The Dynamic Screen Manager service program uses the Qsn* APIs and provides an easy to use set of functions to build dynamic screens without any need for a DDS source member.
The traditional way of defining a screen uses a DDS source member to define one or more record formats. This approach is quite easy and handy but not much flexible. For example the length of a field can not be changed while the program runs. However the DSM service program can create very flexible screens on-the-fly while the program runs. Fields can be moved around the screen and the length of a field can be changed.
In contrast to DDS the DSM service program has the following limitations:
- The maximum field length of alpha-numeric fields is 132 bytes.
- The maximum field length of numeric fields is 21 digits and 9 decimal positions.
The DSM service program can manage a unlimited number of screens at a time. The number of screens only is limited by the amount of storage that is available.
Interface to Python for iSeries
Additional information about DSM and Python for iSeries are here:
Special thanks to Denes Lengyel who had the idea to use DSM as an user interface for Python. Denes is a wonderful and patient tester. I always appreciate his ideas and his input and I certainly enjoyed working with him on that project.
