DICE
DICE ON
OFF
[
D
ISPLAY]
[
N
ODISPLAY]
[
IPF
DISP]
[
IPFN
ODISP]
enables editing to be performed on all INFO terminal input. When
DICE is ON, all input is via an edit buffer. Depending on the current INFO activity, there may or may not be data in the edit buffer when input commences.
arguments discussion
ON switches the editor on.
OFF switches the editor off.
DISPLAY Causes the contents of an accept field to be displayed for editing.
NO DISPLAY An accept field will not be displayed for editing. (This is the default.)
IPFDISP Contents of the same item in the previous record are displayed for editing in input forms. (This is the default.)
IPFNODISP Switches off IPFDISP. This has no effect on forms used for update.
If DICE ON is issued interactively, the current ERASE and
KILL characters will be reported on the screen.
The KILL key will erase the line from the current cursor position. If the current position is the end of the line, the whole line will be erased. The KILL character will be the character set at the operating system.
The ERASE key will erase the current character, or the last character typed if you are at the end of the line or if you are in insert mode. The ERASE key will be that set for
SYSTEM unless there is a conflict with one of the arrow keys (e.g. both BACKSPACE and left arrow send the same character on some terminals), in which case DICE will assign another key, either DEL if that is not in use as the KILL character or ".
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DICE
The left and right arrow keys will position the cursor on the line. At the start of any input line, the editor is in overwrite mode and characters typed will be overlaid on the existing characters. You can switch to insert mode by pressing the down arrow key. The same key pressed again will cause the editor to return to overwrite mode.
The up arrow key can be used to recall any of the last twelve lines typed in. (This function is not in operation when you are in an input or update form.)
Control-R will retype the line and reposition the cursor to the start of the line. If the cursor is already at the start of the line, it will be repositioned to the end of the line thus giving a fast move from end to end.
In input forms and update forms, the item being updated will be displayed for editing. This means that in input forms the data from the previous record will be displayed unless the user explicitly clears the field before accepting into it or he/she has used the IPFNODISP option.
In input and update forms, the INFO special characters have their usual effect. These characters may be keyed into the first position in the field even if there is already data on the line. The data will be erased before return of the special character to INFO.
The current ARET setting is observed.
Non-printing characters will only be accepted into the line if preceded by the ^ character. The exception to this rule is the bell character Control-G which will be accepted without an escape. The non-printing character will be displayed as a space on the line. If your KILL character is ?, you may also use ^ to get a ? into your line. The ^ character itself is not displayed.
In the current implementation of DICE, lines longer than a screen width will not be handled correctly on terminal types ANSI and VT52. If you want to use the editor for very long lines, e.g. for program input, set the screen width to 132 if possible.
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DICE programming considerations whilst using
DICE
The DICE ON command uses the local file DORIC.TRM or the same file in the alternate directory to find the arrow key definitions for the current INFO terminal types. In interactive mode, if the DORIC.TRM file does not contain a definition for the current terminal, you will be invited to supply the necessary information by pressing the arrow keys in turn. When the definition is completed, you will be asked to test the correctness of the definition by keying in and editing a line of text. Each of the arrow keys should be tested when doing this check. You may have to wait for write access to the DORIC.TRM file if another user is currently defining a terminal.
To change your terminal type after DICE ON, you must issue DICE OFF followed by DICE ON again.
On some ADM3 type terminals, the down arrow sends
Control-J. The SYSTEM ignores this character. On these terminals it is necessary to define some other key to perform the function of switching modes from overwrite to insert. On this type of terminal, when all the arrow keys are pressed in turn in response to screen messages, the error message "ARROW CHARACTER STRINGS NOT ALL
THE SAME LENGTH" is displayed. When this is seen, you should repeat the define procedure selecting a different key to act as the down arrow, e.g. HOME or Control-Z.
It is not possible merely to switch DICE ON in an existing INFO application and expect everything to work immediately, for the following reasons:
In INPUT FORMS data already present in a field will be moved into the edit buffer and displayed. This data will typically be the value entered for the previous record. In some applications, when there is a high degree of data duplication, this might be desirable. If not it would be necessary to clear the record first or use IPFNODISP, e.g.
1,1 RECORD,S''
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DICE
An IPF or UPDATE session with DICE OFF can be terminated by keying RETURN on the first field. With
DICE ON it is necessary to hit the KILL key first to clear the edit buffer before pressing RETURN.
In an IPF or UPF, a null or blank value, except for the first field on the form, can currently be entered by keying
RETURN. With DICE ON it is necessary to KILL the field first if there is data in the edit buffer.
If an application simulates an IPF by means of DISPLAY and ACCEPT, the keyboard operator is likely to be confused by the fact that the displayed data is not actually in the edit buffer but has to be keyed over. This can be overcome by using the DICE DISPLAY option which causes the contents of the ACCEPT field to be moved into the edit buffer. However, if the ACCEPT field is formatted to a large width, this may cause problems because DICE will clear the entire width to blanks before displaying the contents of its edit buffer. This may result in characters already on the screen being blanked out. On terminal types ANSI and VT52, which do not handle wrap-around, the cursor can end up in the wrong position.
IPFNODISP should only be used when BACK TAB or "No" to "IS THIS FORM ACCEPTABLE?" are not going to be used. If BACKTAB or "No" are used, the item contents will be displayed by INFO on the second pass, but they will not be in the DICE edit buffer. Because of the above considerations, it is preferable for new systems to be designed with DICE ON from the start. To avoid operator confusion, it is also desirable for all systems accessed by one operator to run either with DICE ON or DICE OFF. A mixture of systems, some with DICE ON and some with
DICE OFF, will inevitably confuse an operator, as it is not possible merely by looking at the screen to tell whether the characters which are being keyed over are in the edit buffer or not.
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