HP Business BASIC/XL Reference Manual - HP 3000 MPE/iX Computer Systems - Edition 1 (32715-90001)

f: 6
XL.PUB.SYS.
Before using BB_BLOCK_READ, be aware of the following considerations:
* BB_BLOCK_READ can lead to hard-coding dependencies on form layout
(such as field length and order).
* BB_BLOCK_READ reads all unprotected fields on the screen each time it
is called; input and input/output JOINFORM fields are read.
* The characters from the fields are read into a single string. The
string must be large enough to hold all data from all fields plus one
byte per field as a record separator.
* The application must explicitly extract the fields and convert them
into usable data from the string.
Syntax
To call BB_BLOCK_READ from HP Business BASIC/XL, declare it as an
external routine and use the CALL statement to call it. The external
declaration has the following syntax:
EXTERNAL PASCAL BB_block_read ( buffer $, SHORT INTEGER status )
Parameters
buffer $ String buffer that will contain all the input field
data. This string contains all the characters from all
the fields. This string must be long enough for that
data, plus one character per field as a record
separator.
status A short integer that contains the status of the external
call. After the call, status can has a code that
indicates the result of the call. The codes and their
meanings are:
0 Successful call.
284 String too short.
287 No input fields.
294 No JOINFORM active.
BB_BLOCK_READ reads the fields in hardware order , that is from left to
right and top to bottom. Changing input order or tab order cannot alter
how the fields are returned to BB_BLOCK_READ. Therefore, small changes to
a form, such as shortening or moving a field, can impact applications
using BB_BLOCK_READ.
Example
10 EXTERNAL PASCAL BB_block_read(Buf$, SHORT INTEGER Stat) !Declare BB_BLOCK_READ
20 SHORT INTEGER Stat
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.
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150 CALL BB_block_read(Buf$,Stat) !Call BB_BLOCK_READ
160 !Buf$ contains the data, stat the status
170 IF stat <> 0 Then GOSUB 800 !Goto an error subroutine if the
180 !call was not successful
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The JOINFORM Editor
The JOINFORM Editor is a utility program used to work with HP 260 forms
on an MPE XL computer. The JOINFORM Editor includes the following