M (Mnemonic)

The M tag defines a single character to be used as a mnemonic selection for action bar or pull-down choices.

Syntax


>>-<M>--mnemonic-character--+------+---------------------------><
                            '-</M>-'

Parameters

mnemonic-character

The single-byte character following the mnemonic start tag specifies the mnemonic for the action bar choice or pull-down choice. The mnemonic-character must be a single-byte alphabetic or numeric character; double-byte characters are not allowed.

If you want the mnemonic to be a character that is not part of the normal choice text, follow the choice text with the mnemonic character specified within parenthesis. This convention is particularly useful when you have a large number of choices, which makes it difficult to choose a unique mnemonic for each choice. For example, if you had the pull-down choice Add, and the characters A and d were already used on other choices in the same pull-down, you could choose another character for your mnemonic:

              <pdc>Add(<m>B)

In this case B becomes the mnemonic for Add. When an alternate mnemonic is specified on a PDC tag, the resulting 3 bytes of text (the “(B)” in this example), are replaced in the description by a variable. The variable is set to blanks or to the 3-byte value depending on the ZGUI variable, thus displaying the mnemonic only in GUI mode.

Comments

Mnemonic characters are supported by ISPF for pull-down choices only when you are running in GUI mode. They are ignored for host display.

Unless you have specified MNEMGEN=NO on the AB tag, the conversion utility automatically selects a mnemonic character for each action bar and pull-down choice for SBCS conversions. The character selected as the mnemonic is the first alphabetic or numeric character in the choice description not previously used as a mnemonic for that set of choices.

Restrictions

When the conversion utility automatically generates mnemonics, the M tag selection is processed first, and if the specified mnemonic is valid, the automatic mnemonic generation is not used for that choice. If the specified mnemonic character is invalid, or a duplicate of a previously used mnemonic character (either specified or automatically selected), a message is issued and an attempt is made to select a different mnemonic character.

When processing DBCS conversions or when MNEMGEN=NO is coded on the AB tag, automatic mnemonic character selection is disabled and mnemonic characters are only specified by the M tag. The use of mnemonics should be consistent for all choices in an action bar or pull-down:

Code the M tag within the text following the ABC and PDC tags.
Each mnemonic chosen must be unique. The conversion utility issues a message and discards duplicate mnemonics.
If mnemonics are used for any action bar or pull-down choice, they should be used for all of the choices. The conversion utility issues a message if any choice in a group does not have a mnemonic.

Processing

None.

Examples

Here is an example where all of the action bar choices and pull-down choices have been coded to show the use of the M tag. Some of the pull-down choices illustrate the use of the optional end tag.

<!DOCTYPE DM SYSTEM(
  <!entity sampvar1 sysem>
  <!entity sampbody system>)>
&sampvar1;

<PANEL NAME=m1 KEYLIST=keylxmp>Library Card Registration
<AB>
<ABC><M>File
  <PDC><M>A</M>dd Entry
    <ACTION RUN=add>
  <PDC><M>D</M>elete Entry
    <ACTION RUN=delete>
  <PDC><M>U</M>pdate Entry
    <ACTION RUN=update>
  <PDC><M>E</M>xit
    <ACTION RUN=exit>
<ABC><M>Search
  <PDC CHECKVAR=whchsrch MATCH=1>Search on <M>n</M>ame
    <ACTION SETVAR=whchsrch VALUE=1>
    <ACTION RUN=search>
  <PDC CHECKVAR=whchsrch MATCH=2>Search on <M>c</M>ard number
    <ACTION SETVAR=whchsrch VALUE=2>
    <ACTION RUN=search>
<ABC><M>Help
  <PDC><M>Extended Help...
    <ACTION RUN=exhelp>
  <PDC><M>Keys Help...
    <ACTION RUN=keyshelp>
</AB>
&sampbody;
</PANEL>