All data entry screens in STARSol are all defined externally in plain ASCII text file. This is achieved by The Dynamic Screen Formatting library. This library allows the programmer to define all entry screens and report format outside of the program, in a text based screen file. Taking all screen input and text output positioning specific information out of the program code. All the application program needs to do is read the screen file at the start of the program and the screen library will dynamically allocate internal structures to represent the screen.

Example:

     ~              *** [   ] VARIANCE GROUP MAINTENANCE ***              ~

     VARIANCE GROUP: _____

          ADD: _______________________    MOD: _______________________
        LABEL: ____  DESCRIPTION: ______________________________  ACTIVE: _
     COMMENTS: ___________________________________________________________\_

                    ~VARI  DESCRIPTION                    A~

                     ____  ______________________________ _
END
NEW SCREEN
MAXITABLE=40
MAXOTABLE=43
MAXDETAIL=5000
MDTSTRUCT=mdtvrg1
COMMENT=22
BD|004|02|077|10|-1|6100
HV|004|06|077|05|-1|4900|VARGNOTEIND    |
hS|021|12|060|13|-1|4900
C |021|13|060|23|16|2300
OMAP
000|000|00000|+04|-1|VARGTITLE      |
IMAP
000|005|00000|-1|-1|VARGVARGCODE   |xvargh.vrg1code   |L/Enter Size Group Code
000|023|00128|08|-1|VARGADD_DTTM   |xvargh.add_dt     |t^Y:3
000|023|00128|08|-1|VARGMOD_DTTM   |xvargh.mod_dt     |t^Y:3
HDRSTRT
000|004|00000|-1|-1|VARGVARG_LBL   |xvargh.vrg1_lbl   |L/Enter Variance Group label
000|030|00000|-1|-1|VARGVARGDESC   |xvargh.vrg1desc   |L/Enter Variance Group Description
000|001|00002|-1|-1|VARGACTIVE     |xvargh.active     |L|YN/Enter [Y]es if Active or [N]o if not
000|060|00000|-1|-1|VARGCOMMENT    |xvargh.comment    |L/Enter Comments
000|000|00128|-1|-1|VARGGETCMMD    |                  |L
HDREND
DTSTRT
000|004|00000|-1|-1|VARGVAR1CODE   |xvargd.var1code   |L/Enter Variance Code
000|030|00000|-1|-1|VARGVAR1DESC   |xvargd.var1desc   |L/Enter Variance Description, limit to 6 characters if possible
000|001|00000|-1|-1|VARGDACTIVE    |xvargd.active     |L|YN/Enter the [Y]es if Active or [N]o if not
DTEND

Results in the following entry screen:

 SCANMODE: F1=EDIT F2=ADD sF2=INSERT F3=SAVE F5=DELETE F4=EXIT
   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                *** [SSI] VARIANCE GROUP MAINTENANCE ***                |
   |                                                                        |
   | VARIANCE GROUP: COLOR                                                  |
   +----------------------------------------------------------------[help]--+
   |      ADD: 1999-12-19 13:38:30.560    MOD: 2000-02-06 22:05:05.021      |
   |    LABEL: COLR  DESCRIPTION: COLORS                          ACTIVE: Y |
   | COMMENTS:                                                              |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                     VARI  DESCRIPTION                    A
                    ----------------------------------------
                    [ABBL  A. BLACK BLUE                  Y]
                     ABRN  A. BROWN                       Y
                     ANAV  A.NAVY                         Y
                     ACID  ACID                           Y
                     ABLK  ACID BLACK                     Y
                     ACIB  ACID BLUE                      Y
                     AGRY  ACID GRAY                      Y
                     ACNV  ACID NAVY                      Y
                     ACRB  ACID ROYAL BLUE                Y
                     ACBL  ACTIVE BLUE                    Y

So any changes to the field position, label or description can be done without having to recompile the program. No messy hardcoded GOTOXY calls in the programs.