Technical Tips

Instructions for Capturing a Screen in PREFERENCE

Why capture an application screen?  “Captured” application screens are used to make exact screen copies within the PREFERENCE editor for creating reference material and for concurrent help rules writing.  This procedure is preferable to manual editing because it is less time-consuming and reduces the chance of errors such as misspellings, typos, and missed fields.

How can you differentiate a writer’s screen capture session from a help request?  You can list Terminal IDs associated with the screen capture process in the PREFERENCE CAPTURE TID FACILITY.  When PREFERENCE receives a help request for a session whose Terminal ID matches a Terminal ID definition in the CAPTURE TID FACILITY Capture table, the terminal session is navigated according to the table definition (i.e. supervisor command line, signon frame or to a specified volume as writer).  Once inside the PREFERENCE editor, the screen captured by the screen capture session can be transferred to the PREFERENCE window editor.

Let us get started.

Step 1 – Make sure a hot-key (help key) has been defined to PREFERENCE for the application for which you wish to capture a screen.  There are many ways to identify to PREFERENCE the hot-key to be associated with a specific application.  If you do not know what PF/PA Key has been defined as the hot-key for your application, it is best to start by asking the group responsible for the application.  Once the hot-key is know, proceed by going to the next step.   

Step 2a – Set up the CAPTURE TID FACILITY on a development/ test system with no (or few) users.  To determine how many users are on the system, at the PREFERENCE supervisor command line type "ls" (line status command) and press ENTER.  If there are just one or two users on the system, proceed with this step.  Otherwise go to Step 2b below.

1. Sign on to the PHOENIX/PREFERENCE system as a supervisor.

2. Type “capture” and press ENTER to go to the CAPTURE TID FACILITY.

3. If there is already an entry with "*&" (asterisk - ampersand) under TERMINAL ID (with "Y" under SIGNON or SUPERVISOR), proceed to Step 3.

4. F4 Insert to add a Capture Terminal ID

5. Type “*&” above TERMINAL ID and type “Y” above SUPERVISOR so your capture request will go to the supervisor command line (or type “Y” above SIGN-ON to go to the PHOENIX/PREFERENCE sign-on screen).  Press ENTER to save the new entry.

6. F3 End to exit the CAPTURE TID FACILITY and proceed to Step 3.

Step 2b – Set up the CAPTURE TID FACILITY for a production system with many users

1. From the application environment (CICS, IMS, etc) for which you wish to capture an application screen, go to a clear screen.

2. Type the name of the PREFERENCE transaction (default is PRDP for CICS; CBHIMS for IMS; etc) and press ENTER.  The PREFERENCE sign-on frame should appear.

3. Copy or write down the Terminal ID in the upper right of the sign-on frame

4. Type the supervisor sign-on ID and press ENTER to Sign-on as supervisor.

5. Type “capture” and press ENTER at the type command line

6. If there is already an entry with the Terminal ID you just copied (with SIGNON or SUPERVISOR = Y), proceed to Step 3. Otherwise,

7. F4 Insert to add a Capture Terminal ID

8. Type the Terminal ID that you copied above TERMINAL ID and type Y above SUPERVISOR so your capture request will go to the supervisor command line (or type “Y” above SIGN-ON to go to the PREFERENCE sign-on screen).  Press ENTER to save the new entry

9. F3 End to Exit the CAPTURE TID FACILITY, exit from PREFERENCE and proceed to Step 3.

Step 3 – Capture the application screen and transport to the PHOENIX/PREFERENCE editor

1. Access the application screen you wish to capture, and press the hot-key.  You should be taken to the supervisor command line or sign-on frame depending on how you have set up the capture table.

2. Access the writer menu of the volume where the captured screen will be saved.

3. Access the reference item file or decision rule file where you will use/edit the captured screen.

4. Create a new reference item or form item or access an existing reference item or form item for storing the captured screen.  If creating a new item, make sure that the window size is large enough (usually 24x80) to store the captured screen.

5. Go into edit mode (F5) for the reference or form item and make sure the editor menu is “on” (toggle with F2).  Then bring up the "cApture" menu by placing the cursor on "cApture" and pressing ENTER.

6. Press F4 Screen to indicate Screen Capture

7. Press F4 Capture to actually capture the screen.

8. F3 repeatedly to exit from the editor and navigate back to the supervisor command line.

Step 4 – clean up by deleting the entry you have created in the CAPTURE TID FACILITY, and finish.

1. If not already there, access the PREFERENCE supervisor command line.

2. Type “capture” and press ENTER.

3. F5 Delete

4. At the prompt, type the number to the left of the TERMINAL ID you wish to delete and press ENTER.

RESOURCES

• PREFERENCE System Guide (Chapter 2 - Your Communication Environment)

• PREFERENCE Writer Guide to Concurrency (3.19)

• PREFERENCE Supervisor Guide (3.19)

• PREFERENCE Writer Guide (Ch. H)