This tutorial provides a general introduction to using the Natural map editor where explanations are kept to a minimum. For a comprehensive description of all map editor functions, refer to the section Map Editor.

The layout of the example screens (24x80) provided in the tutorial and the behavior of Natural described here can differ from your results. For example, the command or message line may appear in a different screen position, or the execution of a Natural command can be protected by security control. The default settings in your environment depend on the system parameters set by your Natural system administrator.

The Map Editor Tutorial is organized in the following parts:

Opening the Map Editor	Invoking the map editor menu and initializing a map.
Creating, Positioning and Deleting Map Fields	Creating map fields and placing them in the required map position.
Testing and Saving a Map	Testing and saving a map as an object module.
Defining Processing Rules	Defining processing rules for a map field.
Naming Fields and Saving/Cataloging a Map	Giving names to map fields and saving/cataloging a map as object modules.
Defining Field Properties	Using extended field editing to define field properties.
Creating and Testing a Help Map	Creating and testing a help map for a map field.
Invoking a Map with INPUT USING MAP	Creating and executing a program that invokes a map with the INPUT USING MAP statement.
Creating a Map for WRITE and Copying Field Definitions	Creating a map by copying fields from another Natural object. Changing the map settings to use the WRITE statement.
Reusing the Layout of a Map	Creating a map from another map layout.
Invoking a Map with WRITE USING MAP	Creating and executing a program that invokes a map with the WRITE USING MAP statement.