MFS Screen Design is a function performed by
the MFS Editor. This tool provides the visual creation and/or modification
of MFS messages and device format definitions. The MFS Editor is designed
for Information Management System (IMS™) applications
that allow the application programs to deal with simple logical messages
instead of device-dependent data.
MFS functions as an interface between the format of messages at
a terminal and the I/O formats in your program. This enables you to
create well-designed screens more efficiently, thus improving operator
efficiency and accuracy. The MFS Editor enables you to create and
modify MFS messages and device format definitions visually.
Editor features
Device format
definitions and their associated projects are displayed in the Project
Explorer view. The
Palette view
provides both click-and-drop and drag-and-drop access to the format
definition components. The editor provides additional capabilities
with the
Outline and
Properties views.
The
MFS Editor provides the following pages for designing a device format
definition.
- Design
Contains
the Design canvas and display customization options, including map filtering. Contextual
right-click menus provide
additional formatting and display options.
- Source
Provides
a text editor for directly editing the MFS source.
- Preview
Provides
terminal-style and Web preview modes.
Object properties
You can view
the properties of an object by selecting the item in the
Outline view; the
information is displayed in the
Properties view.
You can also view and configure a format definition component using
the Design page
pop-up menu.