Using Conditional Processing to Set Up the Environment

Setting up the environment consists of selecting a copy group and a page format.

Selecting a Copy Group

Conditional processing can be used to select a copy group; it does not process the copy group.

As described in Using Form Definition Commands, a form definition contains the controls that govern the physical page on which the print file is to be printed. A form definition can contain one or more copy groups as shown in the following diagram.

PPFA Commands	Resulting Form Definition
`FORMDEF FDEFX . . COPYGROUP CGA . . OVERLAY ... SUBGROUP ... . COPYGROUP CGB . . OVERLAY ... SUBGROUP ... COPYGROUP CGC . . OVERLAY ... SUBGROUP ... .`

The first copy group within a form definition is always active when print file processing begins. To select a different copy group, use the CONDITION command.

Note: By using the BEFORE SUBPAGE and BEFORE LINE parameters with conditional processing, you can change to a different active copy group before any lines are formatted.

Using the previous diagram as a reference, assume that copy group CGB is active. The copy-group selections that can be made from a CONDITION command are:

condname: Starts the named copy group.
CURRENT: Restarts copy group CGB.
=: Restarts copy group CGB (alternative for CURRENT).
NEXT: Starts copy group CGC.
FIRST: Starts copy group CGA.
NULL: Does not change the current copy group processing.
/: Does not change the current copy group processing (alternative for NULL).

See Using the CONDITION Command to Select a Copy Group and a Page Format for more information about each option.

Selecting a Page Format

Conditional processing can be used to select an active page format. Selecting the page format does not change the basic rules for processing a page format:

PRINTLINE commands are processed sequentially unless skip-to-channel or spacing commands are used.
When the end of the page format is reached, processing returns to the first PRINTLINE command in the same page format. Processing does not continue with the next page format (if any) in the page definition.

However, conditional processing does involve some additional considerations:

Subpages: A page format consists of one or more subpages. A subpage is defined by a group of PRINTLINE commands followed by an ENDSUBPAGE command. If an ENDSUBPAGE command is not defined, then the entire page format is one subpage. See Subpage Description and Processing for more information.
Record reprocessing: Record reprocessing is used when input records are processed according to one set of copy-group and page-format specifications, and then new specifications are invoked for the same input records. See Record Reprocessing Description and Processing for more information.

As described in Using Page Definition Commands for Traditional Line Data, a page definition is a set of controls for formatting line-data files for printing on a logical page. A page definition can contain one or more page formats as shown in the following diagram.

PPFA Commands	Resulting Page Definition
`PAGEDEF PDEFX . . PAGEFORMAT PFMTA . . PRINTLINE ... PRINTLINE ... . PAGEFORMAT PFMTB . . PRINTLINE ... PRINTLINE ... . PAGEFORMAT PFMTC . . PRINTLINE ... PRINTLINE ... .`

The first page format in the page definition is always active when print file processing begins. To invoke a new page format, use the CONDITION command.

Note: By using the BEFORE SUBPAGE and BEFORE LINE parameters, it is possible to change to a different active page format before any lines are formatted.

Using the previous diagram as a reference, assume that page format PFMTB is active. The page-format selections that can be made from a CONDITION command are:

condname: Starts the named page format.
CURRENT: Restarts page format PFMTB.
=: Restarts page format PFMTB (alternative for CURRENT).
NEXT: Starts page format PFMTC.
FIRST: Starts page format PFMTA.
NULL: Does not change the current page format processing.
/: Does not change the current page format processing (alternative for NULL).

See Using the CONDITION Command to Select a Copy Group and a Page Format for more information about each option.