Using VPLUS: An Introduction to Forms Design (32209-90004)

2-2
Run Formspec
The first step in forms design is to decide on the layout of the form or
forms that you need for your application. You may have an established
form or you may be starting from scratch. In any case, you generally
need a rough draft of the forms to be created as the first step in forms
design with FORMSPEC. However, in this guide this first step is taken for
you. A simple form is provided in this section; increasingly complex
edits and additional forms are provided in later sections. For best
results, you should use the same forms and data illustrated in this
guide.
Action
You start this exercise by issuing the command to run FORMSPEC, as shown
in Figure 2-1.
Figure 2-2. The Forms File Menu with File Name
Specify a Forms File Name
Once the RUN command is accepted, FORMSPEC clears the screen, then
displays the Forms File Menu shown in Figure 2-2, which is always the
first menu displayed by FORMSPEC. Before you can create or modify any
forms, you must specify the name of the forms file. The forms file name
must be a valid MPE file name, which means it has up to eight characters,