EDTMSK in DDS

[lindemud]

The DDS for date fields on our system use the EDTMSK and EDTWRD keywords.
EDTMSK(' & & ') EDTWRD(' / / ')
When Genie renders these dates, it creates 3 seperate fields rather than
one. If I use the design tool to change the field to a date field, it only
changes the part of the original field that I have selected and the value
from the calendar widget is only inserted into that part of the field.

Does anyone have a solution?

I have considered trying to implement a script that would fill the individual
fields when a selection is made from the calendar widget. But I don't know
how to implement this.

I would appreciate any help.


David L.

[Scott Klement]

Unfortunately, this is a limitation of the 5250 protocol upon which Genie runs.

The 5250 protocol has no way to say "this is a single field with separators in the middle". When you code EDTMSK, the operating system (under the covers) splits your data into 3 different fields, and sends 3 separate fields to the 5250 emulator. The emulator displays them, lets the user type, etc,all without knowing that they are really just one field -- as far as the emulator knows, they 3 separate fields. When sent back to the OS, the OS rejoins them before sending them on to your application program.

Genie is just a 5250 emulator. It receives a screen like any other 5250 emulator would -- the only differences with Genie is that it uses a browser (instead of a native program) for output, and that it allows you to add your own customizations to each screen on top of that output.

Since the system doesn't tell Genie that you have only one field, it thinks there are three.

If you create a Rich Display (ProfoundUI display file) for your application, however, this will not be a problem. (I don't know if this is an option for you?)

I wish I had better news for you! But, let me know if this was helpful...