HP Browse/XL User's Guide

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3 Function Keys
This chapter lists and describes all of the functions and corresponding options you can use in HP Browse.
The individual functions are listed by keyset. The keysets are listed in the order which they appear, from
left to right, in the main keyset.
Specifying a Count
Many HP Browse functions accept a numerical option, called the count, which you may specify before
issuing a function. HP Browse uses the count in performing many functions. Specifying a count reduces
the number of keystrokes required to perform a function affecting several characters or lines of text. See
the description of functions in this chapter to understand how the count is used specifically.
The count parameter can be any integer greater than or equal to 1. HP Browse resets the count to 1 after
executing every function except for the scrolling functions. For scrolling functions, the count you specify
represents the scroll size for all subsequent scroll functions.
You can specify a count and HP Browse will maintain it until the next command function is executed. That
is, you can specify a count before you move to the keyset in which the desired function resides. For
example this series of commands:
10 Windows Size Windows
is equivalent to:
Windows 10 Size Windows
File and Print Functions
Open File
Use the Open File function when you want HP Browse to read a new file into the workspace window. HP
Browse will accept any ASCII or binary file that is not a privileged file. Files are opened by HP Browse for
both read-only and shared access. This allows multiple users to browse the file concurrently.
You can browse binary files with HP Browse but the data is interpreted as ASCII characters. HP Browse
denotes data with a binary value by highlighting it.
Using HP Browse, you can open a file of any length within the limits of your MPE operating system.
However, HP Browse does impose a restriction on the record size of the file. It will allow you to browse a
file with a record size greater than 1024 bytes, but only the first 1024 bytes will be displayed. The only
exception to this rule are files with variable length records. Many variable length record files have a
physical record length greater than 1024 bytes although each logical record can be less than the length of
the physical record. If a record is greater than 1024 bytes long, HP Browse will not display the data
beyond the 1024th character.
If you open a numbered file, HP Browse will display the line numbers in the first nine columns for a
regular numbered file and in the first seven columns for a COBOL numbered file. See also "Option-Setting
Functions", in this chapter.
If you specify a file to be opened into a window that already contains an opened file, HP Browse will close
the previously opened file to allow the new file to be read into the window. Regardless of size, only one file
may be open in any one window. However, HP Browse does allow more than one window to be open at one
time. For more information, refer to "Window Functions", in this chapter.