Defining selection fields

Selection fields allow the user to select from a group of choices on an application panel. You can specify if only one choice can be selected from a selection field, or if multiple choices are allowed.

In either case, you use the same DTL tags to define a selection field. The SELFLD (selection field) tag and its required end tag define a selection field. The CHOICE (selection choice) tag defines a choice within a selection field. You code the CHOICE tags between the SELFLD start and end tags, like this:

<selfld>
  <choice>
  <choice>
  <choice>
</selfld>

Each CHOICE tag defines a choice within the selection field.

Like data fields, selection fields support field prompts, which can be placed in front of or above the selection field. Field prompts are described in Field prompts.

To define the selection field type use the TYPE attribute of the SELFLD tag. The values you can assign to TYPE are:

SINGLE: Specifies the selection field as being a single-choice field. Choices in a single-choice selection field appear in a list with an entry field preceding the first choice in the list. The conversion utility prefixes the text of each choice with a number, so the selection field choices are numbered sequentially. Users indicate choice selection by typing the number of the choice they want in the entry field.
MULTI: Specifies the selection field as being a multiple-choice field. Choices in a multiple-choice selection field appear in a list with a single-character entry field preceding each choice. Users indicate choice selection by typing any nonblank character in the entry fields.
MENU: Specifies the selection field as being a menu-choice field. Choices in a menu-choice selection field are similar to those in a single-choice selection field. TYPE=MENU is valid only when the MENU keyword has been specified on the PANEL tag.
MODEL: Specifies the selection field as being a model-choice field. Choices in a model-choice selection field are similar to those in a menu-choice selection field. TYPE=MODEL is valid only when the MENU keyword has been specified on the PANEL tag.
TUTOR: Specifies the selection field as being a tutor-choice field. Choices in a tutor-choice selection field are similar to those in a menu-choice selection field. TYPE=TUTOR is valid only when the MENU keyword has been specified on the PANEL tag.

The CHOICE tag has two attributes associated with it that are important when defining a selection field: CHECKVAR and MATCH. The CHECKVAR and MATCH attributes are used to preselect choices in the selection field. The CHECKVAR attribute can also communicate to the application which selections were made by the user.

The value specified on the CHECKVAR attribute is the name of a dialog variable that is defined by the application. Both the application and ISPF can set the check variable. Here are topics that describe how the CHECKVAR and MATCH attributes are used for each type of selection field.