Field data type
Depending on the type of dialog, the field data type is defined by program variables or form specification file.
Field data types
The field data type defines how a user can input values into a form field. For example, when defining a field to hold date values, it should only allow date value input. Therefore,
The data type used by the runtime to control field display and input depends on the type of the
dialog:
- For
INPUT
,INPUT ARRAY
andDISPLAY ARRAY
, the data type is defined by the program variable bound to the field. - For
CONSTRUCT
, the data type is defined in the (.per) form definition file, either by theTYPE
attribute of a FORMONLY field for example, or with the corresponding database column in a schema file.
Field validation rules
Data validation rules can be defined at the form level, such as NOT NULL
,
REQUIRED
and
INCLUDE
attributes.
Data validation constraints are checked when leaving a field, or when the dialog is validated
(for example, with the ACCEPT DIALOG
instruction inside a DIALOG
multiple dialog block).
Trailing blanks entered by the user will be removed when leaving the input field.