Using Templates

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Libero
Version 2.32

Using Templates

The standard Libero schemas support templates. This just means that you can build a library of code that the generator will pull-in whenever you use it in a dialog.

For example, let's say that you are working in a COBOL application where a lot of programs need to do the same work in Initialise-The-Program:

    MOVE LINKAGE-BLOCK TO OWN-LINKAGE-BLOCK
    PERFORM CHECK-LINKAGE-VALUES
    IF CURRENT-LANGUAGE = SPACES
        MOVE "ENGLISH" TO CURRENT-LANGUAGE

You can either:

Retype or copy this code into each new program you create. This is extra effort for nothing.
Modify the standard schema. This is also extra effort, not today, but when the next release of Libero comes around.
Use a COPY book (an included file) for the common code. This is okay if the code is regularly changed, or large. For many small pieces of code you just get a terrible burden of managing lots of these COPY books.
Use a template. Of course, this is the way to do it.

Let's say you make a file called TEMPLATE.cob. This looks like this:

<Initialise-The-Program>
    MOVE LINKAGE-BLOCK TO OWN-LINKAGE-BLOCK
    PERFORM CHECK-LINKAGE-VALUES
    IF CURRENT-LANGUAGE = SPACES
        MOVE "ENGLISH" TO CURRENT-LANGUAGE
<END>

Now, when you build a new program, Libero magically includes this code in the INITIALISE-THE-PROGRAM section. This is how templates work:

Each schema looks for a template file with the same extension as the schema. If the template file does not exist, this is okay.
The schema 'pulls in' code at various points. Again, if it cannot find the code it's looking for, that is okay.
Each section in the template starts with a keyword between "<" and ">" and ends in "<END>". The schemas define a number of standard section keywords: "<HEADER>" and "<DATA>", plus one section per module.
The keywords are case-sensitive. >Get-next-token> is not the same as >Get-Next-Token>. The second form is correct; the first will not work.
The template can be in the current directory, or on the path.

The file template provides an example that you can use for your own templates.