I/O Device Repository (Magic xpa 3.x)
You can access the I/O Device repository by selecting I/O Devices from the Task menu or pressing Ctrl+I.
Magic xpa enables you to define I/O devices. These devices can be used to:
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Import data from external files.
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Output data to a graphic printer, files, etc.
In the I/O Device repository you define all INPUT and OUTPUT devices that can be used for reading or writing during the current task. Each I/O device must be defined before you refer to it in a Form Output or Form Input operation.
To select the Printing Options and Merge properties, select Edit/Properties (Alt+Enter) to open the I/O Properties dialog box.
The I/O Device repository includes the following columns:
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#
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This read-only column contains an automatically generated sequential number used by Magic xpa as an I/O device identifier.
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Name
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A descriptive name that describes the device. The I/O device name in this setting is used for documentation and prompting purposes only. The entered name will be displayed in the printer queue as the document name.
You can use a logical name in this column. This is useful if, for instance, you want to change the name of a document (print spool) that has been sent to the printer. The print spool document name is the same as the I/O name that was set when defining the I/O. You can use the logical name as the I/O name so that the spool name is the same as the logical name value.
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Media
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This column defines the destination for an output device and the source for an input device. To see the available options, click here.
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Printer
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This property is relevant only when you specify the Media column as Printer or Graphic Printer. It refers to one of the logical printers defined in the Printer repository.
The default is the first printer in the Printer repository. To choose another printer, zoom to the Printer list and select the printer you want, or type in the name of the printer.
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Access
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From the Access combo box, select the mode in which you want the device to open. To see the available options, click here.
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Format
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Format defines which control characters are to be automatically written to an output device or are expected in an input device. The available options are:
Page – The 'End of Page' and 'End of Line' control characters are requested for the device. 'End of Page' control characters will appear when a page ends and 'End of Line' control characters will appear for every line.
Line – Only the 'End of Line' control characters are requested for the device. They will appear for every line.
None – No control character is requested for the device.
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Exp/Var
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The selected expression is evaluated to return a source file name or a destination file name. You can use it to define any valid operating system file name.
Optionally you can include server/path to the file name or use a logical name in the expression. In these cases, Magic xpa will read/write according to the specified criteria. The expression is evaluated in the task initialization stage, and cannot change dynamically.
If the Media column is set to Variable, you can select a Blob variable, from the Variable List.
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Print Dialog
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The valid values for the PDlg (for Print dialog box) property are Yes, No (default), or an expression. The PDlg property is relevant only for Media=Graphic Printer. Yes specifies that when the task opens the I/O device, a Windows print dialog box will appear allowing the end user to change print properties. No specifies that a Windows print dialog box will not appear, and that the print properties will be transferred directly to the printer without end-user interaction. The expression allows dynamic selection of the Yes/No setting.
Note: When the user changes the printer in the Print dialog box, that printer will become the default printer for Magic xpa.
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Rows
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Rows defines the number of rows or lines per page (i.e. the number of printed lines between two successive Top of Form control characters) in the output device. The default value depends on the specific printer used (see Printers). The default is equal to 0, which produces an output page of 60 lines, including a 3-line header area and a 3-line footer area.
The default can be changed here, in the Rows property. The default can be changed at runtime by the end user in the I/O Device repository, provided you set the I/O Redirection task property to Yes.
This setting is relevant only for Printer media where Page format output is selected.
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All subtasks, nested to any level, have access to any I/O device defined in their parent tasks. The I/O Device repository of a subtask shows all the I/O devices opened by its ancestors.
All of the values defined for the I/O only affect the opening of the I/O device. Once the device is opened, it will be closed only when leaving the task in which the I/O device is defined.
The Main Program does not have I/Os. The I/O Device repository is therefore disabled for the Main Program.
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Note:
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The I/O Device repository is not available for Rich Client tasks.
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I/O Device Open Timing
Defining Input/Output Files
