• I set up a Posting icon, but when I went to see how it
worked, nothing had happened.
In order for Posting to take place, you must attach the posting specification to a form. To do this, open the View icon you wish to use, select Show Posting from the View menu, then select the Post icon name in the desired trigger column(s).
It is possible that you selected the wrong field or Abacus when you set up the link between records in the Posting Tile. Perhaps you are posting to unexpected records. Check your selections in the display of the posting triplets.
Your Post icon may be invalid. Re-open the icon and look for a shaded bar running across one or more of the triplet selections. Clicking on the invalid triplet will switch you into selection mode, where the invalid triplet can be repaired or deselected altogether. See next Help entry.
• What does a grey bar in the triplet display mean?
The shaded triplet is invalid, which means the Post icon is invalid and non-functional. One component of the triplet is not allowed. Clicking on the invalid triplet will switch you into selection mode, where the improper item will be deselected (and unavailable for selection again).
The most common invalid case is where you are inserting into a Field used as the posting link in the target Relation. Only the "insert in a created record" operator can be used when inserting into a target link Field.
If you change the data type of a triplet item, a mismatch can occur.
If you are posting into inert fields and the Option is changed to Option 1, all such triplets become invalid.
• When I am selecting triplets some of the operators
disappear.
As you go about defining a Post icon, Helix constantly evaluates the construction, and will display only items that are allowable. Depending upon how you have set-up the Posting Tile, which Option you have selected, and the data-type of the source and target fields, the list of operators will change to present only valid operators. A few examples are:
If Option 1 is selected, the "insert in a created record" operator is always suppressed.
If you post into a field that is used as a posting link, the "insert in a created or modified record" operator is always suppressed.
Number-type fields as targets: all operators available.
Text, flag, picture-type fields as targets: only the two insert operators are allowed.
Date fields as targets: if a number-type is the source, all operators except the inserts are available. If a date-type is the source, only the insert operators appear.
• Some of my Post icons do not show up in the Post Selection
View.
Only valid Post icons are displayed. With Option 0 posting, you may only post into fields that are non-selectable. This means that either a) the field is in a non-selectable Rectangle, or b) the field is not located on the form to which you wish to attach this Post icon. If the Post icon does not comply, it will not appear in the list for Enter in the Post View. Also, you may not directly post a source calculation that looks-up or in some way depends upon the value of the target field. For other invalid cases, see Help entry for “…grey bar in triplet.”
• When I click on a Post icon name in the Post Selection View,
some of the other Post icon names show a grey bar
through them.
The grey bar means that this icon is not selectable. Post icons are checked for conflicting interactions. When you make a choice, all the other icons are checked for conflicts with your selection. Incrementing and inserting into the same field is not allowed, and one Post icon cannot post into the link field of another Post icon.
• Can I select multiple Post icons in one “trigger” list (Post
Selection View)?
Yes. Click on one choice, then shift-click on another choice. The first choice will remain selected. A helpful feature in selecting a number of adjoining items is the ability to drag the cursor through the desired names. Click on the top or bottom item from the desired group of icons and drag the cursor through the group. To deselect one item without deselecting everything else, shift-click on the item to be deselected.
• In which Relation should I create the Post icon?
The Post icon should be created in the source Relation, not the target Relation.
• How can I use posting to always create a new record?
Leave the first two holes of the Posting Tile black. In the third hole (the hole on the right), select the target Relation. No matching link is available, so posting, when activated, will always create a new record in the target Relation.
• How do I change a Post icon back to Option 0?
Open the Posting Tile (click Set Destination button), and deselect the Relation name. You would typically also deselect the source icon name at the same time, but note that an icon selection here is allowed in Option 0 posting.
• Can I create a conditional Post operation? For example, I
don’t want posting to happen unless certain values are
present.
Yes. Posting can be “turned on and off” by using a calculation in the source linking hole (middle hole of the Posting Tile) that can become undefined under certain conditions. If the Relation (right hole) is defined, any time the icon in the middle hole is undefined, the Posting Tile becomes undefined and no posting takes place. An example calculation would use the If-Then-Else Calculation tile, set-up to switch between the linking icon and a black hole.
• Why don’t my Abacus icons and validations work in my
Target Relation?
In the Target Relation, calculations and field validations have no effect. Posting is field-based in the target; you are working with fields, not with forms or calculations. If, for example, you want to create new account numbers based on a “Max + 1” Abacus, you should either create the account number in the source Relation and post it to the target Relation, or lookup the number in the target Relation and increment it. See the next Help entry.
• Why can’t I lookup a value, change it, and post it back?
You can, only not directly. You are not allowed to post a calculation that looks up its own posting target, but you can take this Abacus, place it in a Rectangle with a field icon (which can be inert), and then post the field back to the looked-up field. The value of the field will be the value of the Abacus. If you do not wish this value to appear on a form, another method is to use Option 0 posting to post the Abacus to an inert field that is not present on the form. Another Post icon is then used to post this field value to the target field.
• What’s the difference between “Post Every” and Post All?
“Post Every” is an option of the Posting Tile which is equivalent to a global replace; it works on either a list or non-list type form. The posting function will operate on all records that meet the matching criteria, not just the first one found. Post All (and Find and Post All when a non-listing form is selected) is a command on the View menu. This command permits posting of a batch of records entered previously. Post All will activate all of the Post icons selected in the Post All trigger column in the Post Selection View.
• I want to “Post on Load;” that is, I want to post when
loading data into Helix using the Load command.
Loading is considered the same as entry; a Post icon that is selected in the Enter trigger in the Post Selection View will enable posting for both data entry through the keyboard, and for loading.
• I have four Post icons selected for a form. In what order
will they be used?
All posting will be “processed” simultaneously (or very nearly so). You should not try to make Post icons that depend on one being activated before another. The one important exception is Option 0 posting. Post icons set for Option 0 posting will be processed first, with all other Post icons being processed next as a group.
• Posting seems to get slower and slower.
Possibly you have not optimized the Posting Tile. You should always build an Index in the target Relation on the icon used as a link. Look in the first hole of the Post Tile. This icon needs an Index.
• Can I select the same Post icon for more than one trigger?
In other words, can I make a Post icon that will be
activated on Enter, Dump, and Print?
Yes.
• Why doesn’t my Auto-Open window open?
You did not select it. You select a form to automatically open by clicking a name in the View list of the Options window.
Posting did not cause the creation of a new record. A window will only open when a new record is created, not if an existing record is modified.
The form is not in a usable state — it is in Selection or Post View. Open the form and select Show Form from the View menu.
• Post All isn’t working.
Post All (or Find and Post All) will not be available if there are no icons selected in the Post All list of the Post Selection View. Also, only those icons selected in this list will be activated during Post All or Find and Post All operations.
You are trying to post from inert fields. Inert fields (unless they are part of a calculated default) will have no value when stepping through records, as happens in Find and Post All, and can never have a value in a list.
