This document describes various ways of controlling page breaks in a report, the output of page titles at the top of each report page and the generation of empty lines in an output report.
The following topics are covered:
For each page output via a DISPLAY or
WRITE statement,
Natural automatically generates a single default title line. This title line
contains the page number, the date and the time of day.
Example:
WRITE 'HELLO' END
The above program produces the following output with default page title:
Page 1 04-12-14 13:19:33
HELLO
If you wish your report to be output without page titles, you add the
keyword NOTITLE to the
statement DISPLAY or
WRITE.
** Example 'DISPLX20': DISPLAY (with NOTITLE) ************************************************************************ DEFINE DATA LOCAL 1 EMPLOY-VIEW VIEW OF EMPLOYEES 2 CITY 2 NAME 2 FIRST-NAME END-DEFINE * READ (5) EMPLOY-VIEW BY CITY FROM 'BOSTON' DISPLAY NOTITLE NAME FIRST-NAME CITY END-READ END
Output of Program DISPLX20:
NAME FIRST-NAME CITY
-------------------- -------------------- --------------------
SHAW LESLIE BOSTON
STANWOOD VERNON BOSTON
CREMER WALT BOSTON
PERREAULT BRENDA BOSTON
COHEN JOHN BOSTON
WRITE NOTITLE 'HELLO' END
The above program produces the following output without page title:
HELLO
If you wish a page title of your own to be output instead of the Natural
default page title, you use the statement WRITE TITLE.
The following topics are covered below:
With the statement WRITE
TITLE, you specify the text for your title (in
apostrophes).
WRITE TITLE 'THIS IS MY PAGE TITLE' WRITE 'HELLO' END
The above program produces the following output:
THIS IS MY PAGE TITLE
HELLO
With the SKIP option of
the WRITE TITLE
statement, you can specify the number of empty lines to be output immediately
below the title line. After the keyword SKIP, you specify the
number of empty lines to be inserted.
WRITE TITLE 'THIS IS MY PAGE TITLE' SKIP 2 WRITE 'HELLO' END
The above program produces the following output:
THIS IS MY PAGE TITLE
HELLO
SKIP is not only available as part of the
WRITE TITLE
statement, but also as a stand-alone
statement.
By default, the page title is centered on the page and not underlined.
The WRITE
TITLE statement provides the following options which can be
used independent of each other:
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| LEFT JUSTIFIED | Causes the page trailer to be displayed left-justified. |
| UNDERLINED | Causes the title to be displayed underlined. The
underlining runs the width of the line size (see also Natural profile and
session parameter LS). By default, titles
are underlined with a hyphen (-). However, with the
UC session
parameter you can specify another character to be used as underlining character
(see Underlining Character
for Titles and Headers).
|
The following example shows the effect of the
LEFT JUSTIFIED and
UNDERLINED options:
WRITE TITLE LEFT JUSTIFIED UNDERLINED 'THIS IS MY PAGE TITLE' SKIP 2 WRITE 'HELLO' END
The above program produces the following output:
THIS IS MY PAGE TITLE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HELLO
The WRITE
TITLE statement is executed whenever a new page is initiated
for the report.
In the following examples, the system variable
*PAGE-NUMBER is used in conjunction with the
WRITE TITLE statement to output the page number in the title
line.
** Example 'WTITLX01': WRITE TITLE (with *PAGE-NUMBER)
************************************************************************
DEFINE DATA LOCAL
1 VEHIC-VIEW VIEW OF VEHICLES
2 MAKE
2 YEAR
2 MAINT-COST (1)
END-DEFINE
*
LIMIT 5
*
READ VEHIC-VIEW
END-ALL
SORT BY YEAR USING MAKE MAINT-COST (1)
DISPLAY NOTITLE YEAR MAKE MAINT-COST (1)
AT BREAK OF YEAR
MOVE 1 TO *PAGE-NUMBER
NEWPAGE
END-BREAK
/*
WRITE TITLE LEFT JUSTIFIED
'YEAR:' YEAR 15X 'PAGE' *PAGE-NUMBER
END-SORT
END
Output of Program WTITLX01:
YEAR: 1980 PAGE 1 YEAR MAKE MAINT-COST ----- -------------------- ---------- 1980 RENAULT 20000 1980 RENAULT 20000 1980 PEUGEOT 20000
A logical page is the output produced by a Natural program. A physical page is your terminal screen on which the output is displayed; or it may be the piece of paper on which the output is printed.
The size of the logical page is determined by the number of lines output by the Natural program.
If more lines are output than fit onto one screen, the logical page will exceed the physical screen, and the remaining lines will be displayed on the next screen.
Note:
If information you wish to appear at the bottom of the screen (for
example, output created by a WRITE
TRAILER or AT END OF
PAGE statement) is output on the next screen instead, reduce
the logical page size accordingly (with the session parameter
PS, which is
discussed below).
With the parameter PS (Page Size for
Natural Reports), you determine the maximum number of lines per (logical) page
for a report.
When the number of lines specified with the PS
parameter is reached, a page advance occurs (unless page advance is controlled
with a NEWPAGE or
EJECT statement; see
Page Advance
Controlled by EJ Parameter below).
The PS parameter can be set either at session
level with the system command
GLOBALS, or within a
program with the following statements:
FORMAT PS=nn
DISPLAY (PS=nn)
WRITE (PS=nn)
WRITE TITLE (PS=nn)
WRITE TRAILER (PS=nn)
INPUT (PS=nn)
A page advance can be triggered by one of the following methods:
These methods are discussed below.
With the session parameter EJ (Page Eject), you
determine whether page ejects are to be performed or not. By default,
EJ=ON applies, which means that page ejects will be
performed as specified.
If you specify EJ=OFF, page break information
will be ignored. This may be useful to save paper during test runs where page
ejects are not needed.
The EJ parameter can be set at session level
with the system command GLOBALS; for example:
GLOBALS EJ=OFF
The EJ parameter setting is
overridden by the EJECT
statement.
The following topics are covered below:
The EJECT
statement causes a page advance without a title or header line being
generated on the next page. A new physical page is started without any
top-of-page or end-of-page processing being performed (for example, no
WRITE TRAILER or
AT END OF PAGE,
WRITE TITLE,
AT TOP OF PAGE or
*PAGE-NUMBER
processing).
The EJECT
statement overrides the EJ parameter
setting.
The NEWPAGE
statement causes a page advance with associated end-of-page and
top-of-page processing. A trailer line will be displayed, if specified. A title
line, either default or user-specified, will be displayed on the new page,
unless the NOTITLE option
has been specified in a DISPLAY or
WRITE statement (as
described above).
If the NEWPAGE statement is not used,
page advance is automatically controlled by the setting of the
PS parameter;
see Page Size - PS
Parameter above).
Both the NEWPAGE statement and the
EJECT statement provide
a WHEN LESS THAN
n LINES LEFT option. With this
option, you specify a number of lines (n). The
NEWPAGE/EJECT statement will then be executed if - at
the time the statement is processed - less than n
lines are available on the current page.
FORMAT PS=55 ... NEWPAGE WHEN LESS THAN 7 LINES LEFT ...
In this example, the page size is set to 55 lines.
If only 6 or less lines are left on the current page at the time when
the NEWPAGE statement
is processed, the NEWPAGE statement is executed and a page advance
occurs. If 7 or more lines are left, the NEWPAGE statement is not
executed and no page advance occurs; the page advance then occurs depending on
the session parameter PS (Page Size for
Natural Reports), that is, after 55 lines.
** Example 'NEWPAX02': NEWPAGE (in combination with EJECT and
** parameter PS)
************************************************************************
DEFINE DATA LOCAL
1 EMPLOY-VIEW VIEW OF EMPLOYEES
2 CITY
2 NAME
2 JOB-TITLE
END-DEFINE
*
FORMAT PS=15
*
READ (9) EMPLOY-VIEW BY CITY STARTING FROM 'BOSTON'
AT START OF DATA
EJECT
WRITE /// 20T '%' (29) /
20T '%%' 47T '%%' /
20T '%%' 3X 'REPORT OF EMPLOYEES' 47T '%%' /
20T '%%' 3X ' SORTED BY CITY ' 47T '%%' /
20T '%%' 47T '%%' /
20T '%' (29) /
NEWPAGE
END-START
AT BREAK OF CITY
NEWPAGE WHEN LESS 3 LINES LEFT
END-BREAK
DISPLAY CITY (IS=ON) NAME JOB-TITLE
END-READ
END
The NEWPAGE
statement also provides a WITH TITLE option.
If this option is not used, a default title will appear at the top of the new
page or a WRITE TITLE
statement or NOTITLE clause
will be executed.
The WITH
TITLE option of the NEWPAGE statement allows you
to override these with a title of your own choice. The syntax of the WITH
TITLE option is the same as for the
WRITE
TITLE statement.
NEWPAGE WITH TITLE LEFT JUSTIFIED 'PEOPLE LIVING IN BOSTON:'
The following program illustrates the use of the session parameter
PS (Page Size
for Natural Reports) and the NEWPAGE statement. Moreover,
the system variable *PAGE-NUMBER
is used to display the current page number.
