FORMDEF
Specifies the file name in AIX or Windows of the form definition. A form definition defines how a page of data is placed on a form, the number of copies of a page, any modifications to that group of copies, the paper source, and duplexing. ACIF uses a form definition only at print time to retrieve resources; it does not use a form definition at transform time to convert data streams.
FORMDEF={fdefname | DUMMY}
The values are:
- fdefname
- Any valid form definition name. The fdefname can be 1 - 8 alphanumeric characters (a-z, A-Z, 0–9) and special characters (# $
@), including the 2-character prefix, if there is one. ACIF does not require the name to begin with an F1 prefix; however, if the name does begin with
F1, you cannot omit it. For example:
FORMDEF=F1USER10
- Note:
- In AIX, the fdefname is case-sensitive.
- If the file name of the form definition includes a file extension, do not use the
file extension when you are specifying the form definition. For example, to use a
form definition that is named
MEMO.FDEF38PP, specify FORMDEF=MEMO.
- DUMMY
- ACIF requires a form definition to process the input file (even though the form definition
is only used at print time). If you do not specify FORMDEF, the default is DUMMY,
which indicates that ACIF uses the first inline form definition. If ACIF cannot find
an inline form definition, it reports an error and ends processing.
If you specify FORMDEF=DUMMY but the file does not include an inline form definition, ACIF looks for a form definition named DUMMY. If ACIF cannot find a form definition that is named DUMMY, it reports an error and ends processing.
Note: DUMMY must be specified in all uppercase letters.
The form definition that you use can be found in one of these locations:
- Inline in the file
- A form definition can be an inline resource in all data formats except XML. (XML data
cannot have carriage control characters, which are used to identify inline resources.)
If the form definition is an inline resource, you must do these tasks:
- Include an inline form definition in the file.
- Specify CC=YES to indicate that the file contains carriage control characters. If the length of the records in the form definition is less than or equal to the logical-record length defined for the file, you can specify fixed-length records for the record format.
- Specify FORMDEF with one of these values:
- fdefname
- The name of an inline form definition. If the name specified in the FORMDEF parameter does not match the name of an inline form definition, ACIF looks for the form definition in a USERLIB or FDEFLIB path.
- DUMMY
- If the file does not include an inline form definition, ACIF looks for the form definition
named DUMMY. If ACIF cannot find a form definition that is named DUMMY, it reports
an error and ends processing.
Note: DUMMY must be specified in all uppercase letters.
An input file can contain multiple form definitions, but only one form definition can be used for printing. If a file contains more than one inline form definition, and you specify FORMDEF=fdefname, ACIF uses the first inline form definition named fdefname. If a file contains more than one inline form definition and you specify FORMDEF=DUMMY, ACIF uses the first inline form definition in the input file. By changing the form definition name in the FORMDEF parameter on different printing jobs, you can test different form definitions.
- AIX or Windows directory
- Use the USERLIB or FDEFLIB parameter to specify the path to the file.
In AIX, use one of these examples:
formdef=memo userlib=/usr/afp/resources
formdef=memo fdeflib=/usr/lib/formdefns
In Windows, use this example:
formdef=memo userlib=\install_directory\resources