Rational Developer for System z

Playing back a screen interaction

To play back a screen interaction, click the Play Screen Interaction icon Play Screen Interaction on the host editor toolbar or select a screen interaction from the list box beside the icon. You need to be connected to a host in the host editor to play back a screen interaction.

Playing back the screen interactions in a screen operations file allows you to verify that the screen interactions operate as you expect and that they have the effects that you intend.

To play back a screen interaction in the host editor:

  1. Verify that you have saved the contents of the screen operations file to disk, either by clicking Ctrl-S in the screen operations editor or by closing the screen operations editor.
  2. Open the host editor (see Opening a host connection).
  3. Connect to the host by clicking the Connect to Host icon Connect to Host (see Connecting with a host system).
  4. Verify that the host editor is in screen operations mode (see Screen operations mode and flow mode).
  5. Load the screen operations file containing the screen interaction that you want to play back.
    1. Click the Load Screen Operations File icon Load Screen Operations File or the list box symbol beside it Down arrow.
    2. Select the screen operations file that you want to load.
    3. The host editor loads the screen operations file.
      • The loaded screen operations file becomes the working screen operations file.
      • The name of the working screen operations file is displayed on the second line of the information area at the top right of the host editor area (see Working screen operations file).
  6. Navigate the host application to the application screen corresponding to the screen operation that contains the screen interaction that you want to play back.
  7. Verify that the host editor recognizes a screen description for the currently displayed application screen.
    • In screen operations mode, the host editor evaluates only the screen descriptions referenced by screen operations contained in the working screen operations file (see Working screen operations file).
    • The name of the currently recognized screen description is displayed on the first line of the information area at the top right of the host editor area (see Recognized screen description).
    • If the host editor does not recognize a screen description for the currently displayed application screen, then the host editor displays on the first line of the information area at the top right of the host editor area the message "The screen is unrecognized". To allow the host editor to recognize a screen description for this application screen:
      1. Capture the application screen by clicking the Capture Screen icon Capture Screen Description (see Creating a screen message).
      2. Reload the screen descriptions by clicking the Reload Screen Descriptions icon Capture Screen Description (see Currently loaded screen descriptions).
  8. The Play Screen Interaction icon Play Screen Interaction should now be enabled.
  9. Play back the screen interaction that you want to play back:
    1. Expand the list box next to the Play Screen Interaction icon Play Screen Interaction.
    2. In the list box, select the screen interaction that you want to play back.
      Note: This situation illustrates why it is a good idea to rename a screen interaction to some meaningful name. A default name, such as Screen Interaction 0, provides no clue as to the actions contained in the screen interaction.
      Note: Clicking the Play Screen Interaction icon Play Screen Interaction itself plays back the actions in the first screen interaction in the list box.
    3. The host editor plays back the actions (for example, the input keys "ainq 1" followed by the Enter key) in the screen interaction that you selected. (The actions in a screen interaction can include input keys, an AID key, an Extract action, or an Insert action).
  10. When the host editor plays back the actions in the screen interaction that you selected, the host application responds to the actions in the same way that it would if you had generated the individual actions yourself.
  11. Unless an error occurs when an action is played back, the host application should respond by sending a new application screen to the host editor, which the host editor now displays.
  12. You can now play back a screen interaction for the newly displayed application screen.

So long as the host editor continues to recognize a screen description for the currently displayed application screen, you can easily use the Play Screen Interaction icon Play Screen Interaction to navigate through the host application, verifying the behavior of your screen interactions for each application screen.

If you need to modify a screen interaction:
  1. Use the screen operations editor to open the screen operations file containing the screen interaction.
  2. Modify the screen interaction.
  3. Save or close the screen operations file.
  4. Reload the modified screen operations file into the host editor using the Load Screen Operations File icon Play Screen Interaction or the list box next to it.

When you play back a screen interaction containing an Insert action, the host editor opens the Screen Field Prompt window to allow you to specify a value. If you specified a default value, it is shown in the input field. You can accept the default value or type over it.

When you play back a screen interaction containing an Extract action, the host editor opens the Extract Results window to show the text that was extracted.


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