Modifying a typical frame window

Customizing a frame window in the planning application is easier than in most other comparable production planning and scheduling applications. In most applications, you first must create dialog windows using a resource compiler before you can interact with the system and make changes to the interface environment. Your modifications are limited by the access and availability of resource files and the resource compiler. In addition, detailed knowledge of system control identifications and their interaction with dialog windows (or any other part of the user interface you plan to modify) is necessary before you can begin to take appropriate steps to make changes.

Dialog windows must be created before customizing the user interface in the planning application. You can change dialog windows or panels in standard frame windows with the normal text file, that you can access and re-access at your convenience.

Because a panel is an exact reflection of what is defined in the panel file, changing key elements in the panel files will modify the user interface. Refer to the section How to Use the Panel Files for further detail as to the nature, definition and use of panel files in the Planning application.

The definition of the panel is controlled by the @@ functions. See @@ Function Toolbox.

The PSUI.INI file determines the way in which the color and font is displayed on screen. See Customizing the Panel Elements.

If you know the system well, then you can find the panel that you have decided to modify by browsing through the text file. You can recognize the panel by its layout or by pressing the [ALT] and [Shift] keys to check the panel number or file name.

When you create a report, two panels are required: a header panel and a body panel. To perform changes, edit the contents and save the file.

After restarting the planning application activating the relevant component, you are able to control the changes you have made by using the [ALT] and [Shift] keys. If you make a mistake while editing, an error message is displayed.

These steps shows a procedural example.
  1. Open the planning application. The Main menu is displayed. On the Component tab under Orders and Material Control, click Orders.
  2. You can press ALT + SHIFT to display the panel file name and number in the lower right hand side of the window. In this example the number of the window is 7 and the panel name for Orders - Selection is PMDSCH_.SKM.
  3. Close the window and return to the Main menu. On the System menu, select System Information.
  4. The System Information window is built up in 7 tabs each with a series of columns containing relevant information. The tabs include File Location, Panel Location, Version and Serial Number, Environment Variables, Planning dimensions, Component statistics and Status.
  5. Select Panel Location and find the panel name PMDSCH_.SKM. You can read the Status, the File Number, Environmental Variable, the File Name and two paths. The system takes the first path when you open the panel file.
  6. Open the panel file by double-clicking the highlighted panel name. The Panel List window is displayed. This is a list of all the panels that are used in the component Orders - DSCH. Refer to the Online panel help from the Panel List (#40) for more details.
  7. To see what a particular panel looks like, click the Eye icon in the upper left-hand corner of the window.
  8. To open the panel definition to check how the panel is defined, click the Panel Definition icon instead. This window is for informational purposes only. You cannot change any data here.
  9. Go back to the System Information window and check the path for PMDSCH_.SKM. In this example the first path is C:\PROGRAM FILES\MVXAPP11\US\PANELS.
  10. Open Windows Explorer and locate the file. You can open the panel file with a normal OEM ASCII text editor, for example, the DOS program EDIT and make the appropriate changes. Be sure not to make changes that affect the allowed number of characters, that is 132.
  11. Save the changes you have made to the Panel file and exit. When you are again in the planning application press ALT + SHIFT to reload the customized panel. Go into your window and review the changes made to the panel to be certain they are correct.