** Example 'NEWPAX01': NEWPAGE
************************************************************************
DEFINE DATA LOCAL
1 VIEWEMP VIEW OF EMPLOYEES
2 NAME
2 CITY
2 DEPT
END-DEFINE
*
FORMAT PS=20
READ (5) VIEWEMP BY CITY STARTING FROM 'M'
DISPLAY NAME 'DEPT' DEPT 'LOCATION' CITY
AT BREAK OF CITY
NEWPAGE WITH TITLE LEFT JUSTIFIED
'EMPLOYEES BY CITY - PAGE:' *PAGE-NUMBER
END-BREAK
END-READ
END
Output of Program NEWPAX01:
Note the position of the page breaks and the title line:
Page 1 04-11-11 14:15:54
NAME DEPT LOCATION
-------------------- ------ --------------------
FICKEN TECH10 MADISON
KELLOGG TECH10 MADISON
ALEXANDER SALE20 MADISON
Page 2:
EMPLOYEES BY CITY - PAGE: 2
NAME DEPT LOCATION
-------------------- ------ --------------------
DE JUAN SALE03 MADRID
DE LA MADRID PROD01 MADRID
Page 3:
EMPLOYEES BY CITY - PAGE: 3
The following topics are covered below:
The WRITE
TRAILER statement is used to output text (in apostrophes) at
the bottom of a page.
WRITE TRAILER 'THIS IS THE END OF THE PAGE'
The statement is executed when an end-of-page condition is detected, or
as a result of a SKIP or
NEWPAGE
statement.
As the end-of-page condition is checked only after an entire
DISPLAY or
WRITE statement has
been processed, it may occur that the logical page size (that is, the number of
lines output by a DISPLAY or
WRITE statement) causes
the physical size of the output page to be exceeded before the
WRITE TRAILER
statement is executed.
To ensure that a page trailer actually appears at the bottom of a
physical page, you should set the logical page size (with the
PS session
parameter) to a value less than the physical page size.
By default, the page trailer is displayed centered on the page and not underlined.
The WRITE
TRAILER statement provides the following options which can be
used independent of each other:
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| LEFT JUSTIFIED | Causes the page trailer to be displayed left justified. |
| UNDERLINED | The underlining runs the width of the line size
(see also Natural profile and session parameter LS). By default, titles
are underlined with a hyphen (-). However, with the
UC session
parameter you can specify another character to be used as underlining character
(see Underlining Character for
Titles and Headers).
|
The following examples show the use of the
LEFT
JUSTIFIED and UNDERLINED options of the
WRITE TRAILER
statement:
WRITE TRAILER LEFT JUSTIFIED UNDERLINED 'THIS IS THE END OF THE PAGE'
** Example 'WTITLX02': WRITE TITLE AND WRITE TRAILER
************************************************************************
DEFINE DATA LOCAL
1 EMPLOY-VIEW VIEW OF EMPLOYEES
2 CITY
2 NAME
2 FIRST-NAME
2 ADDRESS-LINE (1)
END-DEFINE
*
WRITE TITLE LEFT JUSTIFIED UNDERLINED
*TIME
5X 'PEOPLE LIVING IN SALT LAKE CITY'
21X 'PAGE:' *PAGE-NUMBER /
15X 'AS OF' *DAT4E //
*
WRITE TRAILER UNDERLINED 'REGISTER OF' / 'SALT LAKE CITY'
*
READ (2) EMPLOY-VIEW WITH CITY = 'SALT LAKE CITY'
DISPLAY NAME /
FIRST-NAME
'HOME/CITY' CITY
'STREET/OR BOX NO.' ADDRESS-LINE (1)
SKIP 1
END-READ
END
The SKIP statement is used to generate one or more blank
lines in an output report.
