With the Recording utility, you can record a Natural session and later play back the recorded session.
The Recording Utility documentation covers the following topics:
The Recording utility can be used for the following purposes:
Demonstration
Instead of having to type in several commands, such as input data by
hand, you can play back a recorded sequence of keyboard actions to demonstrate
a standard procedure.
Application development
When applying the same modifications to several objects (for example,
programs or maps), you can use a recording to reduce the amount of work
involved and at the same time ensure that the modifications are actually the
same for all objects affected.
Testing
You can execute a standard testing procedure by simply playing back a
recording.
Quality control
Before and after making changes to an application, you can play back
a recording and compare the results of the two runs to make sure that certain
things were not affected by the changes.
User training
You can incorporate the playback of recordings into training programs
for users, to show them specific procedures. Also, you can record user keyboard
actions in a session and then inform them of any errors they make or of ways to
carry out actions more efficiently. The recording of user actions can also help
you to detect any flaws in an application's user interface.
The Recording utility records the following:
All input data and commands (including terminal commands) entered on the screen.
Any function keys (PF keys) pressed.
The current cursor position as contained in the system variable
*CURSOR
(see the System Variables documentation).
This section describes the steps required to activate and deactivate a recording.
To specify the library in which all subsequent recordings are to be
stored
Enter the following terminal command:
%B=library-name
If you activate the recording process without having specified
library-name, the name of the library in which the
recording is stored is the same as the value of the system variable
*INIT-USER
(see the System Variables documentation) at the time when
the recording process is activated.
When you log on to another library during a session being recorded, the
library in which the recording is being stored remains the same (that is,
either the one specified with %B= or the
*INIT-USER library); this means that one recording
can record keyboard actions across multiple applications.
To activate a recording
Enter the following terminal command:
%Bname
All subsequent keyboard actions are recorded.
name denotes the name under which the data recorded are saved in source form as a Natural object of the type Recording. You can treat this source as any other Natural source (for example, delete it, copy it), except that you must not edit it: recordings contain binary data an editor will destroy.
name can only be specified once. If a
recording object of the same name already exists in the library specified for
recording, Natural returns the message Error in recording
activation.
Caution:
Any situation that leads to a backout transaction or rollback
(for example, a non-activity timeout) while a recording is in progress, will
delete part of the recording thus making the entire recording useless.
Terminal command
%Aname included in a
recording should be followed by terminal command %B
as described in Recording
%A.
To deactivate a recording
Enter the following terminal command:
%B
The recording has terminated.
When a recording is played back, the sequence of, for example, commands and function keys is actually executed again.
The recording is independent of the terminal type; that is, a session recorded on one terminal can be played back on a terminal of another type. You can also play back a recording in batch mode; a recorded online session may, of course, react differently when played back in batch.
This section covers the following topics:
A recording can be played back in two modes: background mode and step mode.
In background mode, the entire recording is played back invisibly; that
is, all keyboard actions of the recording are carried out without anything
being displayed to you on the terminal screen during the execution of the
recording. You cannot interrupt a recording that is played back in background
mode, unless the recording contains the terminal command
%R as explained in
Manipulating a
Recording.
In step mode, a recording is played back step by step and all keyboard actions are displayed on the screen. By choosing any function key, you proceed from one step to the next. In step mode, it is also possible for you to interrupt the recording by pressing CLEAR as explained in Interrupting a Playback.
By default, a recording is played back in background mode.
To set modes
To activate step mode, enter the following terminal command:
%GON
To deactivate step mode and activate background mode, enter the following terminal command:
%GOFF
To toggle between step and background mode, enter the following terminal command:
%G
To play back a recording
Enter the following terminal command:
%Aname
The recording saved under the specified name is executed again.
%Aname If you issue the command
%Aname while a session is
being recorded, the recording specified with
%Aname is not executed
but the command %Aname is
included into the object source that is being recorded. Thus, you can execute a
recording from within another recording and concatenate a series of recording
to one another. However, you cannot have nested recordings; the execution of
the recording that contains the
%Aname command stops
after this command and is not resumed when the execution of
name finishes. As a result, the data recorded after
%Aname will never be
played back. To avoid this, you should enter %B
immediately after you have entered
%Aname in a
recording.
To interrupt a recording that is played back in step mode
Press CLEAR.
Once you have interrupted a recording, you have the following options:
You can continue your session normally from the point where you stopped the recording.
You can insert additional keyboard actions into the recording: after
you have pressed CLEAR, enter the command
%B and all actions you perform are inserted into the
source of the recording until you enter %B again.
Then, the execution of the recording is resumed.
You can alter the next step in the recording: after you have pressed
CLEAR, enter the command %R, then enter
the input data for the next step. The newly entered input data overwrite the
input data for this step in the recorded source. When you press
ENTER, this step is executed with the new input data and
subsequently the execution of the recording is resumed.
You can execute any helproutine: after you have pressed
CLEAR, enter the command %J directly
followed by the name of the desired helproutine. The helproutine is invoked and
the execution of the recording is continued as soon as the execution of the
helproutine ends.
By recording the terminal command %R, you can
manipulate a single step in a recording when it is played back. This applies in
step mode and in background mode. In background mode,
%R is the only way to interact with a recording that
is being played back. Interaction, for example, may be required to provide an
input option for sensitive data, such as passwords which are unknown at the
time of the recording.
If the terminal command %R (redisplay last
screen) has been recorded, the subsequent screen is open for user input when
the recording is played back; that is, the input data for this screen are not
taken from the recording but from what the user enters. Subsequently, the
execution of the recording is continued.