Working with function keys

Working with function keys

Instead of using indicators for trapping function keys in RPG, you can use real key equivalents such as F1, F12, F20, etc. You can find more handy utilities at my Web site.

The benefits of using this function:

a) More readable source -- you see what's meant.
b) You can keep the indicators for real signaling functions.
c) There's no need to program function key indicators in the display file.
d) There's no need to distinguish the ENTER key from FUNCTION KEYS.

In my opinion, indicators for function keys tend more to a 'who knows what's going on here?' - source, because indicators are also used for other things.

In the F-specs, define a display file with a continuation line for the buffer to hold the device description:

 
      FDEFAULT#CF  E                    WORKSTN
      F                                              KINFDS DEVICE
 
 In the I-specs, add the following:
 
      IDEVICE      DS
      I                                        1   8 ##SCRN
      I                                       38  45 ##RECF
      I                                      369 369 ##KEY
      I                                    B 370 3710##CURS
 
 then, right before your the C-specs begin, add the following code:
 
      I            DS                             31
      I                                        1   1 ENTER
      I                                        2   2 ROLLUP
      I    

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3 3 ROLLDN I 4 4 HELP I 5 5 PRINT I 6 6 BSPACE I 7 7 CLEAR I 8 8 F1 I 9 9 F2 I 10 10 F3 I 11 11 F4 I 12 12 F5 I 13 13 F6 I 14 14 F7 I 15 15 F8 I 16 16 F9 I 17 17 F10 I 18 18 F11 I 19 19 F12 I 20 20 F13 I 21 21 F14 I 22 22 F15 I 23 23 F16 I 24 24 F17 I 25 25 F18 I 26 26 F19 I 27 27 F20 I 28 28 F21 I 29 29 F22 I 30 30 F23 I 31 31 F24 Ç* * --------------------------------------------------------------- * Set values for KEY variables C BITOF'01234567'ENTER C BITOF'01234567'ROLLUP C BITOF'01234567'ROLLDN C BITOF'01234567'HELP C BITOF'01234567'PRINT C BITOF'01234567'BSPACE C BITOF'01234567'CLEAR C BITOF'01234567'F1 C BITOF'01234567'F2 C BITOF'01234567'F3 C BITOF'01234567'F4 C BITOF'01234567'F5 C BITOF'01234567'F6 C BITOF'01234567'F7 C BITOF'01234567'F8 C BITOF'01234567'F9 C BITOF'01234567'F10 C BITOF'01234567'F11 C BITOF'01234567'F12 C BITOF'01234567'F13 C BITOF'01234567'F14 C BITOF'01234567'F15 C BITOF'01234567'F16 C BITOF'01234567'F17 C BITOF'01234567'F18 C BITOF'01234567'F19 C BITOF'01234567'F20 C BITOF'01234567'F21 C BITOF'01234567'F22 C BITOF'01234567'F23 C BITOF'01234567'F24 * C BITON'01237' ENTER X'F1 C BITON'012357' ROLLUP X'F5 C BITON'01235' ROLLDN X'F4 C BITON'012367' HELP X'F3 C BITON'012356' PRINT X'F6 C BITON'01234' BSPACE X'F8 C BITON'023457' CLEAR X'BD C BITON'237' F1 X'31 C BITON'236' F2 X'32 C BITON'2367' F3 X'33 C BITON'235' F4 X'34 C BITON'2357' F5 X'35 C BITON'2356' F6 X'36 C BITON'23567' F7 X'37 C BITON'234' F8 X'38 C BITON'2347' F9 X'39 C BITON'2346' F10 X'3A C BITON'23467' F11 X'3B C BITON'2345' F12 X'3C C BITON'0237' F13 X'B1 C BITON'0236' F14 X'B2 C BITON'02367' F15 X'B3 C BITON'0235' F16 X'B4 C BITON'02357' F17 X'B5 C BITON'02356' F18 X'B6 C BITON'023567' F19 X'B7 C BITON'0234' F20 X'B8 C BITON'02347' F21 X'B9 C BITON'02346' F22 X'BA C BITON'023467' F23 X'BB C BITON'02345' F24 X'BC next, question which key was pressed like this: C SELEC C ##KEY WHEQ F4 C EXSR SRF041 * C ##KEY WHEQ F5 C EXSR SRCLR1 C EXSR SRLOD1 * C ##KEY WHEQ F6 C Z-ADDNEWREC #RECN1 * C ##KEY WHEQ F12 C LEAVE etc.

This was first published in July 2005

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