Uses for Dialogue Manager

Reference:

Summary of Dialogue Manager Commands

Dialogue Manager is a part of the WebFOCUS language that allows you to control the flow of your application with the use of commands and variables. The following are some of the ways you can use Dialogue Manager:

Customizing a procedure with variables. You can dynamically change the execution of a procedure by including variables, or retrieve information from the system. For details, see Customizing a Procedure With Variables. For information on creating the variables used in a procedure, see Creating and Working With Local and Global Variables.
Controlling the execution of a procedure. You can control a procedure by controlling the order in which to execute commands, closing external files, and exiting or canceling a procedure. For details, see Controlling the Execution of a Procedure.
Navigating a procedure. You can conditionally execute requests, repeat execution with program loops, or call another procedure. For details, see Navigating a Procedure.
Enhance an HTML webpage. You can increase the functionality of your webpage by including HTML commands in your procedure. For details, see Enhancing an HTML Webpage With a Procedure.
Issuing operating system commands. You can issue an operating system command to set up an environment in which a request must run. For details on issuing operating system commands, see Issuing Operating System Commands.
Controlling passwords. You can directly assign and change passwords. For details, see Controlling Passwords With Dialogue Manager.
Sending a message to the application. You can send a message to an application while a procedure is processing to explain the purpose of the procedure, display results, or present useful information. For details, see Sending a Message to the Application.

Reference: Summary of Dialogue Manager Commands

The following table summarizes commands available in Dialogue Manager. For detailed information about these commands, see the individual topics for each command.

Command	Description
-*	Signals a comment.
-?	Displays the value of local variables.
-CLOSE	Closes an external file on z/OS opened for reading or writing. An external file is a sequential file in the file system of the operating system.
-DEFAULT -DEFAULTS	Sets a variable to an initial value.
-DEFAULTH	Sets a hidden variable to an initial value.
-DOS	Executes a DOS operating system command.
-EXIT	Executes stacked commands and terminates the procedure.
-GOTO	Transfers control to a label.
-HTMLFORM	Sends one or more reports to the browser.
-IF	Determines the execution flow of a procedure based on the evaluation of an expression.
-INCLUDE	Calls another Dialogue Manager procedure.
-label	Is the target of a -GOTO or -IF.
-MVS	In WebFOCUS, executes a z/OS operating system command. Only works with the RUN command.
-PASS	Issues and controls passwords.
-QUIT	Terminates the procedure without executing stacked commands.
-QUIT FOCUS	Terminates a procedure and exits FOCUS.
-READ	Reads data from an external file.
-READFILE	Reads a file by first reading its Master File and creating Dialogue Manager amper variables based on the ACTUAL formats for each field in the Master File.
-REPEAT	Executes a loop.
-RUN	Executes stacked commands.
-SET	Sets a variable to a literal value or to a value computed in an expression.
-? SET `parameter` &myvar	Captures the value of a settable parameter in &myvar.
-TSO	In WebFOCUS, executes a TSO operating system command. Only works with the RUN command.
-TYPE	Sends a message to a client application.
-UNIX	In WebFOCUS, executes a UNIX operating system command.
-VMS	In WebFOCUS, executes a VMS operating system command.
-WINNT	Executes a Windows operating system command.
-WRITE	Writes data to an external file.