Problem:

In an existing application the "Blink" attribute is used fairly often.  Now, having recompiled for use in Windows (with NetExpress), the blink attribute does not work.  I have checked through the online manuals and the old Micro Focus manuals and the only references I have seen are to do with Accept and Display, however there is a mention of creating a .ini file with the entry COBBLINK=ON.  I have tried this and there is no change.  Is there any other way that I will be able to get this to work.

This has been tested on Win 98 and Win 2000

Resolution:

The BLINK attribute, used in ACCEPT and DISPLAY statements does not work as you would expect on Win32. Nor, indeed, does it work on Windows 3.x or OS/2. On a windowed operating system, blinking the attributes would be very expensive in terms of processor usage so instead the systems provide the ability to apply intensity to the background colours. The BLINK attribute is used for this purpose. For example :

FOREGROUND-COLOR IS 7 BACKGROUND-COLOR IS 1

will display white text on a blue background

FOREGROUND-COLOR IS 7 HIGHLIGHT BACKGROUND-COLOR IS 1

will display bright white text on a blue background, and

FOREGROUND-COLOR IS 7 BACKGROUND-COLOR IS 1 BLINK

will display white text on a bright blue background.