I have been working with OIPI lately, particularly to use overlays on forms. Apparently the OIPI OVERLAY function does not support messages like ADDTABLE. Is there a list of supported printing methods in overlays?

Meanwhile, I used the TEXTXY message to add the total page count to page numbering. On a form with MARGIN=1/1/1/1, I could print the page total in the heading using coordinates X=6.25, Y=-.33. However, no Y coordinate allowed printing into the footer region outside the margins. Is TEXTXY limited to printing within the positive margins?

Textxy is permitted outside all margins except for the lower margin.

     Any printing below the lower margin causes a pagebreak so the

     y parameter is locked above the margin.

Start Overlay does permit addtable and I tested here successfully.

Bob,

Thank you for your answers. I probably had an issue with my test which implied that some printing commands would not work in overlays.

I appreciate your answer about prohibiting printing below the Y bottom margin. Maybe the documentation could explain this limitation and its effect on printing location. But if printing below the bottom margin causes a pagebreak, then how does the footer print below the bottom margin? There must be just a little more to this than your answer implies.

Meanwhile, I have added a table to the bottom of my form design to emulate the footer, and lowered the margin accordingly so that the overlay could print page totals at the bottom. In other words, problem worked around.

Gerald, the header and footer are printed on the execution of the pagebreak. They are designed to print above and below the margins.

Bob,

Here is my impression. From your comments, page printing generally proceeds within the margins. When printing exceeds the bottom margin, a PAGEBREAK occurs. Headers and Footers occur outside the margins during a pagebreak.

Well, after a TERM is issued, there should be no paging logic. STARTOVERLAY is required to print into the preview pages. As there is no paging, TEXTXY and other commands should be able to print anywhere on the specified page, including below the bottom margin, when in an overlay. At least, that's my view and I'm sticking to it.

Gerald

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