DIALOG ATTRIBUTES clause

FIELD ORDER FORM option

By default, the form tabbing order is defined by the variable list in the binding specification. You can control the tabbing order by using the FIELD ORDER FORM attribute; when this attribute is used, the tabbing order is defined by the TABINDEX attribute of the form items.

The field order mode can also be specified globally with the OPTIONS FIELD ORDER instruction.

With FIELD ORDER FORM, if the user changes the focus from field A to a distant field B with the mouse, the dialog does not execute the BEFORE FIELD / AFTER FIELD triggers of intermediate fields which appear in the binding specification between field A and field B. Unlike singular dialogs, if the default FIELD ORDER CONSTRAINT mode is used in a multiple dialog instruction, intermediate triggers are never executed (i.e. the Dialog.fieldOrder FGLPROFILE entry is ignored by DIALOG.)

UNBUFFERED option

Indicates that the dialog must be sensitive to program variable changes. When using this option, you bypass the traditional BUFFERED mode.

When using the traditional "buffered" mode, program variable changes are not automatically displayed to form fields; You need to execute a DISPLAY TO or DISPLAY BY NAME. Additionally, if an action is triggered, the value of the current field is not validated and is not copied into the corresponding program variable. The only way to get the text of the current field is to use GET_FLDBUF().

If the "unbuffered" mode is used, program variables and form fields are automatically synchronized. You don't need to display explicitly values with a DISPLAY TO or DISPLAY BY NAME. When an action is triggered, the value of the current field is validated and is copied into the corresponding program variable.

The unbuffered mode can be set globally for all DIALOG instructions with the ui.Dialog.setDefaultUnbuffered() class method:

CALL ui.Dialog.setDefaultUnbuffered(TRUE)
DIALOG -- Will work in UNBUFFERED mode     ...
END DIALOG