To do this, you define maps and mapsets and generate these definitions into the corresponding BMS macros and COBOL and Assembler copybooks. You can create new maps or edit existing ones, whether created by you or downloaded from the mainframe (see the section Working with Previously Created Maps). You can create and edit a mapset either within a project or independently of any project.
You create a map by painting on it fields with specified attributes and properties. You design the map on-screen, so you can control precisely how it should appear.
Everything you paint on a map in a painter session is either static text or a named field. Both are automatically defined as fields (DFHMDF macros) when you generate the BMS macro file. For example:
By default, the painter generates copybook data descriptions for each field at the same level. You can, however, create group items by defining groups of fields in the painter.
Each field you create in the painter is generated as a BMS DFHMDF macro. Each field is also part of a map. With the painter you can group a collection of maps into a mapset. When you generate the BMS macro file, a DFHMDI macro defines each map and a DFHMSD macro defines the mapset.
The BMS Painter generates a BMS macro file (.bms file) as its output. By compiling this BMS macro file from the Files View you can generate a BMS COBOL copybook (.cpy file), Assembler copybook (.mac file) and a BMS load module (.mod file). Output options are explained in more detail in the section Generating Output from the Painter.