A user-defined variable or a constant can be directly created on the Screen of the Layout manager:
1. Just select the object type to be created using the button located on the right-hand side of the tool bar:
for a constant,
for a variable.
2. Then, double-click the work space on the location where the first character of the field is to appear.
A square having the size of one character is displayed; the status bar is replaced with a comment describing the field type currently created and the characters which can be entered (provided that the On-line help option from the Display menu was checked).
For a constant, all characters are allowed.
For a variable, only the following characters are allowed:
|
Numeric variable |
Alphanumeric variable |
Input field |
3 |
I |
Output field |
6 |
O |
Input/Output field |
9 |
B |
Special case: In order to define Date, Time or Timestamp variables, the above characters must be preceded by a d, t or s.
Just enter the required variable directly on the screen. For a numeric variable, you may use:
- the symbol "." to position the decimal separator,
- the symbol "," to position the thousand separator (for output and input/output fields only),
depending on the parameters defined in the "Decimal sign" field at the environment attributes level.
3. When the field is filled in, just validate it by pressing the Enter key to create the variable or the constant.
The Esc key is used to cancel the entry.
Note: If the default font and script used by the layout manager do not let you enter your language's special characters, you can specify a font or script of your choice in the ALM_FONT and ALM_SCRIPT parameters in the file adeliws.ini.