Rational Developer for System z, Version 7.6

Learn more about the artifacts

This topic provides more information about the artifacts that are displayed on the fourth page of the New Flow wizard.

On the fourth page of the New Flow wizard, you can create a sequence of Invoke screen operation nodes by selecting from a list of available screen interactions.

A screen interaction is a container for a sequence of simple actions (such as a series of input keystrokes followed by an AID keystroke) that are to be performed when a particular application screen is displayed. For example, a screen interaction might contain the key sequence "myfile04" followed by an Enter key, and this screen interaction might be created to respond to an application screen that says "Send File: Type File Name to be Sent and Press Enter" (see Screen operation).

A screen interaction is part of a larger, parent artifact called a screen operation. The role of a screen operation is to contain all the information pertaining to the management of one particular application screen (see Screen operation). Screen operations are contained in a screen operations file (see Screen operations file).

Each screen operation contains, or is at least capable of containing, the artifacts shown in the following table:
Table 1. Artifacts in a screen operation
Element: Description:
A reference to a screen description A screen description contains the information required to recognize a particular screen in a terminal application.
One or more screen interactions A screen interaction is a sequence of actions (for example, a Input action key sequence followed by an AID key) that can be performed to respond to a particular application screen
A list of next screens A list of next screens is a list of the application screens that can validly occur next (more specifically, it is a list of the names of screen descriptions that match application screens that can validly occur next).

In contrast to a screen operation, which is a container for the information required to manage a particular application screen, an Invoke screen operation node is a functional entity that actively manages a particular application screen, using the information stored in a screen operation.

An Invoke screen operation node is one of several types of Invoke node that can occur in a flow, and more specifically it is that specific type of Invoke node that is used to manage an application screen in a terminal application (see Flow nodes). For example, if you are building a flow that needs to process a series of four application screens in a terminal application, then you can do so by creating a sequence of four Invoke screen operation nodes connected together, each node managing one of the application screens.

An Invoke screen operation node invokes a screen operation. More specifically, an Invoke screen operation node (i) invokes a generalized handler for processing application screens, and (ii) passes to that handler a reference or references to the information contained within a specific screen operation. The handler uses the information in the screen operation (the screen description, the specified screen interaction, and the list of next screens) to respond to the application screen.

On the fourth page of the New Flow wizard, when you select a screen interaction to be added to the sequence, the wizard accesses the relevant information associated with the screen interaction and uses that information to construct an Invoke screen operation node.


Terms of use | Feedback

This information center is powered by Eclipse technology. (http://www.eclipse.org)