fmli(1)

fmli -- invoke FMLI

Synopsis

fmli [-a alias_file] [-c command_file] [-i initialization_file] file . . .

Description

The fmli command invokes the Form and Menu Language Interpreter and opens the frame(s) specified by the file argument. The file argument is the pathname of the initial frame definition file(s), and must follow the naming convention Menu.xxx, Form.xxx or Text.xxx for a menu, form or text frame respectively, where xxx is any string that conforms to UNIX system file naming conventions. The FMLI descriptor lifetime will be ignored for all frames opened by argument to fmli. These frames have a lifetime of immortal by default.

The available options are as follows:

-a

If -a is specified, alias_file is the name of a file which contains lines of the form alias= pathname. Thereafter, $ alias can be used in definition files to simplify references to objects or devices with lengthy pathnames, or to define a search path (similar to $PATH in the UNIX system shell).

-c

If -c is specified, command_file is the name of a file in which default FMLI commands can be disabled, and new application-specific commands can be defined. The contents of command_file are reflected in the FMLI Command Menu.

-i

If -i is specified, initialization_file is the name of a file in which the following characteristics of the application as a whole can be specified:

A transient introductory frame displaying product information
A banner, its position, and other elements of the banner line
Color attributes for all elements of the screen
Screen Labeled Keys (SLKs) and their layout on the screen.

Environment variables

LOADPFK

When this variable is set to yes, true, or the null string, it directs FMLI to download alternative keystroke sequences into the function keys of terminals that do not have fixed, preset values for them.

COLUMNS

Can be used to override the width of the logical screen defined for the terminal set in TERM. For terminals with a 132-column mode, for example, invoking FMLI with the line

   COLUMNS=132 fmli frame-file

will allow this wider screen width to be used.

LINES

Can be used to override the length of the logical screen defined for the terminal set in TERM.

LANG

Can be used to obtain FMLI messages in a certain language. The default setting of LANG (LANG=C) makes FMLI output messages in English.

Examples

To invoke fmli:

fmli Menu.start

where Menu.start is an example of file named according to the file name conventions for menu definition files explained above.

To invoke fmli and name an initialization file:

fmli -i init.myapp Menu.start

where init.myapp is an example of initialization_file.

Diagnostics

If file is not supplied to the fmli command, fmli returns the message:

Initial object must be specified.

If file does not exist or is not readable, fmli returns an error message and exits. The example command line above returns the following message and exits:

Can't open object "Menu.start"

If file exists, but does not start with one of the three correct object names (Menu., Form., or Text.) or if it is named correctly but does not contain the proper data, fmli starts to build the screen by putting out the screen labels for function keys, after which it flashes the message:

I do not recognize that kind of object

and then exits.

Files

/usr/bin/fmli

References

vsig(1fmli) Character user interface programming in Character user interface programming