How You Create Multi-line Character Fields
You can create character fields that contain more than one line. When you enter data or display it in a multi-line field, it wraps around to the next line each time a line is filled.
To specify a multi-line character field, enter the display format as follows:
• The letter c for character data
• The total number of characters that can be entered in the field, followed by a period (.)
• The maximum number of characters that can be entered on any given line
VIFRED automatically figures the number of lines needed to meet your specification. For example, the display format, c100.20, creates a field of five lines, each of which is 20 characters long.
When creating display‑only fields, you can use the following parameters with the c format to specify different types of justification:
• The f parameter wraps text to the next line without breaking the line in the middle of a word (it breaks between words instead). For example, cf100.25 creates a field of four 25-character lines with text wrapped to the next line, with breaks between words.
• The j parameter right justifies text. For example, cj100.25 creates a field of four 25-character lines with spaces entered between the words to right justify each line.
When used with either the cf or cj format, the e parameter preserves trailing blanks in multi-line fields; for example, cje100.25 is the same as cj100.25, except that trailing spaces are preserved.
Note: The f and j parameters are primarily intended for use with display‑only fields. If you use them for data entry fields, VIFRED justifies the text only after the user exits the field. Therefore, spaces between words are lost or added after the user has finished typing the entry and exits the field, which can cause some text to be truncated.