Advanced Entity Properties: General

Use the following options to configure advanced settings for the selected entity:

Event Handler

Use the options below to create, edit, attach, and view properties of an entity event handler, which can include the events described here.

Click this button to create a new event handler for the entity. Select an existing entity event handler from the list. The selected event handler is attached to the entity when you click OK.

Click the Edit button to open the event handler in your default editor.

Click the Properties button to view event handler properties.

Immediate arrival processing

This option is available when you have an event handler attached to the current entity. When available, it is disabled by default.

When immediate arrival processing is disabled, the entity arrival event for this entity is not fired while any active command list (for example, an operation) is active. All synchronization commands in the operation will first be completed so that the event handler has all patterns, attributes, and recordsets within the entity available for use.

When immediate arrival processing is enabled, an entity arrival event is fired as soon as the patterns used to recognize the entity are found and the entity is validated. An entity arrival event can start before any other commands (such as "wait" commands for synchronization) have been completed. Enable this option if you want to handle this entity as a notification or an error message, dismissing it as a "pop-up" that might prevent an operation from reaching its destination entity.

Note: This setting depends on error entity handling that changed in the 5.5 release. If you created the model in a release earlier than 5.5, the error entity compatibility setting may still be set to retain the behavior of the previous release. The immediate arrival processing setting is not available if the compatibility setting is enabled. Change the compatibility setting from Yes to No if you want to take advantage of the immediate arrival processing option for an entity event handler.

Entity description

Type a description of the selected entity. This data is included in Web Builder projects or any documentation generated using Export options. In the sample models provided with the Design Tool, a description is provided for all preconfigured operations.

Interacting with Host Application

Configure host application interaction properties for the selected entity with the following options:

Hidden—Select this check box to disable this entity from being used with a Host Integrator connector.
Cache all attribute writes—Select this option to create a temporary storage area for data assigned to attributes. When data is assigned to an attribute from within the Design Tool or from a Host Integrator connector, it will be stored in this area rather than written directly to the terminal (the default). In an operation, attribute data can be assigned using write commands such as DefaultValue and TransmitToAttr or WriteVarToAttr. When using a Host Integrator connector, attribute data is assigned with methods such as SetAttributes. When Cache all attribute writes is selected, the attribute data assigned by the Design Tool or the Host Integrator connector is temporarily stored until an operation issues an UpdateAttribute or UpdateAttributes command to write the stored data to the terminal screen. Alternatively, an operation can call UpdateAttribute for each attribute in the desired order, inserting other commands in between as needed to modify cursor positioning, synchronize with the host state, or meet any other requirements for the operation.
Notes:
- By default, an UpdateAttributes command will be inserted in each generated operation when Cache all attribute writes is selected.
- This feature is specifically designed for character mode applications as a solution for managing the order of screen updates. When attribute data assignments are arbitrarily mixed between an operation and a Host Integrator connector API, the order in which data is actually written to the terminal can be important to the host application.
"Keep Alive" operation—Select a keep alive operation to execute on the host when an active session on the Host Integrator Server is not in use. This operation is executed periodically when the host session is idle to prevent the session from being disconnected from the host prematurely. Use the Default "Keep Alive" inactivity timeout option on the Model Properties dialog box to specify how long to allow a session to be inactive before executing the keep alive operation.

Note: On the Host Integrator Server, you can create a pool of sessions that remain at their home entity and wait for a user to connect to them. When a session is in that state, the host may disconnect it due to inactivity. The Design Tool provides the user with the ability to define an operation that performs a command that stays within the same entity but generates communication with the host (for example, you can send an Aid key to a mainframe, or you can send a space/backspace combination to a host with VT emulation). This ensures that the session is not disconnected due to inactivity.

Buttons

The following buttons are also available:

Close—Click to close this dialog box. If you have made changes, click Apply after exiting the dialog box.

Revert—Click to restore the previously saved values in this dialog box.

Help—Click to view the online help for this dialog box.