Using QMF


Prompted query panels

Figure 22 shows the Prompted Query panel while a query is being built. Each area marked by a number in the figure is described in the list that follows.

Figure 22. Building a prompted query

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| PROMPTED QUERY (1)                              (3)  MODIFIED  LINE    1       |
|                                                   +-------------------------+  |
|   Tables:                                         |    (4)  Specify         |  |
|     Q.STAFF                                       |                         |  |
|                                              (5)  | Select an item.         |  |
|   Columns:          (2)                           |                         |  |
|     NAME                                     (6)  | 3 1. Tables...          |  |
|     DEPT                                          |   2. Columns...         |  |
|     SALARY+COMM                              (7)  |   3. Row Conditions...  |  |
|                                                   |   4. Sort...            |  |
|   *** END ***                                     |   5. Duplicate Rows...  |  |
|                                                   +-------------------------+  |
|                                              (8)  | F1=Help  F12=Cancel     |  |
|                                                   +-------------------------+  |
|                                                                                |
|                                                                                |
|                                                                                |
|                                                                                |
|                                                                                |
|                                                                                |
|                                                                                |
|                                                                                |
|                                                                                |
| OK, ENTER performed. Please proceed. (9)                                       |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

(1)
The name of the main panel. When you are using Prompted Query, this always says PROMPTED QUERY.

(2)
The echo area. All of the information that you specify in dialog panels is shown in the echo area.

(3)
This area shows whether the screen you are looking at was changed in some way. If you have not made any changes, the word MODIFIED does not appear. The panel shows a line number that indicates the first line of the query that appears on the panel. When you scroll forward, the line number changes.

(4)
The Specify panel is a dialog panel. You use different dialog panels to specify different kinds of information.

(5)
This field shows instructions that tell you what kind of information you can specify on this dialog panel, and how you can specify it.

(6)
This is the area where you specify your choice. Different types of dialog panels have different ways to specify items. This dialog panel shows that your next item is 3. Row Conditions.

(7)
This field shows the list of items you can choose from. You sometimes have to scroll forward to see all of the items on a list.

(8)
This field shows the active function keys. You can use the function keys to issue certain commands, such as for scrolling or getting help.

(9)
The message line. Whenever you issue a command in QMF, the message line indicates whether your command was successful.

Figure 23 shows the main Prompted Query panel after the query is built.

Figure 23. The built query

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| PROMPTED QUERY (1)      QMFUSER.MYQUERY (2)             (3)  MODIFIED  LINE    |
|                                                                                |
|   Tables:                                                                      |
|     Q.STAFF                                                                    |
|                                                                                |
|   Columns:                                                                     |
|     NAME                                                                       |
|     DEPT                                                                       |
|     SALARY+COMM                    (4)                                         |
|                                                                                |
|   Row Conditions:                                                              |
|     If JOB Is Equal To 'CLERK'                                                 |
|                                                                                |
|   Sort:                                                                        |
|     Ascending by DEPT                                                          |
|                                                                                |
|   *** END ***      (5)                                                         |
|                                                                                |
|                                                                                |
|                                                                                |
| 1=Help       2=Run        3=End         4=Show SQL  5=            6=Specify  (6)(7)                              SCROLL ===> PAGE (8)             |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

(1)
The name of the panel.

(2)
The name of a saved query. If you saved a prompted query in the database, it has a two-part name: the user identification of the person who saved the query, and the name you gave the query when you saved it, separated by a period.

(3)
This shows that the panel was changed.

(4)
This is the echo area. Now it shows the completed query that was built using the dialog panels.

(5)
The word END means that there is no more information to look at. If END does not appear, you can scroll forward to look at the rest of your query.

(6)
This field shows the active function keys. QMF assigns commonly-used commands to function keys. Instead of typing a command, you can just press the numbered function key with that label. Your function keys might have different commands assigned to them than the ones that are shown in the figure. The functions of the keys depend on the assignments your QMF administrator makes.

(7)
This is the command line. Whenever you see COMMAND ===>, you can enter a QMF command.

(8)
This is the scroll indicator. It shows how many lines QMF scrolls when you enter a forward or backward command.

Rules for using Prompted Query: Here are some general rules for using Prompted Query:


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