AN A320 CREW MISSED AN ALT CONSTRAINT BECAUSE THEY WERE DISTR AND ADDITIONALLY HAD DIFFICULTY PROGRAMMING THE FMGC.

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THE FLT WAS SCHEDULED FOR 56 MINS SFO-LAX. PUSH; TAXI; TKOF WERE NORMAL. I GOT AN UPDATED ATIS SOON AFTER LEVEL OFF SO I COULD REQUEST THE PAPERS FOR THE NEXT LEG. I PROGRAMMED THE ARR INFO INTO THE PERFORMANCE PAGE OF THE BOX AS I WAS WAITING FOR THE PAPERS. I WAS THE CAPT AND PF. CO-PLT AND I GOT INTO A DISCUSSION OF THE EFFECTIVE PAY DATE OF A BID HE WAS AWARDED IN AUGUST WHILE WE WERE WAITING. I ALSO PROGRAMMED THE ALTS FOR THE DSCNT FIXES INTO THE BOX AS I KNEW WE WOULD BE BUSY JUST PRIOR TO TOP OF DSCNT. (I FELT THAT I WAS DOING A GOOD JOB CONFLICTING TASKS AT THAT POINT.) WE LOOKED OVER ALL THE PAPERS ONCE THEY ARRIVED AND WERE DISCUSSING THE FUEL AS WE STARTED DOWN (I THINK IT WAS PLT'S DISCRETION FL240). AT APPROX FL260 WE WERE GIVEN 12000 FT AT SYMON WITH NO SPD RESTR. AS I WAS FINISHING UP THE ACARS RELEASE (APCH BRIEF WAS DONE); WE WERE GIVEN A XING RESTR OF 10 MI N OF FIM VOR AT OR BELOW FL180. I MADE NOTE OF THIS ON MY FLT PLAN AS I BELIEVED IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO PROGRAM SUCH XING RESTRS INTO THE AIRBUS FMGC. I CHKED TO SEE HOW THE DSCNT WAS GOING (I PUT SADDE ON THE PROGRESS PAGE AND FIM WAS THE TKOF POINT ON THE NAV DISPLAY) AND PROCEEDED TO FINISH UP THE ACARS RELEASE. I CALLED FOR THE DSCNT CHK. I WAS APPARENTLY DISTR AND BECAME CONVINCED THAT THE 180 DEG RESTR WAS AT FIM. I CHKED THE DSCNT USING 3-FOR-1 AND MADE SURE THE FL180 ITEMS WERE COMPLETE (LIGHTS; NO SMOKE DING; ETC) THINKING THAT I HAD THE DSCNT NAILED BY ABOUT 3 MI PRIOR TO FIM. THAT WAS WHEN ATC CALLED (IT WAS A FEMALE CTLR; BUT I DIDN'T NOTE THE FREQ) AND ASKED OUR ALT. WE WERE GOING THROUGH FL190 ABOUT 8 MI N OF FIM. THIS WAS WHEN THE CO-PLT AND I SIMULTANEOUSLY REALIZED THAT WE BOTH FORGOT ABOUT THE 10 MI N. WE FESSED UP TO ATC AND THE CTLR REMINDED US THAT IF WE ARE UNABLE TO MAKE A DSCNT RESTR; WE SHOULD TELL HER EARLY SO SHE CAN MAKE ALTERNATE PLANS FOR TFC DECONFLICTION. I APOLOGIZED AND ADMITTED THAT I HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE 10 MI N AND THOUGHT THE FL180 WAS AT FIM. THIS WAS MOSTLY DUE TO MY MISMGMNT OF THE DSCNT TASK LOAD (ALTHOUGH I THOUGHT I WAS ON TOP OF IT UNTIL ATC CALLED ABOUT OUT ALT). I WOULD DEFINITELY SAY THAT THE AIRBUS FMGC PROGRAMMING LIMITATIONS WERE A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR; AS THERE IS NO EASY WAY TO PROGRAM IN RESTRS PRIOR TO PROGRAMMED FIXES. I FEEL THIS WAS A DISTR ISSUE AIDED BY THE FMGC LIMITATIONS OF THE AIRBUS AND THE FACT THAT WE FAILED TO SET THE ALT WINDOW TO THE MOST RESTRICTIVE ALT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SOP. I WOULD; HOWEVER; VERY MUCH LIKE TO SEE THE FAA REQUIRE ANY POSSIBLE ALT CONSTRAINTS ISSUED BY ATC BE EASILY PROGRAMMED INTO THE FMGC.