Common Domain Specifications

When you select enter from the Domains screen title bar, the Domains specifications overlay displays. The following two entries, Descriptive and Column Hdgs, are common to the specifications overlay for all types of domains other than Same As domains:

·    Descriptive, if entered, establishes the Descriptive for all fields referencing the domain. However, since domain attributes cannot be overridden, you may wish to leave Descriptive blank here to allow for individual entry at the field level. Because Descriptive is longer and can be more flexibly formatted, it is less cryptic and easier to understand than Field Name. The system uses Descriptive when communicating with users wherever possible. It is used, for example, when the value of a field displays to a user on a standard image, such as the Select Access Path display or an APPX-generated subheading.

·    Column Hdgs, if entered, establishes up to two lines of column heading text for all fields referencing this domain. However, since domain attributes cannot be overridden, you may wish to leave Column Hdgs blank here to allow for individual entry at the field level. For cosmetic reasons, the length of a heading should not exceed the length of the field itself. The APPX output process uses column heading text to generate standard column heading images for Start of Page and Start of Range class frames. Refer to Output Process Specifications, Output Standard Column Heading Image, and Output Frame Specifications in Chapter 3-7 for more information on automatically generated column headings and frame classes in output functions.