In most dialogs several different types of resources can be entered into a resource field:
In many controls where a resource can be entered, there will be a combo field with a small light bulb icon visible to the top left while the field is in focus, and a Lookup button to the right.
Sample resource entry field |
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In most cases, entering a valid resource value in a field will cause that value to be saved when the dialog or window containing the form is closed. The next time that field is displayed, any previously saved values for that field will be listed as options in the combo box drop down for that field. Saved field values can also be removed by focusing on the item in the list and pressing the Delete key.
The light bulb icon indicates you can press Ctrl+Space to trigger the resource content assist, or resource content proposals. It also means that resource content proposals will be triggered automatically after a delay at certain points:
When the content assist is triggered, a list of resources matching the already entered text will be retrieved.
The list of resources retrieved is often more than that shown; for example, if KEEPER.FM.E is entered and content assist is manually triggered, all data sets starting with KEEPER.FM. (including, for example, KEEPER.FM.AIX.KSDS.SHR3) will be loaded. Thus, for performance reasons, it is recommended to type as much of the resource's name as possible before triggering content assist when dealing with large amounts of data sets.
If nothing has been entered in a resource field when content assist is triggered, all data sets consisting of only a single qualifier will be displayed.
The types of resource which are displayed by the content assist will vary depending on the types of resource allowed in each field.
Content Assist Results |
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The Lookup button shows the Resource Lookup Dialog. This dialog allows quick retrieval of resources from the host and subsequent selection using the full range of filters supported by the various different queries, coupled with on-the-fly filtering of already loaded results.
To use it, enter a partial resource name in the resource field and click on Lookup. The lookup dialog will open, the partial resource name will be entered in the filter field at the top of the dialog, and the matching results will be loaded.
Resource Lookup Dialog |
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The dialog differs from the Resource Content Assist when it comes to data sets in that it defaults to loading only data sets with the specified amount of qualifiers. For example, if the results for KEEPER.FM.L are loaded, KEEPER.FM.LDS will be displayed, KEEPER.FM.GDG will be loaded (but hidden since it doesn't match the entered filter), and KEEPER.FM.PDS.FB will not be loaded. This behaviour can be overridden by using the same syntax as when specifying a data set query: KEEPER.F%.L** would load and display KEEPER.FA.LA2.BA.Z1 if it existed.
The results can be reloaded (for example, after the filter has been changed to something completely different) by pressing the Enter key or by clicking Refresh. If a result has "children" (a PDS or LIBRARY, a HFS directory, or a WebSphere® MQ message queue manager), it can be double clicked on to show those children (the members, files in the directory, or WebSphere® MQ message queues, respectively).
If the Previous (back) button is clicked, the previous set of results will be loaded and displayed, and the filter will be reset to the filter used to load those results initially. This is useful to return to large sets of previous results without having to reload them.
If the Up button is clicked, the next higher level of resources are loaded and displayed. This is roughly equivalent to the "Up" behaviour in conventional file browsers (such as Windows Explorer). For example, if the input KEEPER.FM.L is loaded (i.e. all data sets matching KEEPER.FM.* are loaded, and only those starting with KEEPER.FM.L are being displayed), then clicking Up will change the input to KEEPER.* and load matching data sets.
The New Resource button at the top right of the dialog can be used to invoke the Allocate Wizard for the currently selected resource type.
The OK button will only be enabled when a valid resource (according to the available options at the top of the dialog) is selected; for the sake of convenience it is still possible to list types of resources which are not valid selections (but the OK button will not be enabled when these invalid resources are selected).
There are a number of shortcuts which may be useful: