Use SessionAlter to alter attributes of the current session. (Use the iSessionAlter command to alter the attributes that will be assigned to new sessions when they are first created.)
SessionAlter may also be entered as SessionAlt[er], SessAlt[er], AlterSess[ion], AltSess[ion], Sess[ion], or Ss.
SessionAlter is often invoked from "Settings, Session" on the "Options" menu.
Optional Operands
ALLOW specifies whether text updates are allowed for the session. ALLOW is relevant only for sessions that are normally updatable, such as Edit sessions. ALLOW provides a mechanism to disable updates for sessions that would otherwise be updatable. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" to allow updates, "Of[f]" or "N[o]" to disallow updates, and "T[oggle]" to toggle the setting.
ALLOWAFT specifies whether the ALLOW attribute (see above) is to be set off during Save operations (see the SessionSave and SessionFile commands). ALLOWAFT is relevant only for sessions that are normally updatable, such as Edit sessions. ALLOWAFT provides a mechanism to cause a session to revert to a protected state (i.e., ALLOW attribute = off) after a Save operation. Sessions created by commands such as FileLibrary are created with ALLOW=off and ALLOWAFT=off. If ALLOW is subsequently set on to allow text to be updated, ALLOW will be automatically set off when the session is saved, thus returning the session to a protected state. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" to cause the ALLOW attribute to be unaffected by Save operations, "Of[f]" or "N[o]" to cause the ALLOW attribute to be set off by Save operations, and "T[oggle]" to toggle the setting.
ALLOWADD specifies whether new lines can be created in the session. ALLOWADD is relevant only for sessions that are normally updatable, such as Edit sessions, and only if the ALLOW attribute is set on. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" to allow line additions, "Of[f]" or "N[o]" to disallow line additions, and "T[oggle]" to toggle the setting.
ALLOWADD may also be entered as ALLOWA[DD].
ALLOWDEL specifies whether original session lines can be deleted. Note that deletion of new lines is always allowed. ALLOWDEL controls whether lines that exist at the start of the session can be deleted. ALLOWDEL is relevant only for sessions that are normally updatable, such as Edit sessions, and only if the ALLOW attribute is set on. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" to allow line deletions, "Of[f]" or "N[o]" to disallow line deletions, and "T[oggle]" to toggle the setting.
ALLOWDEL may also be entered as ALLOWD[EL].
ALLOWUPD specifies whether original session lines can be modified. Note that modification of new lines is always allowed. ALLOWUPD controls whether lines that exist at the start of the session can be modified. ALLOWUPD is relevant only for sessions that are normally updatable, such as Edit sessions, and only if the ALLOW attribute is set on. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" to allow line modifications, "Of[f]" or "N[o]" to disallow line modifications, and "T[oggle]" to toggle the setting.
ALLOWUPD may also be entered as ALLOWU[PD].
ATTR is an attribute with site defined usage.
CASE is the alphabetic case of the session. Specify U if characters typed in session text are to be automatically translated to upper case. Specify M if translation is not to occur. Only new and updated text is affected by this setting.
CHECKINT specifies the session checkpoint interval in seconds. In addition to checkpointing at strategic places, BIM-EDIT/XP will checkpoint the session at a minimum every CHECKINT seconds (assuming a checkpoint is needed).
Checkpointing involves writing to disk enough information so that on restart after normal shutdown or a system failure, BIM-EDIT/XP can completely restore the session.
CHECKINT may also be entered as CHECKI[NT].
COORDACT specifies whether coordinate markers (row & column) are to be displayed when the cursor is active in the session body. The row coordinate marker is displayed in the left margin. The column coordinate marker is displayed on the scale line above the session text. Specify "Y[es]" or "On" to cause coordinate markers to be displayed. Specify "N[o]" or "Of[f]" otherwise.
COORDACT may also be entered as COORDA[CT].
COORDINA specifies whether coordinate markers (row & column) are to be displayed when the cursor is NOT active in the session body. The row coordinate marker is displayed in the left margin. The column coordinate marker is displayed on the scale line above the session text. Specify "Y[es]" or "On" to cause coordinate markers to be displayed. Specify "N[o]" or "Of[f]" otherwise.
COORDINA may also be entered as COORDI[NA].
iCURSACT specifies the shape of the session cursor when insert mode is active and when the cursor is active in the session body (iCURSACT stands for Insert Cursor Active). Specify one of the following:
BLOCK
IBEAM
LEFT
OUTLINE
UNDER
NULL
iCURSACT may also be entered as iCURSA[CT].
iCURSINA specifies the shape of the session cursor when insert mode is active and when the cursor is NOT active in the session body (iCURSACT stands for Insert Cursor Inactive). Specify one of the following:
BLOCK
IBEAM
LEFT
OUTLINE
UNDER
NULL
iCURSINA may also be entered as iCURSI[NA].
oCURSACT specifies the shape of the session cursor when overlay mode is active and when the cursor is active in the session body (oCURSACT stands for Overlay Cursor Active). Specify one of the following:
BLOCK
IBEAM
LEFT
OUTLINE
UNDER
NULL
oCURSACT may also be enteredas oCURSA[CT].
oCURSINA specifies the shape of the session cursor when overlay mode is active and when the cursor is NOT active in the session body (oCURSACT stands for Overlay Cursor Inactive). Specify one of the following:
BLOCK
IBEAM
LEFT
OUTLINE
UNDER
NULL
oCURSINA may also be entered as oCURSI[NA].
DISP specifies whether to display the session text or the session audit trail. Specify "T[ext]" to display the session text. Specify "A[udit]" to display the audit trail. Specify "Tog[gle]" to display the other, i.e, to toggle between the session text and the session audit trail.
