Rational Developer for System z

Creating multiple Insert actions

This topic describes how to create Insert actions during a flow recording using the Create Multiple Insert Actions window.

This window is useful when you want to easily create multiple Insert actions, each of which inserts text into a single field of the application screen. For a summary of the features of this window see Table 1 in Overview of creating Insert actions.

To create multiple Insert actions:

  1. Navigate to the application screen where you want to create the Insert actions.

  2. On the toolbar of the host editor click Insert Data from Screen Insert > Create Multiple Insert actions.

  3. If you have not yet selected a variable message file and a variable message for the flow that you are recording, then the host editor opens the No Variable Message File window and prompts you to select or create a message file and a message for the flow (see Specifying a variable message later on during flow recording). Make your selections and click OK.

  4. The Create Multiple Insert Actions window opens:
    • In the left pane you select:
      1. The variable into which you want the Insert action to store the text.
      2. The field from which you want an Insert action to read text.
    • In the right pane, which displays an image of the application screen:
      • You can select the field for an Insert action.
      • You can view all the fields that have been selected for any Insert action: each such field is surrounded with a red rectangle.
    For each Insert action that you want to create:
    Remember: Although you can create an Extract action for any field on the application screen, you can create an Insert action only for an input field.
    1. In the left pane of the window, in the Field column, select the check box beside the field into which you want the Insert action to write text at runtime. The window highlights the field in the right pane by surrounding it with a red rectangle (see Figure 1).
      Tip: Alternatively, you can use the mouse in the right pane to select the field for the Insert action. To create multiple Insert actions, click each field for which you want to create an Insert action.
    2. In the left pane of the window, in the Variable column, select the variable that you want to use for the Insert action. This is the variable from which the Insert action gets the text that it writes into the specified field of the application screen at runtime.

      Note: The variable is always a String variable.

      You can use the default variable, create a new variable, or select an already existing variable:

      • Using the default variable:

        As a convenience each field in the Field column has beside it in the Variable column a default variable that is used by default as the variable for the Insert action. The name of the default variable is the same as the name of the field.

        Note: In many cases a default variable in the Variable list represents a variable that has not been created yet. If so, then the window creates the actual variable when it creates the Insert action (i.e. when you click OK).
      • Creating a new variable:

        To create a new variable for the Insert action:
        1. Click the field name.
        2. In the input field, erase the default name and type the name for the new variable.

      • Selecting a existing variable:

        To select an already existing variable for an Insert action:
        1. Click the field name.
        2. Expand the drop-down list to display the existing String variables in the variable message.
        3. Select the variable that you want to use.

    3. Click OK when you are finished creating Insert actions.

The window creates the Insert actions that you specified. In the session area of the host editor, the field for each Insert action that you created is highlighted with a red underline that is turned up at the ends, as in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Highlighting a field for an Insert action
Insert from a single field

If you are doing a flow recording, then after you finish the recording and save the updated flow you can see a mapping for each Insert action in the appropriate mapping routine inside the mapping file for the flow.


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