Running the Procedure

Using a Program to Run the Procedure

You can use the Run Procedure program (accessed from the Procedures menu) or the Run Report/Procedure program (run as an Action from the Procedure Generator form) to execute a procedure. This method is particularly useful when testing a newly developed procedure for bugs.

Activation from a Menu

In order for a procedure to be activated from a menu, it must be linked to that menu. To create that linkage, take the following steps:

  1. Enter the Menu/Form Link form, a sub-level of the Procedure Generator form.
  2. Indicate the name of the menu in question and specify M in the Type column.
  3. Specify an integer to determine the order of the procedure within the menu.
  4. Disregard the Background Execution column. This is only relevant for procedures activated from within a form.

Note: The Menu Items form, a sub-level of the Menu Generator, serves a similar purpose.

Actions from a Form

Running a procedure as an Action from within a form can take place in either the foreground or the background. If it is in the background, the user will be able to continue work in the form while the procedure is being executed. Indeed, printouts of processed reports and documents are generally run in the background. In contrast, in a procedure executed in the foreground, the user has to wait until it is completed to continue work in the form.

When a procedure is run as an Action, the form record on which the cursor rests is input into the procedure’s PAR parameter (thus, you must label the input parameter “PAR”). Additional steps in the procedure can then use this parameter.

Example: In the third SQLI step of the ADDPARTTREE procedure, there is a link to the PAR variable (which is defined as an input column in the first SQLI step).

To allow for running a procedure as an Action from within a form, take the following steps:

  1. Enter the Menu/Form Link form, a sub-level of the Procedure Generator form.
  2. Indicate the name of the form in question and specify F in the Type column.
  3. Specify an integer to determine the order of the procedure within the form’s list of Actions.
  4. If the procedure is to be executed in the background, flag the Background Execution column.

Note: The Actions form, which is a sub-level of the Form Generator form, serves a similar purpose.

Running a Sub-Procedure

A procedure can be included as part of another procedure. This is useful, for instance, when you wish to use the same set of steps within several related procedures, or when you wish to repeat the same set of steps several times within a single procedure.

To include one procedure within another, use the Procedure Link form, a sub-level of the Procedure Generator.

Further Reading