As BIM-EDIT/XP is distributed, the following command is assigned to Alt-Ctrl-D.
=> sessionalter disp=toggle
FINDCOL is a column used by the Find, FindFirst, FindUp, NotFind, and NotFindUp commands. For example, the Find command scans forward for a line with a specified string starting in the FINDCOL column.
FINDCOL may also be entered as FCOL.
FONTPRI is the font number of the primary font to be used for displaying session text. The FontLibrary command displays all of the available fonts.
FONTALT is the font number of the alternate font to be used for displaying session text. The FontLibrary command displays all of the available fonts.
FONTSEL specifies whether to use the primary or alternate font for displaying session text. Specify "P[rimary]" to use the primary font. Specify "A[lternate]" to use the alternate font. Specify "Tog[gle]" to use the other font, i.e, to toggle between the primary and alternate fonts.
As BIM-EDIT/XP is distributed, the following command is assigned to Alt-Ctrl-F.
=> sessionalter fontsel=toggle
INDCTL To be defined.
INDCOL specifies the indent column. The indent column is where the cursor is positioned by a EditNewLine or CursReturn command.
Special processing occurs if INDCOL is specified as "/". If the indent column is currently set to the cursor column, the indent column will be set to 1. Otherwise, the indent column is set to the cursor column.
LIBDEF is an attribute with site-defined usage.
MAXCOL is the highest column number (i.e., the maximum line length) allowed for the current session. MAXCOL must be specified as a number from 1 through 32752. For sessions of host entities, MAXCOL is further restricted to a number no greater than 253.
RULERACT specifies whether horizontal and vertical rulers, intersecting at the cursor position, are to be displayed when the cursor is active in the session body. Specify "Y[es]" or "On" to cause rulers to be displayed. Specify "N[o]" or "Of[f]" otherwise.
RULERACT may also be entered as RULERA[CT].
RULERINA specifies whether horizontal and vertical rulers, intersecting at the cursor position, are to be displayed when the cursor is NOT active in the session body. Specify "Y[es]" or "On" to cause rulers to be displayed. Specify "N[o]" or "Of[f]" otherwise.
RULERINA may also be entered as RULERI[NA].
SEQ is a column range where the EditResequence command places sequence numbers. Enter it in the format xxx-yyy where xxx and yyy are numbers between 1 and the session maximum line width. For example, to place sequence numbers in columns 73 through 80, specify SEQ as 73-80. The SEQ range cannot be wider than 8 columns. Specify a null value (""), "Of[f]", of "N[o]" to set sequence numbering off.
SHOWSTAMP specifies whether stamps, if present, are to be displayed. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" to cause stamps to be displayed, "Of[f]" or "N[o]" to cause stamps not to be displayed, or "T[oggle]" to toggle the setting.
STAMPFMT is the entry number in the stamp format table. Display the SessionAlter dialog (invoke from the Options menu) to determine the stamp format table entry number.
TCOL is a list of columns used for tabbing. Up to 12 tab settings may be specified. They are entered in the format cc-cc-cc. Each setting consists of one to five digits that specify the column where the text will be placed. Tabbing range is from 1 to the session maximum line width. Tab columns must be entered in ascending order.
TITLE specifies a new comment about or description of the file. TITLE can be up to 40 characters in length.
TYPE specifies a new file type. For program source files, TYPE is typically used by the FileCompile command to determine which compiler to invoke. TYPE can be altered to anything but is typically one of the selections described in the FileDefine command. Altering TYPE does not change the contents or other attributes of the file.
UNDOLMT specifies the maximum number of records allowed in the session's undo log. When a record is added at the end of the undo log, and the undo log already contains UNDOLMT records, a record is deleted from the top of the log. The undo log is used by the EditUndo command to reverse the effect of previous edit and display commands.
UNDOLMT may also be entered as UNDOL[MT].
USER is purely documentary. It can be set to any value -- typically the value is used to determine ownership when culling junk files from the directory. It can be up to 8 characters.
WORD specifies if Word-wrap mode is to be active for this session. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" to activate Word-wrap, "Of[f]" or "N[o]" to inactivate Word-wrap, or "T[oggle]" to toggle the setting.
ZONE is a column range used by the edit and search commands (such as EditChange, EditBlank, etc.) if not specified explicitly on the command. For example, the EditChange command will change occurrences of one string to another within the current ZONE only.
Enter ZONE in the format xxx-yyy where xxx and yyy are numbers between 1 and the session maximum line width. For example, ZONE=11-20 signifies columns 11 to 20. ZONE=5 is the same as ZONE=5-5, ZONE=5-* specifies columns 5 through the session maximum line width, and ZONE=-5 is the same as ZONE=1-5.
Pressing Alt-P invokes the following command:
=> SessionAlter Allow=Tog
Pressing Alt-Ctrl-D invokes the following command:
=> SessionAlter Disp=Tog
Pressing Alt-Ctrl-F invokes the following command:
=> SessionAlter FontSel=Tog
If no optional operands are specified, SessionAlter will create a dialog window that allows attributes to be updated.
SessionAlter sets attributes for the current session only. Initially, the attributes of a session are set from the "Session Initial Settings" as set by the iSessionAlter command and, if a file is being edited or listed, from the attributes of the file.
When an Edit session of a workstation file is saved (see the SessionFile and SessionSave commands), most session attributes are stored with the file. If the Edit session is ended without saving, session attributes are lost.
For other sessions, when the session is ended, session attributes are lost. To alter attributes for a Host file, use the FileAlter command.
Return Codes
OK Successful.
Procedure Notes
Session attributes can be accessed within a procedure using the SSP variables.
Examples
Allow mixed case entry:
=> sessalt case=m
Set tabs for a COBOL program:
=> sessalt tcol=8-12-16-20-32-40