Using EDF to change information

Most of the changes you make with EDF involve changing information in memory. To make these changes, type over the information that is displayed on the screen with the information that you require.

You can change any area that you can move the cursor to by using the tab keys, except for the menu area at the bottom of the screen.

When you change the screen, you must observe the following rules:
  • On CICS® command screens, you can type over any argument value, but not the keyword of the argument. You cannot remove an optional argument, and you cannot add or delete an option.
  • When you change an argument in the command display (rather than the working storage screen), you can change only the part shown on the display. If you attempt to type beyond the value displayed, the changes are not made and no diagnostic message is generated. If the argument is so long that only part of it appears on the screen, change the area in working storage to which the argument points. To determine the address, display the argument in hexadecimal format so that the address of the argument location is also displayed.
  • When you type over an argument value that is a fullword, the maximum value that you can enter is 2147483639.
  • In character format, numeric values always have a sign field. You can type over a sign field with only a minus character (-) or a blank.
  • When an argument is to be displayed in character format, some characters might not be displayable (including lowercase characters). EDF replaces each nondisplayable character with a period. If you type over a period, remember that the storage might contain a nondisplayable character.

    You cannot type over a character with a period to change it; the change is ignored and no diagnostic message is issued. To change a character to a period, switch the display to hexadecimal format, use the F2 key, and type over with the value X'4B'.

  • When storage is displayed in both character and hexadecimal format, if you change both formats and the changes conflict, the value of the hexadecimal field takes precedence. No diagnostic message is issued.
  • The arguments for some commands, for example, HANDLE CONDITION, are program labels rather than numeric or character data. The form in which EDF displays (and accepts modifications to) these arguments depends on the programming language in use:
    • For COBOL, a null argument is displayed and you cannot modify it, for example, ERROR ( ).
    • For C and C++, labels are not valid.
    • For PL/I, the address of the label constant is used, for example, ERROR (X'001D0016').
    • For assembler language, the address of the program label is used, for example, ERROR (X'00030C').
    • For AMODE(64) assembler language, labels are not supported.

    If no label value is specified on a HANDLE CONDITION command, EDF displays the condition name alone without the parentheses.

  • You can type over the response field with the name of any exception condition that can occur for the current function, including ERROR, or the word NORMAL. The effect when EDF continues is that the program takes the action that is prescribed for the specified response. You can get the same effect by changing the EIBRESP field in the EIB display to the corresponding values. If you change the EIBRESP value or the response field on the command execution complete screen, EIBRCODE is updated. EIBRESP appears on second EIB screen and is the only one you can change (EIBRCODE protected). You can get the same effect by changing the EIBRESP value on the EIB display; EDF changes related values in the EIB and command screens accordingly.
  • If uppercase translation is not specified for the terminal you are using, ensure that you always enter uppercase characters.
  • You can type over any command with NOOP or NOP before processing to suppress processing of the command. You can type over with blanks or use the ERASE EOF key for the same effect. When the screen is redisplayed with NOOP, you can restore the original verb line by erasing the whole verb line with the ERASE EOF key and pressing the ENTER key.
  • You can enter 64-bit addresses if the argument is already a 64-bit address, including addresses with an underscore in the middle, for example AAAAAAAABBBBBBBB or AAAAAAAA_BBBBBBBB.
When you type over a field that represents a data area in your program, the change is made directly in application program storage and is permanent. However, if you change a field that represents a constant (a program literal), program storage is not changed, because this change might affect other parts of the program that use the same constant, or other tasks using the program. The command is executed with the changed data, but when the command is displayed after processing, the original argument values reappear. For example, you might test a program that contains the following code: 
EXEC CICS SEND MAP('MENU') END-EXEC.

If you use EDF to change the name from MENU to MENU2 before you run the command, the map used is MENU2, but the map displayed on the response is MENU. You can use the previous display key to verify that the map name you used. If you process the same command more than once, you must enter this type of change each time.