Distinguishing Between Screens Recognized as the Same

When navigating to each new host screen during design time, Presentation Designer analyzes and compares the format of each screen against the screen recognition rules of all the previously visited screens. Screens that are too similar may be incorrectly identified as the same screen. There must be some difference between host screens that differentiates them programmatically.

This issue can be easily resolved by modifying the screen recognition rules for each. A single difference is all that is required; for example, you could format a string of text as a constant, or change the total count of protected fields.

To distinguish between screens recognized as the same
  1. Open Presentation Designer.

  2. Create or open a project based on an active host session.

  3. Navigate to each of the host screens that are being identified as the same screen.

  4. Compare these screens closely and identify any differences that could be used to differentiate them.

  5. Make a note of the differences you find — you need to create a user field around any area where you observe a difference.

  6. From the Editor pane, select the Customize tab.

  7. In the Project pane, on the Forms page, right-click the name of the host screen for which you want to modify the screen recognition rule, then select Screen Recognition Rule.

    The Screen Recognition Rule editor appears.

  8. Select Show User Fields and Show Host Fields.

    User-defined fields appear framed in light blue (cyan) and host fields appear framed in dark blue on the host screen image.

  9. On the host screen image, click the host field or user field that displays the differences you noted in step 5.

    One or more sub rules identifying this field appear in the 3-column list beneath the host screen image. None of sub rules may be exactly what you need. However, it is easier to edit an existing sub rule to suit your purpose than to create a completely new sub rule.

    Note To make it easier to view the new sub rule(s) you create, you may want to expand the width of the Recommended SubRule column. To do so, drag the dividers between the column headings to resize the columns.
  10. Click the Logic column and select AND or OR from the drop-down list box.

    Your selection determines the way the new sub rule will be added to the screen recognition rule.

  11. In the Append column, select the check box corresponding to the Recommended SubRule that you want to add to the screen recognition rule.

    The selected Recommended SubRule appears in the Edit Screen Recognition Rule text area concatenated to the screen recognition rule.

  12. In the Edit Screen Recognition Rule text area, if required, modify the new sub rule(s) as desired.

    Note Remember that the screen recognition rule must remain a valid logical statement. For specific examples, see Screen Recognition Rule Syntax.
  13. Choose the OK button to save your changes.

    An error message appears if the screen recognition rule is no longer a valid expression. If the screen recognition rule is a valid expression, the Screen Recognition Rule editor closes.
Related Topics
Bullet Adjusting How Screens are Identified, Overview
Bullet Screen Recognition Rule Syntax
Bullet Improving Application Performance, Overview
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