CHCAVAIL (Choice Color/Display Attribute when Available) keyword for display files

You use this field-level keyword to specify the color or display attributes to be used when the system is displaying the available choices in a menu bar, push button, selection field, or subfile single-choice or multiple-choice selection list.

The format of the keyword is:

CHCAVAIL([color] [display-attributes])

One parameter must be specified.

The color parameter indicates the color of the choice text for a field on a color workstation. The choice text can be specified on the following keywords:

MNUBARCHC
CHOICE
PSHBTNCHC

The choice text can also come from the text displayed for a subfile used as a single choice or multiple choice selection list. The parameter is specified as an expression of the form (*COLOR value).

The valid values for the color parameter are:

Value: Meaning
BLU: Blue
GRN: Green
PNK: Pink
RED: Red
TRQ: Turquoise
YLW: Yellow
WHT: White

If the color parameter is not specified, the default color for the available choices in a menu bar is green. The default color for the available choices in a selection field is green. This parameter is ignored on a monochrome workstation.

The display-attribute parameter indicates the display attributes of the choice text specified on the MNUBARCHC or CHOICE keyword for the field. The parameter is specified as an expression of the form (*DSPATR value1 <value2 <value3...>>).

The valid values for the display attributes are:

Value: Meaning
BL: Blink
CS: Column separator
HI: High intensity
ND: Nondisplay
RI: Reverse image
UL: Underline

The default display attribute in a menu bar is high intensity. The default display attribute in a selection field is normal (or low) intensity.

Note: Display attributes CS, HI, and BL can cause fields on 5292, 3179, 3197 Models C1 and C2, 3477 Model FC, 3486, 3487 Model HC, and 3488¹ workstations to appear as color fields. Separator lines do not appear when display attributes HI, RI, and UL are used.

The CHCAVAIL keyword is allowed on a field only if the field has one or more PSHBTNCHC, CHOICE, or MNUBARCHC keywords. It is also allowed on a subfile control record if the subfile control record uses either the SFLSNGCHC or SFLMLTCHC keywords.

Option indicators are valid for this keyword.

Example 1

The following example shows how to specify the CHCAVAIL keyword. In the example, the choices in the menu bar, if available, are displayed in yellow on a color display. For a monochrome display, the menu bar is the default color (green) at high intensity.

|....+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7....+....8
      A
      A          R RECORD                    MNUBAR
      A            F1             2Y 0B  1  2
      A                                      MNUBARCHC(1 PULLFILE 'File        ')
      A                                      MNUBARCHC(2 PULLEDIT 'Edit        ')
      A                                      CHCAVAIL((*COLOR YLW))
      A

Example 2

In the following example, the available choices for the selection field are displayed with underlines.

|...+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7....+....8
     A
     A          R RECORD
     A            F1             2Y 0B  2  5SNGCHCFLD CHECK(ER)
     A                                      CHOICE(1 'Choice number 1')
     A                                      CHOICE(2 'Choice number 2')
     A                                      CHCCTL(1 &CHCCTL1);
     A                                      CHCCTL(2 &CHCCTL2);
     A                                      CHCAVAIL((*DSPATR UL))
     A

Example 3

In the following example, the single choice selection list is displayed in yellow on a color display. The available choices are also underlined.

|...+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7....+....8
     A          R SFLREC                    SFL
     A            CTLFLD         1Y 0H      SFLCHCCTL
     A          R SFLCTLRCD                 SFLCTL(SFLREC)
     A                                      SFLSNGCHC
     A                                          :
     A                                          :
     A                                      CHOICE(1 'Choice number 1')
     A                                          :
     A                                          :
     A                                      CHOICE(2 'Choice number 2')
     A                                          :
     A                                          :
     A                                      CHCAVAIL((*DSPATR UL))
     A                                      CHCAVAIL((*COLOR YLW))

¹ Dependent on the monitor attached to the display device.