2e Development Standards - Screen Functions (Part I)

I guess the last couple of months have been a bit quite on the site. This was due to some holidays on my part and the visit of relative from overseas for 5 weeks. As you may know I live in New Zealand and the Christmas and New Year period is a time of relaxation and recouperation as well as a period of mass and I mean mass national holiday. Many businesses shut down for a compulsory two weeks.

I am now refreshed and ready to finish off those blog posts that I promised at the back end of last year.

Today I want to continue the 2e (Synon) development standards theme. I really want this site to be an extension to your technical libraries. So without further procrastination, I will get on with development standards, tips and gotcha's for 2E screen functions.

Today will shall concentrate on the single record function type PMTRCD. Future posts will cover the remaining single record function types as well as multiple record function types like DSPFIL etc.

If used as designed and thats a big 'IF', then this function should have fields on the screen that are prompts for the user to input some values which are then passed to another function for action. These would typically be a report or a processing program of some description.

But, like everything in 2e, the original design intention and actual use is only limited to the users creativeness. I have used these screen types for edit and display screens, prompts, information windows and even restricted subfiles. They are powerful for a number of reasons but for me the ability to DROP the relations and code a screen from a blank canvas is very satisfactory indeed.

General Pointers

A PMTRCD will typically be used in situations where an EDTRCD or DSPRCD is not applicable or too complex, or will have too much of a processing overhead or the traditional methods highlighted above.

For performance reasons any fields or file-to-file relations not needed should be DROPPED from the device design.

After USER:User Defined Action there is no check for any outstanding errors during the User Defined Action processing. If the function option Repeat=No then function may just exit and any errors will not be reported back to the user. Therefore it is a good idea to do a *Quit if PGM.*Return Code is not *Normal, or *Quit if *PGMERR.

Tip

If the function requires a complex set of fields or file to file relations which is not present on any existing file then consider creating an array with fields set to MAP for the PMTRCD. This is often easier and simpler than basing the function on an existing model file, then using lots of function fields and adding procedural based action diagram checking.

Gotcha's

If the function option Repeat=Yes is set then the PMTRCD just loops back to redisplay the detail screen. It does not execute USER:Load Screen. To make the function execute this user point again call user source 2E Force PMTRCD Reload






A PMTRCD behaves slightly different to an EDTRCD. During the validation cycle there is a *Quit if *PGMERR after USER:Validate Fields.

If the primary key relation check has not been turned off then an automatic prompt is generated to a SELRCD over the based upon file. But unlike other file to file relations there is no opportunity to choose which SELRCD is to be called. This I need to validate as I was unable to replicate at the time of writing.

Hope this helps?

Thanks for reading.
Lee.

Credit Crunch 2009 and IT.

I would suggest that other that Britney Spears in recent months "Credit Crunch" has been the most widely used search term on the google servers. No doubt someone will correct me on this subjective comment.

What does this mean for us in IT over the coming months/years. For sure many companies are going to tighten their belts during 2009. Capital expenditure will probably have processes, procedures and forms redesigned/created for general publication. The good companies started this 12 months ago.

Well I guess there is (as always) both opportunity and risk. Mergers and Aquisitions will continue therefore some consolidation will occur. How you are affected will very much depend on what you do, your role and business etc, your skills and a little bit of luck. There isn't too much you can do if your CEO is Bernard Madoff. But if your company is tight on expenses and hasn't blown the budget in recent months on a hope of business eventuating then you have a tick in the good column.

I list below my 5 top tips to avoiding uncertaintly or unemployment due to the credit crisis.

1. Networking.

Many people have simply rode the good times of the last decade and have largely ignored this simple working practice. We all know the phase "It's not what you know but who you know." Check all your email addresses for old colleagues and make contact. Join professional and social networking sites like LinkedIn and put your profile on the web and reconnect to those old colleagues.

You may go as far as publish a blog. At a minimum your CV should be on your regional major recruitment portal. Employment is changing. People are now being headhunted via these sites and in these times they (recruiters and employers) will perform the data mining rather than incur the costs to advertise. You may be the dream candidate but if the job is not advertised then you will not hear about it.

Subscribe to news feeds for your technologies and industry and get reading. Join forums and post questions and replies therefore becoming known as a regular and reliable contributor.

2. Review and update your CV.

Even if you feel you have the most resilient of employer and the most solid of job prospects at your firm, you should always from time to time review the CV. That technology buzzword from 2005 may not cut it when there are 50 candidates for a job, the search spiders may know it as something different in 2008. Just ask IBM and the rebranding of the AS400, System i, iSeries or Power System.

Read, read and re-read your CV. Tune it to your skills, be honest and review it candidly. Would you employ you? I see too many CV's where the presentation is poor. Spacing, order, typo's are a few of my pet hates.

So update the CV and rehearse in your mind what you would like to project at interview. If the CV doesn't say it then you are unlikely to be be given the opportunity to do so either.

Do not wait until you need your CV. It takes a week or two to polish a decent CV and in a competitive environment like redundancy when many people or made available that next job could be gone before you hit the spell checker toolbar button.

3. Perform a skills review and add breadth to your skill set.

If you are a one trick pony. Learn another one quick. Unless of course you are best of breed then you might be OK. As a developer you are used to change and learning on the job. Make 2009 the year where you spend less time on the golf course and more on training courses and home learning. Understand what is coming in your area and ensure you know it well.

Challenge your employer for a training course. If they refuse? What does this say.......

4. Talk to your boss.

Put simply. Don't panic too much if your company is pretty safe. After all some firms have business models that thrive in these uncertain times. But there is nothing stopping you asking the hard and direct questions of your boss. Any quality manager will already understand the local situation and will have a reply for you if they haven't already addressed this as part of their attrition strategy.

If you don't like what the boss says then ask the bosses boss. Get the answers you need.

5. Cut your expenditure (Work and Home).

There are many things you can do here. Take sandwiches to work. Car pool to work. Reduce mobile phone expenses. Go to the gym instead of the pub to name a few.

All of these will boost your savings a little just in case you are cut. This will increase the amount of time you have a make an informed next career choice rather than a hasty decision and a blot on the CV.

As a Plex/2e developer you are probably slightly more shielded than others. After all, you are not ten a penny people. That niche skillset could help out quite nicely.

So look out for the signs.

Good Luck.

Thanks for reading.
Lee.