HP Data Entry and Forms Management System (VPLUS) Reference Manual (32209-90024)

26 Chapter1
VPLUS Overview
Product Overview
Levels of Forms Design
FORMSPEC has four complexity levels of forms design:
Simple Collection You specify the form layout and FORMSPEC allows any
character set codes that you enter. This level keeps the
default field attributes and does not require any other
FORMSPEC editing or formatting capabilities.
Simple Editing You specify the form layout and specify edits for the field
attributes, such as field type (optional, required, display
only) or data type (character, numeric, or date). No
processing specifications are required for the field
attributes.
Full Field Editing You specify field edits using processing specifications that
apply to individual fields in a form. These include
minimum length, range checks, pattern checks, etc. A
subset of the available processing specifications are used
for these edits.
Advanced Processing You specify movement of data between fields and forms,
arithmetic computation of data, formatting of data
(JUSTIFY, FILL, STRIP), alteration of forms sequence,
and conditional processing based on the result of
processing specifications. This level implements the entire
range of the processing specifications.
The following sections provide introductory information about each of these levels.
Chapters 3 and 4 provide specific information on each level of forms design.
Simple Collection
When you run FORMSPEC, the first menu to appear is the Forms File menu in which you
specify the name of the forms file. After you specify the forms file, the Main menu appears,
enabling you to select one of the following tasks:
• Adding a form or a save field
• Selecting a terminal type or a native language
• Going to the global characteristics or to a particular form or field
• Listing a forms file or a form
• Deleting a form
• Copying a form
• Compiling the forms file
• Relating a child form to a parent form
• Going to the Application-Ready Buffer (ARB)
For example, if you want to select the task of adding a form, FORMSPEC would respond by
displaying the Form menu, shown in Figure 1-2. You would use this menu to enter the
form name and indicate how you want the form to be sequenced. This menu offers several