Add ELEMENT Substructures

FILEMAINT Mode - FILE Structure Maintenance › Add Structures › Add ELEMENT Substructures

Add ELEMENT Substructures

An element contains one or more contiguous fields. Because elements are the units of data transferred between the database and programs, define elements that contain groups of fields that are accessed together by your programs.

You can define an ELEMENT occurrence by using one of the following procedures:

Select the ADD option on the ELEMENT Structure Functions Menu panel, fill in the following prompter panel, and complete the ELEMENT definition panel.
Use an ADD command for an ELEMENT (see ADD) and complete the ELEMENT definition panel.
Use the MOD margin command in the line number of a RECORD on an indented structure display to place the RECORD in the online work queue. When you retrieve the RECORD with PF4 (PROCESS), complete an entry for an ELEMENT in the ELEMENT section on the RECORD definition panel.

When you select the ADD option on the ELEMENT Structure Functions panel, you receive the following prompter panel:

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 1-DDOL000196A - CMPP - PLEASE COMPLETE REQUIRED INFORMATION FOR COMMAND
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 FILE Structure Maintenance
                                                                            TACF
 ADD ELEMENT  ________________________________
 ADD ELM      (name)

 TO  RECORD   ________________________________ in STATUS ____
 TO  REC      (name)                              STA   (status)

 with PASSWORD      using LOCK 0     LIKE ________________________________
      PSWD    (pswd)      LOC (lock) LIKE (name)







 PF1=HELP  PF2=END  PF3=CLARIFY  PF4=PROCESS  PF5=MENU   PF6=STATUS
 PF7=SCB   PF8=SCF  PF9=APPLY    PF10=PATH    PF11=NEXT  PF12=INPUT

The following list describes each field, the valid entries, and the default (if one exists). Fields that require an entry are highlighted on your terminal. Fields which are not highlighted indicate that an entry is optional.

ELEMENT (name)

(Required) Specify the name for the occurrence you are adding.

Valid Entries:: 1- to 32-character name
Default Value:: (No default)

RECORD (name)

(Required) Specify the name of the existing occurrence.

Valid Entries:: 1- to 32-character name
Default Value:: (No default)

(status)

(Required) Specify the status of the existing occurrence.

Valid Entries:: T001—T999
Default Value:: (No default)

(pswd)

(Optional) Specify a password to protect this occurrence from unauthorized updates. See the section on protecting definitions in the CA Datacom Datadictionary User Guide.

Valid Entries:: 1 to 4 alphanumeric characters
Default Value:: (No default)

(lock)

(Optional) Specify a lock level to restrict access to this occurrence. For more information, see the section about protecting definitions in the CA Datacom Datadictionary User Guide.

Valid Entries:: 0, 1, 2
Default Value:: 0

LIKE (name)

(Optional) Specify the name of an existing ELEMENT occurrence in the same status to use as the model for the occurrence you are adding.

Note: Any aliases or descriptors assigned to the existing occurrence are not duplicated for the new occurrence. Define these separately.

Valid Entries:: 1- to 32-character name
Default Value:: (No default)

When you press Enter, the ELEMENT definition panel appears. FIELD occurrences must be defined to the RECORD before they can appear on this definition panel. The definition panel can be used to define fields as components of an element in either of two methods, the implicit method or the explicit method.