVE A TO B 0020 WRITE A B C 0030 MOVE C TO B MOVE A TO C 0040 0050 0060 0070 0080 0090 0100 .... 0280 ....+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+... S 3 L 1

3. In line 0020, enter the line command .X and press ENTER.

   The line is marked as indicated by the X next to it.

4. In line 0030, enter the line command .CX, place the cursor on the M of the second MOVE, and press PF6.

   The screen then looks similar to the one below:

   > > + Program Lib SAGTEST All ....+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7.. 0010 MOVE A TO B X 0020 WRITE A B C 0030 MOVE C TO B 0020 WRITE A B C 0030 MOVE A TO C 0040 0050 0060 0070 0080 0090 0100 .... 0260 ....+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+... S 5 L 1

   Line 0030 is split before the cursor position, line 0020 is copied to the line after the line in which you entered the .CX command, and the second half of the split line is moved to the last line.

Example of *X and *Y on PF Keys

The following are instructions for using PF keys to which the values *X and *Y are assigned.

1. In the PF and PA Keys section of the Editor Profile screen, enter *X next to PF4 and *Y next to PF5.

2. Open the program editor, type in the following text, and press ENTER:

   > > + Text Lib SAGTEST All ....+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7.. 0010 THIS PORTION 0020 OF TEXT IS 0030 FOR DEMONSTRATION OF 0040 PF-KEY ASSIGNMENTS. 0050 0060 0070 0080 0090 0100 .... 0280 ....+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+... S 0 L 1

3. In line 0010, place the cursor on the letter P and press PF4.

   The position of P is marked as shown on the following example screen.

4. In line 0030, place the cursor on the blank character behind DEMONSTRATION and press PF5.

   The screen then looks similar to the one below:

   > > + Text Lib SAGTEST All ....+X...1....+..Y.2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7.. X 0010 THIS PORTION 0020 OF TEXT IS Y 0030 FOR DEMONSTRATION OF 0040 PF-KEY ASSIGNMENTS. 0050 0060 0070 0080 0090 0100 .... 0280 ....+X...1....+..Y.2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+... S 4 L 1

   The positions of the characters (P and blank) are marked as indicated by the X and Y respectively, which appear in the top and bottom information lines and next to the source lines that contain the marked characters.

5. In line 0040, enter the line command .MX-Y and press ENTER.

   The screen then looks similar to the one below:

   > > + Text Lib SAGTEST All X...+....1....+.Y..2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7.. 0010 THIS 0030 OF 0040 PF-KEY ASSIGNMENTS. X 0010 PORTION 0020 OF TEXT IS Y 0030 FOR DEMONSTRATION 0040 0050 0060 0070 0080 0090 0100 .... 0250 X...+....1....+.Y..2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+... S 6 L 1

   The block of text starting with P in line 0010 and ending with N in line 0030 is moved to the line below the line in which you entered the command. The moved block of text and the remaining text in line 0010 and 0030 are left-justified.

Cursor-Sensitive Commands

Cursor-sensitive commands are commands where, instead of entering a name in the command line, you can mark the name with the cursor anywhere on the editor screen (except in the command line). You can place the cursor on any word that is not in the command line. It does not matter where on the word the cursor is placed.

The following topics are covered below:

• SCAN Commands

• SPLIT Command

• EDIT and LIST System Commands

SCAN Commands

If the SCAN command is used without any parameter but with the cursor positioned outside the editor command line, this results in a scan operation for the string on which the cursor is placed. (If the cursor is placed on a blank character, however, the SCAN/REPLACE window is invoked.)

In split-screen mode, the cursor can be placed on a string in the split-screen area, too.

When using the SPLIT SCAN command, the same applies as for the SCAN command, but the scan operation is performed in the split-screen area only (see also the section Split-Screen Commands).

Note:
To benefit from cursor sensitiveness as much as possible, the SCAN or SPLIT SCAN command should be assigned to a PF key (see PF and PA Keys in Editor Profile).

SPLIT Command

Instead of the commands SPLIT PROGRAM, SPLIT DATA, SPLIT FUNCTION and SPLIT VIEW, which you can use to display a Natural object (including a DDM) in the split-screen area of the editor (see also the section Split-Screen Commands), you only have to enter the command SPLIT and place the cursor on the name of the required object. The object must be contained in the current library.

Note:
To benefit from cursor sensitiveness as much as possible, the SPLIT command should be assigned to a PF key (see PF and PA Keys in Editor Profile).

EDIT and LIST System Commands

The system commands EDIT and LIST are cursor-sensitive, too. Instead of specifying an object name, the cursor can be positioned to a text string of the object currently in the editing area that corresponds to the required object name.

With the EDIT command, the corresponding object is loaded into the editor. If necessary, even a different editor is invoked.

With the LIST command, the corresponding object is listed, even if a view has been referenced.

For more information on EDIT and LIST see the System Commands documentation.

Saving and Cataloging Sources

You can save the source code currently in the source work area as a source object and also as a cataloged object, which are stored in a Natural library in a Natural system file.

To save and/or catalog the current source

• Use the system command SAVE, CATALOG or STOW as described in Saving and Cataloging Objects in the Using Natural documentation.

  Note:
  When you leave the program editor with the EXIT editor command, the current source code is saved automatically if the appropriate editor profile option is set accordingly as described in Exit Function.

To keep a copy of the current source

• Use the editor options Source Save into and Auto Save Numbers as described in Editor Profile.

  A copy of the source edited last with any of the Natural editors is then automatically saved as a source object in the current Natural environment.

Exit Function

The effect of the EXIT editor command depends on the setting of the editor profile option Prompt Window for Exit Function:

• If set to N, the EXIT command leaves the editor and saves all modifications made to the current source; no prompt window is displayed.

• If set to Y, the EXIT command invokes the EXIT Function window whenever you execute the command on a source that contains unsaved modifications (see also Modification Indicator). If no modifications were made to the source, the window does not appear and the editor closes without saving the source.

The EXIT Function window provides the following options:

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