User interface manager

The i5/OS™ user interface manager (UIM) is a part of the system that allows you to define panels and dialogs for your application.

UIM provides the following support:

• A tag-based language for describing data and panels.
• A compiler to create panel group objects and menu objects by using the tag-based language.
• A set of application programming interfaces (APIs) to use as panel group objects to display and print panels.

The UIM also provides the following functions:

• Dialog commands for screen management
• Contextual online help
• Pop-up windows
• Menu bars
• Command line for entering CL commands
• Tailoring of the contents of a panel for different users or environments
• Fast paths through menu networks
• Double-byte character set (DBCS) languages
• Bidirectional (BIDI) language support

UIM supports common panel types, such as menus, information displays, list displays, and entry displays. When all display types and interfaces are consistent, users adapt more quickly to new applications.

UIM applications can coexist with and share the requester display device with other open display files that are not under UIM control. However, a UIM panel and a DDS-defined record format cannot appear on the display at the same time. When a UIM panel either replaces a DDS panel or vice versa, the system suspends operations of one file or panel group and restores the display as needed.

• Online help design
  You can define online help by using either panel groups or records.
• Index search tags
  Help panel groups can contain index search modules. Index search supplements the help information that is provided for each display. To use the information in help panel groups for the index search function, you need to add the appropriate UIM tags to your help modules.
• Index search and double-byte character set
  The index search function can be used with either double-byte character set (DBCS) or single-byte character set (SBCS) data. When DBCS data is used, the device from which it is requested must be capable of entering and presenting the data in DBCS.