Before deciding to migrate a COBOL SDF application, consider the following;
A form containing an array that is used to send data to the MCP server is not supported. The COBOL record description in the <output file name prefix>/ COBOLRECORD file must be manually changed to remove the OCCURS clause and the importation restarted.
If the formlibrary does not process forms based on the message keys, the created server message does not have a COBOL data identifier associated with it. To understand a COBOL data identifier, refer to the Planning the Data Identification Strategy topic in Preparing To Use the MCP COBOL Data Source Wizard, and then refer to Changing the COBOL Data Identifier for instructions about optionally adding a COBOL data identifier.
The Screen Design Facility enables the user to define a variety of field attributes that are applied when a screen is rendered. Only the primary field attributes are handled automatically by the importation process. All other field attributes must be implemented manually using the .NET aspx page code-behind to preserve the Screen Design Facility behavior after creating a presentation project. The following table maps Screen Design Facility attributes to ePortal equivalents properties.
Screen Design Facility Attributes Mapped to ePortal Equivalent Properties
| Screen Design Facility Attribute | Screen Design Facility Description | ePortal Equivalent Property | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Row | Indicates the row of the form that the field is in. | Row | Row is preserved. |
| Column | Indicates the column of the form that the field is in. | Column | Column is preserved. |
| length | Indicates the length of the field. | MaxLength | Length is preserved. |
| IO | Indicates whether the field is an input filed, an output field, or an input and output field. | AccessType | IO is preserved. |
| inputJustification | Indicates the justification of data when sent from the MCP application. | N /A |
|
| Highlight type | Indicates the default highlight type of the field. | N /A |
|
| Boolean format | Indicates the type of Boolean to be displayed on the terminal. A possible value is 10|TF|YN|. | Field has Data type of Boolean. |
|
| translateInputTo Uppercase | Indicates that the data of the field is translated to uppercase when data is being sent to the MCP application. | N /A | When a field value is entered on the aspx page, use the .NET function < fieldname >. TextToUpper( ) to translate the characters to uppercase before the page is submitted. |
| requireInput | Indicates that the field must have data in it. | Required and ValidateOnCLientInput Only | Required checking for input is preserved. |
| blankOnZero | Indicates that a blank is displayed when a 0 (zero) is present. | ZeroSuppress |
|
| rightEntry | Indicates that data is right-justified as data is entered into a field. | N /A | No .NET function exists for this attribute. |
| returnSpaceWhen NoInputPIC9 | Indicates that when a field has a PIC 9 value and is being returned to the MCP application, a space is returned instead of 0 (zero). | ZeroSuppress |
|
| initialCursorPosition | Indicates that the cursor of the form is initially positioned in this field. | InitialFocus on a client message is set. |
|
| statusLine | Indicates that this field is used as a status line. | N /A |
|
| messageKey | Indicates that this field is a message key field. | Set the COBOL data identification field. |
|
| Programmatic control flags | Flags are used to control field suppression, highlighting, cursor, and other behaviors. | These programmatic control flag fields might appear at the end of the server message. | These programmatic control flags might need to be included in the client message and used in the code-behind to preserve the various SDF behaviors. These field names are in the format of <SDF field name>-<programmatic flag suffixes defined in the SDF form definition page>. For example, PHONE-HIGHLIGHT or PHONE-CURSOR. |
The SDFXMLEXTRACTOR utility does not generate attributes for fields defined on the following Screen Design Facility utility screens:
VALUE CHECKING
INPUT SUBSTITUTION
OUTPUT SUBSTITUTION
CONDITIONAL VALIDATION
DATE TIME VALIDATION
HELP TEXT DEFINITION
In addition, no attributes are generated for a field that is identified as a non-image field.
Because these attributes are not captured in the XML, all field checking, substitution, and validation need to be implemented in the modernized ePortal application using the design capabilities of Visual Studio.