GUI ScreenIO for Windows

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Mass Changes to All Panels

There are occasions in the life of a system where it is desirable to make mass changes to all the panels in an application, either to add new features, or to conform to a new standard.  Often it can be a huge task just to find those panels that need change, and then to manually change each one and recompile the program(s) that use it.  

The Panel Editor has a Mass Change Facility that greatly simplifies applying changes to large numbers of panels.  This facility is accessed from the File menu when no panels are being edited.  It will operate on all panels meeting a specified selection criteria, or all panels in a specific directory. 

After applying the mass changes, you will have to recompile the programs that use these panels, and you MAY have to edit those programs and make changes as well.  Most of the time, all you need do is recompile. We have indicated in the table below which items require programming changes.

You first select the directory containing the panels you wish to change.  You can then enter a generic file name such as PAN9*.COB to select only those panels that are named Pan9xxxx.COB.

Next, select the items you want to change.  You can make several changes in one pass.  For example, you may wish to remove color on panels and change the word Exit to Cancel where ever it occurs, all in one pass.

Be sure your application profile specifies a backup directory for your panels, as each panel changed will create a backup so that you can undo the changes of you don't like them.  

A wise person would have a separate and independent backup of the entire system before launching a mass change. 

There are several different items that the mass change facility can change for you.  These are summarized below. 

Panel actions

Action What it Does
String Replacements Strings in the panels are used for text, titles, labels, etc.  The string replacement will find each occurrence of a string and change it to another string.  So when your Pointy Haired Boss dictates that the "Employee Database" will henceforth be named the "Human Resource System" you can find and fix this title on all panels in minutes.   This usually requires no changes in your programs.  Exception:  Where titles are provided by your program.  These you will have to find with your regular program editor.
Event ID Name Replacements If you have event ID names that you wish to standardize across many panels, you can use this facility to find and replace the 88 names used.  This is purely to preserve your programmers sanity, as 88 names are not visible to end users.  This would involve parallel changes in your programs.
Keyboard Equivalence Replacements If you find that your application makes use of function keys that conflict with the Windows keyboard conventions (perhaps it was converted from our Legacy system) and you want to standardize these keys, this facility will allow you to change each use of (as an example) F1 (which is the Windows standard help key) to Ctrl-F1 so as to avoid conflicts with the Windows standard.  This usually requires no programming changes, because it does not change the event ID name. 
Color Removal Converted applications often use color in ways that are inconsistent with the Windows standard.  You can easily remove color from selected components to revert to the standard Windows colors.  No programming changes needed.
Blind Menu Additions If you want to add a blind menu item to all panels (such as a print screen capability), this facility will allow you to force a blind menu item onto every panel, and set the keyboard equivalent at the same time.  Note that this will require programming changes, unless you decide to handle these in your GS.COB thereby avoiding changes to every program in your system. 

For instance, you could add print screen capability to each panel by adding Ctrl-P to each panel, and having your GS.COB intercept this and generate a print screen API call.

Field Properties Changes This option will examine all the fields in your system that match your selection criteria, and modify selected field properties of those fields. 
Your selection criteria can include the following: (these are ANDed)
  • Name Contains - This can be used to find all the fields containing the word DATE and add OR remove one of the attributes below
  • Type of field - Such as all Radio Buttons, etc.

For each field meeting your criteria you can ADD or REMOVE or leave alone various attributes. The attributes which can be changed are:

  • Various Style bits, such as sunken, boarder, etc
  • Runtime characteristics, such as Auto-skip, tab-stops, beep full,
  • Appearance items such as Remove Font, remove color, etc.

You can see that most of these will have no effect on your programs, and code changes should not be needed.


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