Coding Standards for Database Files › Data Dictionary/Field Reference File

Data Dictionary/Field Reference File

A data dictionary is a centralized repository of field and data definitions. It is intended to:

• Facilitate documentation—all definitions are in only one place
• Minimize coding—definitions need to be coded only once
• Facilitate change—definitions need be changed in only one place

The function of the data dictionary may be achieved effectively on the IBM i by having a special physical file containing no data. Such a file is generally known as a field reference file.

CA 2E can automatically generate a field reference file. However, since each CA 2E model is effectively a data dictionary, you will probably only wish to have CA 2E generate a field reference file if the generated applications will be running on a machine that does not have CA 2E installed. CA 2E has a model value YFRFVNM, which controls whether the code generated by CA 2E for files refers to a field reference file or not.