Specify the keyboard shift to limit what the user can type into a field.
Note - V11 SP5 onwards:
- Keyboard Shift U is no longer an option. New Field Attribute SUNI indicates if a field is a Unicode field or not.
- Keyboard shift settings can be changed and maintained via the LANSA Editor.
Valid keyboard shift values are based on 1.1 Field Types.
Rules
Allowable values are:
Keyboard shift | Meaning | Data Type Allowed |
|---|---|---|
A | Alpha shift | Alpha |
Blank | Alpha / Numeric | |
D | Digits only 0 - 9 | Alpha/Numeric |
I | Inhibit entry (no keyboard entry allowed) | Alpha/Numeric |
M | Numeric keys | 0 - 9, plus, minus, comma, dash, space, period |
N | Numeric shift | Alpha / Numeric |
S | Signed numeric | Numeric |
W | Katakana (for Japan only) | Alpha |
X | Alphabetic only | Alpha. A - Z, comma, period, dash, space |
Y | Numeric only | Numeric |
Additional rules are:
- Cannot be entered if a 1.2.7 Reference Field has been specified.
Tips & Techniques
- When using a DBCS LANSA language on DBCS operating systems, the IME mode is set dependent on the type of keyboard shift to allow the construction of DBCS characters from phonetics.
- Keyboard Shift U is not valid for fields defined in functions. Therefore, any field definition commands that reference the original Other File field with Keyboard Shift U, must specify a valid value for the SHIFT parameter. Use SHIFT(*BLANKS) if users will only be entering SBCS data, otherwise set the SHIFT parameter to another appropriate value.
Platform Considerations
IBM i: The IBM i DBCS or IGC data types J, E & O have been implemented as the Alpha LANSA data type with LANSA keyboard shift J, E & O respectively.
J
Alpha, Used for DBCS only.
E
Alpha. Used for all DBCS characters or all SBCS characters. Both DBCS and SBCS are not allowed in the same field.
O
Alpha. Used for mixed DBCS and SBCS
- IBM i: Refer to the IBM manual Data Description Specifications for more details about DDS Data Type/Keyboard Shift for display files (Position 35).
Also See
1.1.1 Field Type Considerations