Structure Chart view

Use the Structure Chart view to display the hierarchy of procedures that make up your program.

To open the Structure Chart view

Select Structure Chart from the View menu.

The Analysis phase must be complete before this view is enabled. Certain E-level (error) messages can stop the structure chart from generating. If this happens, check the Diagnostics view. These include E002, E005, E020, E021, E022, E026, S001, S004, and S005.

For highlighting information, refer to the Select Highlighting Options dialog box.

The Structure Chart view makes your program easier to understand by breaking it into procedures. You can apply metrics information to the chart using color highlighting to provide additional information. Printing the chart can help you analyze or document large, complex programs. When you first open the Structure Chart, it appears from the perspective of the first entry point. The Structure Chart enables you to determine where each procedure fits into the structure of your program. The Structure Chart has the following graphics:

• Boxes. Each box represents a procedure, which is one or more paragraphs defined as a unit with one entry point and return point.
• Rounded Boxes. Each rounded box represents a procedure that contains an unconditional nonreturning statement (for example, a COBOL statement such as a GOBACK, STOP, or EXIT PROGRAM that does not execute). Control does not return from this procedure.
• Lines. Each line represents the hierarchical relationship that exists between any of the program's procedures.

Any time you select a box, it will be highlighted with a red circle.

Changing how nodes display in the chart

Nodes can be displayed in either Shapes mode or Text mode. The default display mode is Shapes mode, which uses shapes to indicate the node type. Text mode displays nodes that are square, have text-wrapping capability, and indicate the entity's type with words rather than shape, all of which allow the entire procedure name to show.

Here are examples of Shapes mode:

Here is an example of Text mode:

If many procedures start with the same characters or are truncated, it can be difficult to read the name of a procedure shown on a node. Changing the node display to Text mode remedies this problem. Here is an example of a node in Shapes mode that would be better in Text mode:

In Shapes mode:

In Text mode:

To change the mode, from the Chart menu, select Node Display>Text or Node Display>Shapes.

When you choose Text mode, you can also select among three text sizes to be used in the nodes. To select the text size to be used in the nodes, from the Chart menu, select Node Display>Text Size and then Small, Medium, or Large. Text size cannot be changed in Shapes mode.