IBI WebFOCUS - Testing and Debugging in WebFOCUS codes

You can debug a Web FOCUS application by querying your environment to display information such as file status, release, server information, and joins, as well as by identifying files you are using.
Other debugging methods are available in Web FOCUS, including specialized Dialogue Manager Variables and traces performed from the Web Console.

Debugging Your Application with Query Commands
You can use query commands to display information about your metadata, data sources, language environment, Developer Studio, and Web FOCUS. This is useful for determining any aspects of your application that may be preventing the proper behavior of your application. You can query your environment with a query command executed in Developer Studio or Web FOCUS.
The result of a query command is returned in your browser window or as a comment in the HTML file. Use the applicable Web browser functions to view the HTML comments (for example, View Source in Microsoft Internet Explorer).

How to Issue a Query Command

Syntax: The syntax of query command is given as:

? Query [Filename]

Where:

Query --> is the subject of the query command.

Filename --> is the name of the file that is the subject of the query. This parameter applies to only some queries.

To list the query commands, type a question mark in a procedure.
The following is a list of query commands.

Query Command	Description
? COMBINE	Displays a list of combined file structures.
? DEFINE	Displays currently active virtual fields created by the DEFINE command or attribute.
? SET EUROFILE	Lists fields currently available to you.
?F	Lists fields currently available.
? FDT	Displays physical attributes of a FOCUS data source.
?FF	Lists field names, aliases, and format information for an active Master File.
? FILE	Displays the number of segment instances in a FOCUS data source and the last time the data sources was changed.
? FILEDEF	Displays the current ddnames assigned by the FILEDEF command.
? FUNCTION	Displays functions created with the DEFINE command.
? HOLD	Displays fields described in a HOLD Master File.
? JOIN	Displays JOIN structures that exist between data sources.
? LANG	Displays information about National Language Support.
? MDI	Generates statistics and descriptions for multi-dimensional indexes.
? n	Displays an explanation of an error message (n represents the number of the error message).
? PATH	Displays the current search path.
? RELEASE	Displays the release number of your product.
? REMOTE	Displays the values of the remote servers.
? SET	Displays parameter settings that control Developer Studio and WebFOCUS.
? SET BY CATEGORY	Displays parameter settings categorized into functional areas.
? SET GRAPH	Displays parameter settings that control graphs produced with the GRAPH command.
? SET NOT	Produces a list of SET commands that cannot be set in a specific area.
? SITECODE	Retrieves the site code of the connected server.
? STAT	Displays statistics about the last command executed.
? STYLE	Displays the current settings for Style Sheet parameters.
? SU	Is communication available to the SU machine.
? USE	Displays data sources specified with the USE command.
? &&	Displays values of global variables.

Displaying Combined Structures:  The “? COMBINE” command displays files that are in the current combined structures.

Syntax:

? COMBINE [Filename]

Where:

Filename is the data source containing the virtual fields. If filename is omitted, the command displays all virtual fields.

Example:

Issuing the command

? COMBINE

Produces information similar to the following:

FILE=EMPLJOB COMBINED FROM

   EMPLOYEE

   JOBFILE

Displaying Virtual Fields: The? DEFINE command lists the active virtual fields used in a request. The fields can be created by either the DEFINE command or DEFINE attribute in the Master File. The command displays field names of up to 32 characters. If a name exceeds 32 characters, a symbol in the 32nd position indicates a longer field name. In WebFOCUS this symbol is an ampersand (&), and in Developer Studio this symbol is a caret (>).

Syntax:

? DEFINE [Filename]

Where:

Filename is the data source containing the virtual fields. If filename is omitted, the command displays all virtual fields.

Example:

Assume that you created a virtual field named NEW_DATE in a request against the EMPLOYEE database.

Issuing the command

? DEFINE

Produces the following information:

FILE        FIELD NAME                FORMAT    SEGMENT    VIEW    TYPE

EMPLOYEE    NEW_DATE                  YYMD            2

The following information is listed for each virtual field created with DEFINE:

Option	Description
FILE	Is the name of the data source containing the virtual field.
FIELD NAME	Is the name of the virtual field.
FORMAT	Is the format of the virtual field. The notation is the same as that used for the FORMAT attribute in a Master File.
SEGMENT	Is the number of the segment in the Master File containing the virtual field. During reporting, your application treats the virtual field as a field in this segment. To relate segment numbers to segment names, use ? FDT.
VIEW	Is the root segment of DEFINE that specifies an alternate view. For example: DEFINE FILE EMPLOYEE.JOBCODE
TYPE	Indicates whether the virtual field is created by the DEFINE attribute in the Master File, or by a DEFINE command, identified by MASTER or a blank, respectively.

Displaying Available Fields: The? F command displays the fields that are currently available. ? F displays entire 66 character field names.

Syntax:

? F Filename

Where:

Filename is the name of a data source.

Example:

Issuing the command

? F EMPLOYEE

Produces the following information:

FILENAME = EMPLOYEE 

EMP_INFO.EMP_ID         LAST_NAME      FIRST_NAME     HIRE_DATE

DEPARTMENT   CURR_SAL    CURR_JOBCODE   ED_HRS 

BANK_NAME   BANK_CODE   BANK_ACCT      EFFECT_DATE

DAT_INC     PCT_INC     SALARY         PAYINFO.JOBCODE 

TYPE        ADDRESS_LN1 ADDRESS_LN2    ADDRESS_LN3    ACCTNUMBER 

PAY_DATE    GROSS 

DED_CODE    DED_AMT 

JOBSEG.JOBCODE          JOB_DESC 

SEC_CLEAR 

SKILLS      SKILLS_DESC 

DATE_ATTEND ATTENDSEG.EMP_ID 

COURSE_CODE COURSE_NAME

Displaying Field Information for a Master File: The? FF command displays field names, aliases, and format information for an active Master File.

Syntax:

?FF Filename [String]

Where:

Filename

Is the name of the Master File.

String

Is a character string up to 66 characters long. The command displays information only for fields beginning with the specified character string. If you omit this parameter, the command displays information for all fields in the Master File.

Example:

Issuing the command

? FF EMPLOYEE

Produces the following information:

FILENAME= EMPLOYEE  

EMPINFO.EMP_INFO   EMPINFO.EID    A9

LAST_NAME          LN             A15

FIRST_NAME         FN             A10

HIRE_DATE          HDT            16YMD

DEPARTMENT         DPT            A10

CURR_SAL           CSAL           D12.2M

CURR_JOBCODE       CJC            A3

ED_HRS             OJT            F6.2 

BANK_NAME          BN             A20

BANK_CODE          BC             I6S

BANK_ACCT          BA             I9S

EFFECT_DATE        EDATE          16YMD

Displaying Data Source Statistics: The? FILE command displays information such as the number of segment instances in a FOCUS data source and when the data source was last changed.

Syntax:

? FILE Filename

Where:

Filename

Is the name of the data source.

Example:

Issuing the command

? FILE EMPLOYEE

Produces statistics similar to the following:

    STATUS OF FOCUS FILE: D:\ibi\apps\...\employee.foc ON 07/14/2000 AT 14.59.14

              ACTIVE  DELETED    DATE OF     TIME OF      LAST TRANS

SEGNAME       COUNT   COUNT      LAST CHG    LAST CHG       NUMBER 

EMPINFO           12             06/14/2000  11.04.01          

FUNDTRAN           6             03/31/2000  11.16.15          6

PAYINFO           19             06/05/2000  16.07.49         

ADDRESS           21             03/31/2000  11.16.15         21

SALINFO           70             03/31/2000  11.16.16        448

DEDUCT           448             03/31/2000  11.16.16        448

TOTAL SEGS       576

TOTAL CHARS     8984

TOTAL PAGES        8

LAST CHANGE                      06/14/2000  11.01.01 

The following data source statistics are listed:

SEGNAME	Is the name of each segment in the data source. After the segments, the indexes are listed, if applicable. Indexes are those fields specified by the attribute FIELDTYPE=I in the Master File.
ACTIVE COUNT	Is the number of instances of each segment.
DELETED COUNT	Is the number of segment instances deleted, for which the space is not reused.
DATE OF LAST CHG	Is the date on which data in a segment instance or index was last changed.
TIME OF LAST CHG	Is the time of day, on a 24-hour clock, when the file's last update was made for that segment or index.
LAST TRANS NUMBER	Is the number of transactions performed by the last update request to access the segment. If the data source was changed under Simultaneous Usage mode, this column refers to the REF NUMB column of the CR HLIPRINT file.
TOTAL SEGS	Is the total number of segment instances in the file (shown under ACTIVE COUNT), and the number of segments deleted when the file was last changed (shown under DELETED COUNT).
TOTAL CHARS	Is the number of characters of data in the file.
TOTAL PAGES	Is the number of pages in the data source. Pages are physical records in FOCUS data sources.
LAST CHANGE	Is the date and time the data source was last changed.

If a data source is disorganized by more than 29%, that is, the physical placement of data in the data source is considerably different from its logical or apparent placement, the following message appears

FILE APPEARS TO NEED THE -REBUILD- UTILITY

REORG PERCENT IS A MEASURE OF FILE DISORGANIZATION

0 PCT IS PERFECT -- 100 PCT IS BAD

REORG PERCENT IS x%

Where:

x

Is a percentage between 30 and 100.

The variable &FOCDISORG also indicates the level of disorganization. Following is an example of how to use &FOCDISORG in a Dialogue Manager -TYPE command:

-TYPE THE AMOUNT OF DISORGANIZATION OF THIS FILE IS: &FOCDISORG

This command, depending on the amount of disorganization, produces a message similar to the following:

THE AMOUNT OF DISORGANIZATION OF THIS FILE IS: 10

When using a -TYPE command with &FOCDISORG, a message is displayed even if the percentage of disorganization is less than 30%.

Displaying Defined Functions: The ? FUNCTION command displays all defined functions and the parameters.

Syntax:

To display defined functions, issue the command:

? FUNCTION

Example:

Issuing the command

? FUNCTION

Produces information similar to the following:

FUNCTIONS CURRENTLY ACTIVE  

Name       Format    Parameter      Format   

SUBTRACT   D8.2      VAL1           D8

                     VAL2           D8

Displaying HOLD Fields: The ? HOLD command lists fields described in a Master File created by the ON TABLE HOLD command. The list displays the field names, the aliases, and the formats as defined by the FORMAT (USAGE) attribute. The ? HOLD command displays field names up to 32 characters. If a field name exceeds 32 characters, a symbol in the 32nd position indicates a longer field name. In WebFOCUS, this symbol is an ampersand, and in Developer Studio the symbol is a caret (>).
The ? HOLD command displays fields of a HOLD Master File created by the current request.

Syntax:

? HOLD [Filename]

Where:

Filename

Is the name assigned in the AS phrase in the ON TABLE HOLD command. If you omit the file name, it defaults to HOLD.

Example:

Issuing the command

? HOLD

Produces information similar to the following:

DEFINITION OF HOLD FILE

FIELDNAME                         ALIAS       FORMAT 

LAST_NAME                         E01         A15

FIRST_NAME                        E02         A10

Displaying JOIN Structures: The ? JOIN command lists the JOIN structures currently in effect. The command displays field names up to 12 characters. If a field name exceeds 12 characters, a symbol in the twelfth position indicates a longer field name. In WebFOCUS this symbol is an ampersand (&), and in Developer Studio the symbol is a caret (>).

Syntax:

To display JOIN structures, issue the command:

? JOIN

Example:

Issuing the command

? JOIN

Produces information similar to the following:

  JOINS CURRENTLY ACTIVE

HOST                        CROSSREFERENCE

FIELD      FILE      TAG    FIELD      FILE     TAG    AS       ALL  WH

-----      ----      ---    -----      ----     ---    --       ---  --

JOBCODE    EMPLOYEE         JOBCODE    JOBFILE         

The following JOIN information is listed:

HOST FIELD	Is the name of the host field that is joining the data sources.
FILE	Is the name of the host data source.
TAG	Is a tag name used as a unique qualifier for field names in the host data source.
CROSSREFERENCE FIELD	Is the name of the cross-referenced field used to join the data sources.
FILE	Is the name of the cross-referenced data source.
TAG	Is a tag name used as a unique qualifier for field names in the cross-referenced data source.
AS	Is the name of the joined structure.
ALL	Displays Y for a non-unique join and N for a unique join.
WH	Specifies whether the join is a conditional join or an equi-join.

Displaying National Language Support: The ? LANG command displays information about National Language Support.

Syntax:

To display information about National Language Support:

? LANG

Example:

Issuing the command

? LANG

Produces information similar to the following:

        NATIONAL LANGUAGE INFORMATION 

Language                001/AMENGLISH   (   )

Code Page               437

client Code Page        437

Dollar                  24($)

Lowcase alphabet        YES

Decimal notation        OFF(.)

Currency symbol         $

Date/Time format        EDA

NLS sort                NO

NLS upcase/lowcase      NO

DBCS Flag               OFF(SBCS)

Displaying Explanations of Error Messages: The ? n command displays a detailed explanation of an error message, providing assistance in correcting the error.
Error messages generated by certain data adapters, such as the DB2 and MODEL 204 data adapters, are also accessible through this feature.

Syntax:

? N

Where:

N --> Is the error message number.

Example:

If you receive the message

(FOC125) RECAP CALCULATIONS MISSING

Issuing the command

? 125

Produces the following message:

(FOC125) RECAP CALCULATIONS MISSING

The word RECAP is not followed by a calculation. Either the RECAP should be removed, or a calculation provided.

Displaying Parameter Settings: The ? SET command lists the parameter settings that control your Developer Studio and WebFOCUS environments. Your application sets default values for these parameters, but you can change them with the SET command.

Syntax:

? SET [ALL|[FOR] Parameter]

Where:

ALL

Displays all possible parameter settings.

Parameter -->Is a SET parameter. This displays the setting for the specific parameter.

FOR  àIncludes where the parameter can be set from in addition to the parameter setting.

Example:

Issuing the command

? SET ONLINE-FMT

Produces the following if the parameter is set to its default value:

ONLINE-FMT             HTML

Example:

Issuing the command

? SET FOR EXTSORT

Produces the following information:

EXTSORT                   ON

 ------------------------------------------------- 

 SETTABLE FROM COMMAND LINE                  :  YES

 SETTABLE ON TABLE                           :  YES

 SETTABLE FROM SYSTEM-WIDE PROFILE           :  YES

 SETTABLE FROM HLI PROFILE                   :  YES

 POOL TABLE BOUNDARY                         :  YES

Displaying Parameters That Cannot Be Set in an Area: The ? SET NOT command produces a list of SET commands that cannot be set in a specific area. The areas for which you can find this information are the PROMPT command, report requests, the FOCPARM profile, the HLI profile, and Pooled Tables.

Syntax:

? SET NOT Area

Where:

Area

Is one of the following:

PROMPT is the PROMPT command.

ONTABLE is a report request.

FOCPARM is the FOCPARM profile.

HLIPROF is the HLI profile.

PT is in Pooled Tables

Example:

Issuing the command

? SET NOT ONTABLE

Produces the following information:

              NON-SETTABLE ON TABLE PARAMETER SETTINGS

BINS           64     FOC2GIGDB            ON    PRINTPLUS            OFF

BLKCALC        NEW    FOCSTACK SIZE         8    RADIOBUTTON          OFF

BYPANELING     OFF    FORMFEED          ASCII    REBUILDMSG          1000

CACHE            0    HTMLMODE            OFF    SAVEMATRIX           OFF

CGI-RELEASE   5200    IFSORT               ON    SMARTMODE           ????

CODEBASE      ????    LANGUAGE      AMENGLISH    SORTNAME           XSBEG

COLUMNSCROLL  OFF     MAXPOOLMEM         32768   TALKCASE             OFF

DATEDISPLAY   OFF     MDIBINS             8000   TCPIPINT             OFF

DATEFNS        ON     MDIPROGRESS       100000   TEMP DISK D:\ibi\srv7...

DATEFORMAT    MDY     MODE                 CMS   TRMSD                  0

DEFCENT        19     MPRINT               NEW   TRMSW                  0

DEFINES       OLD     NLSCTRL              OFF   TRMTYP          64  64/S

DISTRIBUTE    OFF     POOL                 OFF   WEBHOME              OFF

DISTRICT       ON     POOLBATCH            OFF   WEEKFIRST              7

ERROROUT      OFF     POOLFEATURE          OFF   WIDTH                130

EUROFILE              POOLMEMORY         16384   WINPFKEY             OLD

FIELDNAME     NEW     POOLRESERVE         1024   YRTHRESH               0

Displaying Graph Parameters: The ? SET GRAPH command lists the parameter settings that control graphs produced with the GRAPH command.

Syntax:

To display graph parameters, issue the command:

? SET GRAPH

Example:

Issuing the command

? SET GRAPH

Produces information Related to the settings in graph files. 

Displaying StyleSheet Parameter Settings: The ? STYLE command displays the current settings for StyleSheet parameters.

Syntax:

? [SET] STYLE

Example:

Issuing the command

? STYLE

Produces information similar to the following:

                  STYLESHEET PARAMETER SETTINGS

ONLINE-FMT     HTML

OFFLINE-FMT    STANDARD

STYLESHEET     ON

SQUEEZE        OFF

LABELPROMPT    OFF

STYLEMODE      FULL

ORIENTATION    PORTRAIT

UNITS          INCHES

TOPMARGIN      .250

BOTTOMMARGIN   .250

LEFTMARGIN     .250

RIGHTMARGIN    .250

TARGETFRAME    ????

FOCEXURL       \cgi-bin\ibi_cgi\ibiweb.exe?IBIMR_drill=X,corp/corp.htm

BASEURL        OFF

The following StyleSheet information is listed:

ONLINE-FMT	Is the format of report output. Can produce output as HTML (the default), PDF, Excel 2000, Excel 97, PostScript, or as un-styled character-based output.
OFFLINE-FMT	Is the format of report output. Can produce output as HTML or as un-styled character-based output.
STYLESHEET	Rejects or accepts StyleSheet parameters that specify formatting options such as page size, orientation, and margins.
LABELPROMPT	Specifies on which label of the first page to begin printing a multi-pane report, such as a mailing label report.
STYLEMODE	Speeds the retrieval of large report output by displaying output in multiple HTML tables Where each table is a separate report page.
ORIENTATION	Is the page orientation for styled reports. Can be either portrait or landscape.
UNITS	Is the unit of measure for PostScript and PDF report output, as either inches, centimeters, or points.
TOPMARGIN	Is the top boundary for a page of report output.
BOTTOMMARGIN	Is the bottom boundary for a page of report output.
LEFTMARGIN	Is the left boundary for a page of report output.
RIGHTMARGIN	Is the right boundary for a page of report output.
TARGETFRAME	Is a frame to which all drill-down hyperlinks are directed.
FOCEXURL	Is the location of a procedure and the method used to execute it from the WebFOCUS Client.
BASEURL	Is the default location where the browser searches for relative URLs specified in the HTML documents created by your application.

Displaying Global Variable Values: The ? && command lists Dialogue Manager global variables and the current values. Global variables maintain the values for all procedures executed during a FOCUS session.
Note: You can query all Dialogue Manager variables (local, global, system, and statistical) from a stored procedure by issuing:

-? &

Syntax:

? &&

? %%

Your site may replace the ampersand (& or &&) indicating Dialogue Manager variables, with another symbol. In that case, use the replacement symbol in your query command. For example, if your installation uses the percent sign (%) to indicate Dialogue Manager variables, list global variables by issuing:

? %%

Example:

Issuing the command

? &&

Produces information similar to the following:

 &&CITY      ‘STAMFORD’

&&CODE1      ‘B10’

&&CODE2      ‘B20’

Identifying the Files Being Used: You can debug your application by identifying the files you are using. You can identify the file name and location of a procedure, data source, Master File, Access File, or StyleSheet. WebFOCUS searches on the path of the WebFOCUS Reporting Sever and identifies the file using the WHENCE command.

The maximum length of the file name is 64 characters when using the WHENCE command.

Syntax for the Procedure Being Used

WHENCE Procedure FOCEXEC

Where:

Procedure -->Is a procedure.

Example:

Issuing the command

WHENCE FINANCE FOCEXEC

Produces output similar to the following:

C:\ibi\apps\session\layout.fex 

Syntax for the Data Source Being Used

WHENCE Focusfile FOCUS

Where:

Focusfile -->Is a FOCUS data source.

Example:

Issuing the command

WHENCE CENTINV FOCUS

Produces output similar to the following:

C:\ibi\apps\session\centinv.foc 

Syntax for the Master File Being Used

WHENCE Masterfile MASTER

Where:

Masterfile -->Is a Master File.

Example:

Issuing the command

WHENCE CENTINV MASTER

Produces output similar to the following:

C:\ibi\apps\session\centinv.mas 

Syntax for the Access File Being Used

WHENCE Accessfile ACCESS

Where:

Accessfile -->Is an Access File.

Example:

Issuing the command

WHENCE GKEIVP ACCESS

Produces output similar to the following:

C:\ibi\srv76\home\catalog\gkeivp.acx 

Syntax for the StyleSheet Being Used

WHENCE Stylesheet FOCSTYLE

Where:

Stylesheet -->Is a StyleSheet.

Example:

Issuing the command

WHENCE GGORDERS FOCSTYLE

Produces output similar to the following:

C:\ibi\apps\session\classic.sty