Variable format records

With the exception of H records, which are fixed format records, all records are variable format records:

Indicator

Record type

V

Data value (see Data value records (V))

T

Data table description (see Data table description records (T))

R

Table row (see Table row records (R))

E

End of object (see End-of-object record (E))

*

Application data (see Application data record (*))

L

Report line (see Report line records (L))

C

Data continuation (see Data continuation records (C))

Variable format records are accepted on input. This refers to the records themselves, not the files, data sets, or CICS data queuesthat contain the records. Variable format records have the following general form:

The control area is:

Byte position

Description

01

Record identifier (H,V,T,R,E,*,L,C)

02

Blank (sometimes omitted; see specific type of variable format record)

The record data area is a variable length area containing information about that specific record. Fields in this area are separated by a delimiter (a blank character is used in this book).

Data value records (V)

Value records are used to provide a value for a single field in an object, such as blank lines before the heading in the form. V records contain:

• A field number unique to the object
• The field's length
• The field's value

Appendix B. Export/Import Formats lists the assignments of field numbers to the fields contained in the prompted query, form, and report objects.

The contents of a V record are:

Control area for V records:

Byte Position

Description

01

Value record identifier (V)

02

Blank (used only for reports, omitted for forms and prompted query)

Record data area for V records

Byte position

Description

01

Blank

02-05

Field number (1001-9999)

06

Blank

07-09

Length of the data value (000-999). Can also be an asterisk (*) followed by two blanks. An asterisk indicates that the data value is delimited by the end of the record.

10

Blank

11-end

Data

1. Record data area byte positions are offset from the end of the control area, the length of which is indicated in the header record.
2. An omitted data value (an end-of-record or only blanks following the length field) indicates that the field contains a null value.
3. If the length field is zero, the default value for the field is applied and a warning message is issued.
4. If the specified length is different from the actual data that follows, QMF issues a warning.

Data table description records (T)

In the encoded format, most data in an object appears in tables. These are not relational tables in the database, but rather a means of grouping information within the encoded format.

Each T record defines one table, and each table corresponds to a particular part of an object, such as summary calculations in the form. Thus, one exported file can contain many of these encoded tables. See Appendix B. Export/Import Formats for information about field numbers for encoded tables and their columns.

A T record is always followed by R records. The T record describes the R records that follow it. If there are no R records following a T record, the table is omitted.

Be sure your application program refers to the contents of tables of an exported form, report, or prompted query by using the encodings in the T record to correctly locate the values in the R records. Your application program should not use fixed offsets to locate information in R records.

The contents of a T record are as follows:

Control area for T records:

Byte position

Description

01

Table record identifier (T)

02

Blank (used only for reports, omitted for forms and prompted queries)

Record data area for T records

The byte positions in the following list are offsets following the end of the control area, the length of which is indicated in the header record.

Byte position

Description

01

Blank

02-05

Table number (1001-9999)

06

Blank

07-09

The number of rows (R records) in this table. An asterisk (*) used instead of a numeric value means that the table consists of all the R records that follow.

10

Blank

11-13

The number of columns in the record (000-999)

14

Blank

15-18, 24-27, ...

The field number for this column (repeating field)

19, 28, ...

Blank (repeating field)

20-22, 29-31, ...

The length of the data values in this column (repeating field)

Bytes 11-13 (number of columns) indicate how many field number/data value length pairs follow; this means that the information in bytes 15 through 22 is repeated for each column.

1. When a form or prompted query is imported, the number of R records must match the row count specified in bytes 07-09 of the record data area of the T record. Otherwise, QMF issues a warning.
2. When a form or prompted query is imported, the number of columns indicated in bytes 11-13 must agree with the field number/length pairs in the bytes that follow. If not, QMF issues a warning.
3. The number of field number/length pairs is limited to the number of columns in the table, and their order is arbitrary.
4. Columns with a length of zero (or not included in this table) are set to their default values when the object in the temporary storage area is updated and a warning is issued. This is not always true for Prompted Query. Where possible, a default is supplied; otherwise an error occurs.
5. To set a column field to blank, the column must have a positive length in the T record and a blank value in the R record.

Table row records (R)

R records provide a set of values for a single row in an encoded table. R records contain a list of values arranged in an order described by the associated T record. An R record matches the description of the positions and lengths of the data values specified in the T record. The contents of an R record are as follows:

Control area for R records:

Byte position

Description

01

Row record identifier (R)

02

Blank (used only for reports, omitted for forms and prompted queries)

Record data area for R records

Following the control area, the data area for R records consists of a series of values separated by a delimiter (blank character). The format is as follows:

_val.._val..._val..

where val... is the data value for this row and column and _ is the delimiter.

1. An R record must immediately follow another R or a T record.
2. The number of data values (v..v) must match the description in the associated T record.
3. A data value length of zero in the associated T record indicates that no value is to be applied to this row and column of the object; that is, it is set to its default value. However, the presence of the field in the T record requires that the R record contain an extra blank for this field (a zero-length value results in one blank followed by another in the R record).

End-of-object record (E)

The E record specifies the end of an exported object. It is the last record of an exported file, appearing as the character E. For an exported report, an E record is followed by a blank character to complete its control area. For a form, the blank is omitted.

Any records following the E record are ignored. If an E record is not included with the file being imported, QMF assumes that end-of-file implies the end of the object.