General Menu Definition

In DataView you create each menu according to an identical scheme:

For creating and managing all menus and items the following system forms are available:

Note! Because you also create button areas and buttons in the system forms, you should select a syntax for menu- and item names which allows you to differentiate between both groups of objects.

How to create a menu containing items:

  1. Open the menu data form and enter a new menu record in the header form.

    Please observe the following comments when entering the menu master attributes:

    Field Comment Confer
    Menu Name For top-menus and dynamic pull-down menus at the top-menu special menu names are required. -> top menus
    -> pull-down menus at the top-menu
    Menu Title It is optional to assign a title to a menu. This is only required for top button areas (toolbars). -
    Maximum Length The maximum row length of the menu and the number of items still to be contained determine the display on the user interface. -> Display options for mask menus

    After storing the empty menu has been logically defined.

  2. Go into the item assignment sub-list and enter a new item record for each item in the menu.

    Note! Using this method you create new item objects and the relation to the menu you just created in one single step. You can also take a different approach. You first create the items in the item data form and only then create the relation to the menu in the menu data form, item assignment sub-list.

    Please observe the following comments when entering the item master attributes (displayed in red in DataView):

    Field Comment Confer
    Item Name If the items are to be used in a mask-edit menu or a menu component is to be inserted, modified item names are required. -> Edit menu
    -> menu components
    Item Text The item text depends on the kind of item required. -> options for item texts
    Userexit The desired function is entered here. Some functions require parameters to be passed in the relation attribute field Parameter. -> standard menu userexits
    Length, Width,
    Description
    The fields are of no significance for items. However, the description field can contain an internal comment for the item. -
    Access In the Access field the item can be protected by a profile. -> user access to items

    Please observe the following comments when entering the menu-item relation attributes:

    Field Comment Confer
    Sequence The field Sequence is an obligatory field and determines the sequence of the items in the menu (Hint: Use two-digit ordinal numbers, which allows you to insert additional items later without having to re-order). -
    Parameter Parameters for the function in the master attribute field userexit. -> default menu userexits
    Row, Column These fields are without any importance for items. -

    After storing all newly created items are logically defined and the relations to the menu in the header form are created. You can also assign the items to other menus later.

  3. Change into the Menu Data header form and create the menu via Reconfigure in main memory.

    DataView creates the menu and copies it into main memory. It is available as an interaction object on the user interface.

    Newly created items in the top menu can be immediately seen. Other menus must first be linked to a superordinate object in one of the following three steps, before you can see them on the user interface.

How to link the menu with a mask (create context menu for mask):

Mask menus are linked to the states of the mask object. Detailed information can be found in the section -> mask menus.

  1. Open the Mask Data form, get the desired mask into the header form and enter the menu name into the field Menu/Sel, Menu/NoSel or Menu/Edt.

    Field Comments
    Menu/Sel The menu entered becomes the context menu for the Select state of the mask.
    Menu/NoSel The menu entered becomes the context menu for the NoSelect state of the mask.
    Menu/Edt The menu entered becomes the context menu for the Mask-Edit state.

  2. Update the mask in main memory via Reconfigure.

How to link the menu with a field (create field selection menu):

Field selection menus are not directly linked to a field object, but with the mask-field relation. Detailed information can be found in the section -> Field Selection Menus.

  1. Open the Mask Data form, load the desired mask into the header form and switch into the sub-list Field Assignment.

  2. Enter the menu name into the menu field of the desired field record and select the menu type C (choice box).

    Field Comments
    Menu Type M -> regular menu
    C -> choice box
    L. -> list box

  3. Switch into the header form and update the mask in main memory via Reconfigure.

How to link the menu with the item of a superordinate menu (create sub-menu):

Sub-menus are called with the function call @NEXT at the item of a superordinate menu. Detailed information can be found in the section -> Sub-Menus.

  1. Open the Menu Data form, load the desired superordinate menu into the header form and switch into the Item Assignment sub-list.

  2. Enter the function call @NEXT into the userexit field and the sub-menu name into the Parameter field of the desired item record.

  3. Switch into the header form and update the superordinate menu in main memory via Reconfigure.

Note! For an efficient creation of sub-menus the Select menu of the Item Assignment sub-list contains the Shift function. It displays the sub-menu entered in the Parameter field in a new Menu Data form if it already exists. You can immediately edit it or create a new one.