How to Work with Processes > Working with the Branch Processes Group

Process Purpose

The "Case & Branch" process has a wider range of comparison values/variables than the "Test & Branch" process. It enables the comparison between one and multiple values/variables and, therefore, requires as much points in the code (labels, routines, screens, etc) as the number of comparisons.

When you add a process, you are required to define its settings. This occurs in the process's properties window which is displayed automatically after having added the "Case & Branch" process.

If any subsequent edition is required, double-click the process to open its properties window and enter the necessary modifications.

Fill in the following options:

Test

Value

Define the first value to compare by entering it on the box OR click and select a variable with that value.

Comparison

Data Type

Define the type of comparison values by checking "String" or "Numeric".

Checking the "String" option enables the "Case Sensitive" option.

Define the comparison criteria by selecting an option from the drop-down.

String Comparison	Numeric Comparison

Note that checking the "Case Sensitive" option forces a lower/upper case comparison.

Branch

Values column

Define the values to be compared with the first value. Enter them on each row OR click and select the variables with that value.

Go to column

Select a destination for each value, from the drop-down or the list, in case the comparison criteria is met. See Detail of a window below.

When defining a screen as a target destination (ex: via a “Go To” process), you CANNOT use variables to specify the name of that target screen. You must select the intended screen from the available drop-down/list.

Otherwise Go to

Select a destination from the drop-down or the list, if no comparison criteria is met. See Detail of a window below.

Use the editing icons to the right of the table to move the rows up and down and to delete or add more rows.

Detail of a window:

"S:Menu" is a screen included in the same program as the process.

"R:Routine_1" is a routine included in the same program as the process.

If required, click (on the upper right corner) and enter info about this process in the resulting text box. These notes will be displayed in the corresponding "Actions" tab or "Process" window (in the "Notes" field) and in the "Developer Report".

After filling in the required options, click to conclude or to abort the operation.

The added process is displayed in the corresponding "Actions" tab or "Process" window.

If you want to use a label as a target destination, you can use the "Auto-Label" mechanism. This alternative to the "Set Label" process allows you to create a label in the properties window of a process - specifically, in the fields used to define target destinations (ex: the "If Error..." type fields). See To Automatically Create a Label.

Use the right-click in MCL-Designer's input boxes to access some related options as well as the general "Cut", "Copy"; "Paste"; "Search" actions (active/inactive according to the current context).

Ex: If you right-click the "Variable" input box (included in a "Conversion's" properties window), you are provided with general editing/search actions and other more specific options such as "Variable Select" (see "Variable Select"); "Variable Insert" (see "Variable Insert"); "Insert Special Character" (see To Insert Special Characters into a Control's Text Input Field) and "Localization Select" (see Localization List).

If you right-click another input box, it may provide other possibilities.