Screen Mapping Levels

The Screen Mapping interface is divided into 3 levels of usage: Low, Medium and High levels.

Low level use is represented by scripting in the VBA environment all aspects of interaction between the server and the host system using the SM object’s methods and procedures. These commands allow the developer complete control over the host session. Examples include sending/receiving text, control keys, cursor positioning, “WaitFor” statements, “Find” statements, etc. It is entirely possible for the user to write/program complete solutions using only these low-level commands. These commands are documented in the Screen Mapping Extensions section.

Medium level use is typified by the creation Host Screen macros and / or Data Entry macros using the recording capabilities. At any time in the VBA script, one of these macros can be called and the host screen can be made to navigate or transact instantly. This capability simplifies the programming of the navigation requirements within a host system. Calling a transaction macro will place all collected data into the host screen’s fields and submit the screen to the host for processing. Transaction macros can have input / output parameters. These parameters are used to send and receive data from the host screen.  Because of the solution’s unique design, transaction data can be stored while the host is offline, and send to it for processing later when the connection is re-established.

Medium level usage entails the development of a VBA script to call the pre-recorded macros. One Screen Mapping command ‘SM.CallMacro’ is oftentimes sufficient to update the host.

High level use of the Screen Mapping capabilities is represented by the automatic recording of the ‘Host Screen’ and ‘Transaction Macros’ discussed above. Host transaction fields are then embedded in applications in much the same manner (e.g., drag and drop) as table fields from ODBC databases. Using embedded methods, data automatically posts to the host once all input fields have been entered (note: posting was accomplished manually as the last step in Medium level usage, not automatically as with embedded fields).

A final note: All automatically recorded macros are created using base low-level commands. Thus, users have complete access to all VBA scripts, including modifying them as desired. An example of user modifications might include checking for error conditions (such as bad data) and/or warning, error, or informational messages. Copying and pasting the recorded macro script and placing it in the application directly is a quick way to build a low level solution.