Special options for non-3270 terminals
BMS provides some additional formatting options for non-3270 devices, to take advantage of device features that shorten the data stream.
These options include:
- Vertical and horizontal tabs. You can position your output with
horizontal and vertical tab orders if the device supports them. The
tab characters are defined by the HTAB and VTAB options in the map
set definition. When you want to position to the next horizontal tab,
you include the HTAB character in your data; you position to the next
vertical tab by supplying the VTAB character in your data. BMS translates
these characters to the tab sequence required by your particular principal
facility.
Before you use tabs in BMS output, your task or some earlier task at the same terminal must have set the tabs in the required positions. This is usually done with a terminal control SEND command, described in Using data transmission commands.
- Outboard formatting. Some logical units can store format information and participate in the formatting process. This allows BMS to send much less data (essentially the symbolic map contents) and delegate the work of merging the physical and symbolic maps to the logical unit. See Outboard formatting for details.
- NLEOM (new line, end of message). Standard BMS also gives you the option of requesting that BMS format your output with blanks and new-line (NL) characters rather than 3270 buffer control orders. This technique gives you more flexibility in page width settings on printers, as explained in NLEOM option.