** Example 'SKIPX01': SKIP (in conjunction with WRITE and DISPLAY)
************************************************************************
DEFINE DATA LOCAL
1 EMPLOY-VIEW VIEW OF EMPLOYEES
2 CITY
2 NAME
2 FIRST-NAME
2 ADDRESS-LINE (1)
END-DEFINE
*
WRITE TITLE LEFT JUSTIFIED UNDERLINED
'PEOPLE LIVING IN SALT LAKE CITY AS OF' *DAT4E 7X
'PAGE:' *PAGE-NUMBER
SKIP 3
*
READ (2) EMPLOY-VIEW WITH CITY = 'SALT LAKE CITY'
DISPLAY NAME / FIRST-NAME CITY ADDRESS-LINE (1)
SKIP 1
END-READ
END
** Example 'SKIPX02': SKIP (in conjunction with DISPLAY VERT)
************************************************************************
DEFINE DATA LOCAL
1 EMPLOY-VIEW VIEW OF EMPLOYEES
2 NAME
2 FIRST-NAME
2 CITY
2 JOB-TITLE
END-DEFINE
*
READ (2) EMPLOY-VIEW WITH JOB-TITLE = 'SECRETARY'
DISPLAY NOTITLE VERT
NAME FIRST-NAME / CITY
SKIP 3
END-READ
*
NEWPAGE
*
READ (2) EMPLOY-VIEW WITH JOB-TITLE = 'SECRETARY'
DISPLAY NOTITLE
NAME FIRST-NAME / CITY
SKIP 3
END-READ
END
The AT TOP OF
PAGE statement is used to specify any processing that is to
be performed whenever a new page of the report is started.
If the AT TOP OF PAGE processing produces any output, this
will be output below the page title (with a skipped line in between).
By default, this output is displayed left-justified on the page.
** Example 'ATTOPX01': AT TOP OF PAGE
************************************************************************
DEFINE DATA LOCAL
1 EMPLOY-VIEW VIEW OF EMPLOYEES
2 PERSONNEL-ID
2 NAME
2 MAR-STAT
2 BIRTH
2 CITY
2 JOB-TITLE
2 DEPT
END-DEFINE
*
LIMIT 10
READ EMPLOY-VIEW BY PERSONNEL-ID FROM '20017000'
DISPLAY NOTITLE (AL=10)
NAME DEPT JOB-TITLE CITY 5X
MAR-STAT 'DATE OF/BIRTH' BIRTH (EM=YY-MM-DD)
/*
AT TOP OF PAGE
WRITE / '-BUSINESS INFORMATION-'
26X '-PRIVATE INFORMATION-'
END-TOPPAGE
END-READ
END
Output of Program ATTOPX01:
-BUSINESS INFORMATION- -PRIVATE INFORMATION-
NAME DEPARTMENT CURRENT CITY MARITAL DATE OF
CODE POSITION STATUS BIRTH
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
CREMER TECH10 ANALYST GREENVILLE S 70-01-01
MARKUSH SALE00 TRAINEE LOS ANGELE D 79-03-14
GEE TECH05 MANAGER CHAPEL HIL M 41-02-04
KUNEY TECH10 DBA DETROIT S 40-02-13
NEEDHAM TECH10 PROGRAMMER CHATTANOOG S 55-08-05
JACKSON TECH10 PROGRAMMER ST LOUIS D 70-01-01
PIETSCH MGMT10 SECRETARY VISTA M 40-01-09
PAUL MGMT10 SECRETARY NORFOLK S 43-07-07
HERZOG TECH05 MANAGER CHATTANOOG S 52-09-16
DEKKER TECH10 DBA MOBILE W 40-03-03
The AT END OF
PAGE statement is used to specify any processing that is to
be performed whenever an end-of-page condition occurs.
If the AT END OF PAGE processing produces any output, this
will be output after any page
trailer (as specified with the WRITE TRAILER statement).
By default, this output is displayed left-justified on the page.
The same considerations described
above for page trailers regarding physical and logical page sizes
and the number of lines output by a DISPLAY or
WRITE statement also
apply to AT END OF
PAGE output.
** Example 'ATENPX01': AT END OF PAGE (with system function available
** via GIVE SYSTEM FUNCTIONS in DISPLAY)
************************************************************************
DEFINE DATA LOCAL
1 EMPLOY-VIEW VIEW OF EMPLOYEES
2 PERSONNEL-ID
2 NAME
2 JOB-TITLE
2 SALARY (1)
END-DEFINE
*
READ (10) EMPLOY-VIEW BY PERSONNEL-ID = '20017000'
DISPLAY NOTITLE GIVE SYSTEM FUNCTIONS
NAME JOB-TITLE 'SALARY' SALARY(1)
/*
AT END OF PAGE
WRITE / 24T 'AVERAGE SALARY: ...' AVER(SALARY(1))
END-ENDPAGE
END-READ
END
Output of Program ATENPX01:
NAME CURRENT SALARY
POSITION
-------------------- ------------------------- ----------
CREMER ANALYST 34000
MARKUSH TRAINEE 22000
GEE MANAGER 39500
KUNEY DBA 40200
NEEDHAM PROGRAMMER 32500
JACKSON PROGRAMMER 33000
PIETSCH SECRETARY 22000
PAUL SECRETARY 23000
HERZOG MANAGER 48500
DEKKER DBA 48000
AVERAGE SALARY: ... 34270
See the following example program: