3.1 Introduction

Form is a general purpose data input program designed to handle most data input, update, and retrieval requirements using a video display terminal. It allows the user to add, query, update, and delete individual records in an RMSfile. Form displays on the screen a data entry form that looks much like a printed form with various fields for entering data, each with a title to describe what is to be entered there. Form provides many services to the applications programmer that are commonly needed when creating interactive data entry screens. To ensure that data entered into fields is of the correct data type, it validates a field's contents against another RMSfile and also displays data referenced in another RMSfile.

The applications programmer may also wish to check the data the operator enters in a way that would require additional programming to implement, such as adding or validating a check digit appended to a string of numeric digits. You can add application code to perform these extra operations.

This chapter explains how to add extra forms editing code to form. You should be familiar with

form as described in C/Base Reference Manual Chapter 3,

creating and editing formfiles as described in C/Base Reference Manual Chapter 5,

creating and modifying C/Base RMSfiles as described in C/Base Reference Manual Chapter 4,

programming in C