PMENU Procedure

DIALOG Statement

Describes a dialog box that is associated with an item on a menu.

Restriction:

Must be followed by at least one TEXT statement.

Examples:

Collecting User Input in a Dialog Box

Creating a Dialog Box to Search Multiple Variables

Creating Menus for a DATA Step Window Application

Syntax

Required Arguments

Details

Syntax

DIALOG dialog-box 'command-string field-number-specification';

Required Arguments

command-string: is the command or partial command that is executed when the item is selected. The limit of the command-string that results after the substitutions are made is the command-line limit for your operating environment. Typically, the command-line limit is approximately 80 characters.

The limit for 'command-string field-number-specification' is 200 characters.

Note: If you are using PROC PMENU to submit any command that is valid only in the PROGRAM EDITOR window (such as the INCLUDE command), then you must have the windowing environment running, and you must return control to the PROGRAM EDITOR window.

dialog-box: is the same name specified for the DIALOG= option in a previous ITEM statement.

field-number-specification

can be one or more of the following:

@1…@n

%1…%n

&1…&n

You can embed the field numbers, for example @1, %1, or &1, in the command string and mix different types of field numbers within a command string. The numeric portion of the field number corresponds to the relative position of TEXT, RADIOBOX, and CHECKBOX statements, not to any actual number in these statements.

@1…@n: are optional TEXT statement numbers that can add information to the command before it is submitted. Numbers preceded by an at sign (@) correspond to TEXT statements that use the LEN= option to define input fields.

%1…%n: are optional RADIOBOX statement numbers that can add information to the command before it is submitted. Numbers preceded by a percent sign (%) correspond to RADIOBOX statements following the DIALOG statement.

Note:Keep in mind that the numbers correspond to RADIOBOX statements, not to RBUTTON statements.

&1…&n: are optional CHECKBOX statement numbers that can add information to the command before it is submitted. Numbers preceded by an ampersand (&) correspond to CHECKBOX statements following the DIALOG statement.

Note:To specify a literal @ (at sign), % (percent sign), or & (ampersand) in the command-string, use a double character: @@ (at signs), %% (percent signs), or && (ampersands).

Details

You cannot control the placement of the dialog box. The dialog box is not scrollable. The size and placement of the dialog box are determined by your windowing environment.
To use the DIALOG statement, specify an ITEM statement with the DIALOG= option in the ITEM statement.
The ITEM statement creates an entry in a menu bar or in a menu, and the DIALOG= option specifies which DIALOG statement describes the dialog box.
You can use CHECKBOX, RADIOBOX, and RBUTTON statements to define the contents of the dialog box.
The following figure shows a typical dialog box. A dialog box can request information in three ways:
- Fill in a field. Fields that accept text from a user are called text fields.
- Choose from a list of mutually exclusive choices. A group of selections of this type is called a radio button, and each individual selection is called a radio button.
- Indicate whether you want to select other independent choices. For example, you could choose to use various options by selecting any or all of the listed selections. A selection of this type is called a check box.
A Typical Dialog Box

Dialog boxes have two or more buttons, such as OK and Cancel, automatically built into the box.(footnote1) A button causes an action to occur.

FOOTNOTE 1:The actual names of the buttons vary in different windowing environments.[return]