Xerox Printer manual Data types, Negative coordinates, Unit value, Forms data, Variable data

HOST FORMS DESCRIPTION LANGUAGE

If you draw additional lines horizontally and vertically away from the form origin so that each additional line is one unit of measure apart, you create a grid. You can now position form elements by specifying a grid position.

Negative coordinates

You can use negative x and y values to place the form elements above and to the left of the form origin. You can only specify negative values within the system page boundaries.

Unit value

You can specify the unit of measure you want to use to position form elements on the page. However, predefined formats automatically select the grid values for you. The ªFMT grid format propertiesº appendix lists the predefined grid format properties for various page sizes.

Data types

There are two types of data: forms data and variable data. Make sure you consider them when you create forms for printing on Xerox LPS printers.

Forms data

Forms data is the information on a form that remains the same, such as form titles and column titles. Typically, fixed±length forms data changes only when you modify the form. Forms data is the only data you enter in the design process.

When designing a column size you must consider the amount of variable data the column accommodates, not the size of the fixed±length column title.

Variable data

Variable data is the data you overlay in the space provided by the designed form. Variable data varies in length. An example of variable data is a name and address.

You must allow sufficient space in the columns to accommodate the variable data. Otherwise, variable data may be invalid or unusable. For example, if you do not provide sufficient space for an address, the zip code could be truncated. Spacing for variable data is extremely important and is more accurately calculated with fixed spacing of the font characters.

2±6 HOST FORMS DESCRIPTION LANGUAGE 3.2 FOR IBM MVS CREATING FORMS