The File menu options allow you to retrieve and save ABL program files. Table 7 describes the menu that appears when you choose this option.
Table 7: File menu
Menu option
Description
New
Creates a new file or procedure
Open
Opens an existing file or procedure to edit
Close
Closes the current buffer
Save
Saves the contents of the current buffer
Save As
Saves the contents of the current buffer to a file
Print
Prints the contents of the current buffer
Exit
Ends your current Procedure Editor session
File>New
Choose this option to create a new file or procedure. The Procedure Editor creates a new, untitled buffer and makes it the current buffer. The number of buffers is limited by system memory.
The maximum buffer size you can open in the Procedure Editor is the lesser of the following:
32,767*bytesPerLine, where bytesPerLine is the width of your terminal
Available system resources
You can switch between buffers using the Buffer menu commands. For more information, see the “Buffer menu” section.
File>Open
Choose this option to edit an existing file. When you choose this option, the Open dialog box shown in Figure 4 appears.
Figure 4: Open dialog box
The Procedure Editor cannot open a file with a comma in its name.
When you choose the Files button from the Open dialog box, the Files dialog box like the one shown in Figure 5 appears.
Figure 5: Files dialog box
Table 8 describes the user-interface elements of the Files dialog box.
Table 8: Files dialog box elements
User‑interface element
Purpose
File Name
Specifies the name of the file you want to open.
Files
Lists the files in the currently selected directory.
Directories
Shows the currently selected directory. The directory selection list displays all the available directories.
File>Close
Choose this option to delete the current buffer. If you make changes to the current buffer, the Procedure Editor prompts you to save the changes to a file before it deletes the buffer. If the buffer is untitled, an alert dialog box like the one in Figure 6 appears.
Figure 6: Close alert dialog box
File>Save
Choose this option to save the contents of the current buffer to the current file. When you choose this option and the current buffer is untitled, the Save As dialog box is displayed, as shown in Figure 7. The Procedure Editor displays an alert box if you try to save changes to a read‑only file.
File>Save As
Choose this option to save the contents of the current buffer to a new file or to an existing file. When you choose this option, the Save As dialog box shown in Figure 7 appears.
Figure 7: Save As dialog box
Note: The Procedure Editor cannot save a file with a comma in its name.
Table 9 describes the fields in the Save As dialog box.
Table 9: Save As dialog box fields
Field
Use
File Name
Specifies the name for the file you want to save
Files
Lists the files in the selected directory
Directories
Lists the directories in your file system
File>Print
Choose this option to print the contents of the current buffer. The current buffer contents are sent to your computer system’s default printer. There are no special formatting features or options.
File>Exit
Choose this option to close the Procedure Editor. When you exit the Procedure Editor, you return to where you started. For example, if you start the Procedure Editor from the operating system command line, you return to the command line.
If there are open buffers with unsaved changes, an alert box prompts you to save or discard the changes before leaving the Procedure Editor. If you choose to save the changes, the Save Buffers with Changes dialog box shown in Figure 8 appears. This dialog box lists all the open buffers that have unsaved changes.
Figure 8: Save Buffers with Changes dialog box
If you select any untitled buffers and choose the Save Selected button, the Save As dialog box appears for each untitled buffer. You can specify a filename for each untitled buffer or cancel the save operation.
32,767*bytesPerLine, where bytesPerLine is the width of your terminal
