To play back
a terminal flow in
the host editor, click the
Play Flow icon

.
A terminal flow is a flow that interacts directly
with the application screens of a terminal application (see Terminal
flow).
Playing back a terminal flow allows you
to verify that the flow operates as you expect.
Troubleshooting: If you encounter a problem
in playing a flow see Troubleshooting problems in playing a flow.
This topic contains the following subtopics:
Steps for playing a flow
To
play back a flow in the host editor:
- Important: Because the host editor plays
back the current contents of the working flow therefore, if
you want to include a recent modification into the playback, you must
first incorporate the modification into the working flow (see Incorporating
recent changes).
In the host editor, navigate through the host
application to the particular application screen
that
corresponds to the first Invoke screen operation node in the recorded
flow.Note: You can play an entire flow starting at the first
Invoke screen operation node in the flow and starting at the application
screen that corresponds to that node. You cannot begin playing back
a flow at some other location in the flow.
Click the Play Flow icon.
.
Playback begins.
If an error message is displayed see Limitations on features and capabilities when you play a flow and Troubleshooting problems in playing a flow.
- Setting a screen recognition
limit to prevent an endless loop during playback: If the flow
contains one or more recorded loops, then before beginning playback
the host editor prompts you to specify the maximum number of times
that you want to allow a screen description to be recognized during
playback. This value applies to every screen description that is recognized
during playback.
The purpose of this feature is to prevent the flow from being caught in an endless loop during playback.
The
default value is 100. To set a different value:
- Type the new value.
- Click OK.
Then during playback if any screen description is recognized
the maximum number of times that you specified, the host editor displays
an error message and terminates the playback. The error message is:
Macro Error: Recolimit reached, but goto screen not provided,
macro terminating.
At the beginning of playback, the host editor prompts you for
the following information:
- The values for the input message of the flow's interface operation.
The host editor plays back the flow beginning with the first node in the flow.
At the end of playback, the host editor displays the following
information:
- The values from the output message of the flow's interface operation.
Limitations on
features and capabilities when you play a flow
Because playing
a flow uses Host Access Transformation Services (HATS) components
to perform the playback, the limitations on features and capabilities
that apply to generating a HATS macro also apply to playing a flow (see Limitations on features and capabilities when generating HATS macros or when playing flows).
Example: If a flow contains
a Switch node then both of the following are true:
- The Generate Runtime Code wizard cannot generate a HATS macro
from the flow.
- The host editor cannot play the flow.
Note: Although these limitations affect
generating a HATS macro and playing a flow they do not affect
the generation of COBOL source code for the CICS® Service Flow Runtime environment.
When you click the Play Flow icon
the
host editor searches the flow for both the substantial limitations
and the minor limitations that are applicable (see Limitations on features and capabilities when generating HATS macros or when playing flows).
For each limitation
that the host editor detects it displays the same error message that
would be displayed for that limitation if you were trying to generate
a HATS macro from the flow. (For example, the message might refer
to an error in
generating the flow even though you are trying
to play the flow.)
- Substantial limitation:
If the host editor
detects one or more substantial limitations then the wizard does not
play the flow but instead opens the Generation Error status
window. In this window:
Click Details to display a
list of error messages describing all the limitations that the host
editor detected throughout the flow including both substantial limitations
and minor limitations.
Click Close to close the window.
The host editor does not play the flow.
- Minor limitation:
If the host editor detects
no substantial limitations but does detect the presence of one or
more minor limitations then the host editor displays the Play
Flow window. In this window:
Click Details to display a
list of error messages describing all the minor limitations that the
host editor detected throughout the flow and the substitutions that
the host editor will make to resolve the minor limitations.
Click Cancel to cancel playback or OK to
play the flow.
Note: In playing back the flow the host editor
makes the substitutions described in the error messages.
See Limitations on features and capabilities when generating HATS macros or when playing flows.