Before You Begin
Depending on property settings, changes you make to a server message may automatically overwrite changes you make to a client message with the same name. Before you attempt to modify a client message, you should check the settings of the following properties, and make changes if appropriate:
Auto Create Client Message and Auto Recreate Client Message: These properties are set for the data source project. Refer to Data Source Project Property Pages Dialog.
AutoCreateClient and AutoRecreateClient: These properties are set for an individual server message. Refer to Message Editor Root Node Properties.
Note: If you have a server message with the same name as the client message that you wish to modify, and the property AutoRecreateClient is true for that server message, you may wish to modify the server message instead of the client message. Any changes you make to the server message automatically propagate to the corresponding client message.
Procedure
Use this procedure to add or remove fields from an existing client message or change the properties of fields within an existing client or server message.
Client messages are used to produce an associated Web page, mobile application page, or Web service method. Each field within a client message contains modifiable properties to define such attributes as field name, length, and the style of the resulting Web page or mobile application field.
In the ePortal Message View window, expand the Client Messages or Server Messages folder, and right-click the message to be modified, and click Edit. The Message Editor opens and the message appears in the <message name>.eprec tab.
To delete a field of a client message, right-click the field and click Delete.
Note: You cannot delete a field from a server message.
To add a field or all the fields from a server message to a client message, do one or more of the following steps in the ePortal Message window:
Note: You cannot add a field to a server message.
If one or more fields of a server message are needed, select each appropriate field from a server message and drag it to the root node of the client message.
If all of the fields of the server message are needed in the client message, select the server message and drag it to the root node of the client message. This creates a reference to the server message from the client message and all changes to the server message are automatically updated in the client message.
If the client message of an MCP COBOL solution needs to include a connection to the MCP server, drag the appropriate field or fields from the connect_autologon or the connect_Basic server messages. Refer to Orchestration Tasks for MCP COBOL Projects for more details.
If the client message of an OS 2200 TIP solution needs to include a connection to the OS 2200 server, drag the appropriate field or fields from the connect_Basic server message. Refer to Orchestration Tasks for OS 2200 TIP Projects for more details.
Note: Any field of a server message or a complete server message can be added to a client message. Using a complete server message makes tasks in the Orchestration Editor easier and is the recommended process. The order of the fields or server message is not important at this time. Creating the look of the Web page, mobile application page, or Web service happens at a later point in the process.
If the client message needs to have fields that are not part of a server message to support the planned logic, do the following:
Open the Toolbox.
Drag one of the possible field types to the root of the client message.
In the Properties window, change the ID value to a name that is appropriate and make any other changes for the field that are needed. Refer to Message Editor Toolbox Selections for more information.
Note: Do not update the ID field with any of these values: SubmitOnGet, Security, and PrimaryField. Updating the field with these values might result in a naming conflict that cause various errors.
Repeat any of the following steps until all of the necessary fields are present in the client message: steps 2, 3, and 4.
To update the properties of a field, select the field in the in the <message name>.eprec tab. Then open the properties window by pressing Alt-Enter. In the properties window, select a property and change its value. For example, you may wish to change the ControlStyle property from DropDownList to RadioButtonList, so ePortal generates a presentation page which uses radio buttons instead of a dropdown box.
By default, fields appear in the generated presentation in the same order that they appear in the client message. To reorder fields in a client message, select a field in the .eprec tab and drag it to its desired location within the .eprec tab.
Note: You cannot reorder the fields in a server message.
Click File, then click Save to save your changes.
If you have one or more presentation projects that have already been scaffolded or built, you may need to reconcile your changes to the message with any corresponding presentation files. Refer to Save Message Dialog and Reconciling Client Message Changes to Scaffolded Presentation Projects for more information.