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Contents: Main Chapter See Also: Getting Started Manual Advanced User Manual

ScreenMan Forms

Form-only Fields

Form-only fields are fields that are defined only on the form. They allow you to request from the user data that is not linked to a VA FileMan field. You might use a Form-only field to control the flow of data input. For example, when the user presses the Enter key at a Form-only field, you might branch to a "popup" page (window) or branch only if the user enters a certain value. You might also use a Form-only field to:

  1. Request data from the user.

  2. Store the response in a local or global variable.

  3. Process the response after the user exits the form.

When you define a Form-only field, you specify parameters that look like the VA FileMan Reader (^DIR) parameters. In addition, you can define Save Code, code that is executed when the user issues the Save command. You might use the Save Code to store the value entered by the user in local or global variables.

Table 73 describes the field properties that pertain only to Form-only fields.

REF: For more detailed information about the Reader parameters, see the "^DIR: Response Reader" section in the "Classic VA FileMan API" section.

Table 73: ScreenMan Forms—Properties of Form-only Fields

Form Only Field Property Description
Read Type This property defines the type of the Form-only field. Valid values are:
  • D—DATE

  • F—FREE TEXT

  • L—LIST OR RANGE

  • N—NUMERIC

  • P—POINTER

  • S—SET OF CODES

  • Y—YES OR NO

  • DD—DATA DICTIONARY
Parameters This property corresponds to the parameters that can be used in the first ^-piece of the DIR(0) input variable to ^DIR. The O parameter has no effect, since the Required property can be used to make a field required.
Qualifiers This property corresponds to the second ^- piece of the DIR(0) input variable to ^DIR.
Help (WP) The lines in this WORD-PROCESSING field correspond to the nodes in the DIR("?",#) input array to ^DIR.
INPUT Transform This property corresponds to the third ^-piece of the DIR(0) input variable to ^DIR.
Screen This is M code that sets the variable DIR("S").
Save Code This is M code that is executed when the user issues a Save command and ScreenMan has detected a change to the value of the Form-only field.

 

Reviewed/Updated: May 2026