Control Statements › DEFINE Statement › Parameters

Parameters

field-name1

can contain up to 16 characters. Blank spaces are valid, but can only be used one at a time. Otherwise, the only valid characters are the letters A through Z and the digits 0 through 9.

The slash (/) character can also be used; it causes the characters of the name before it and after it to print on two separate lines in a column heading.

CA JARS Wizard establishes the field as a four-byte packed decimal field unless one of the following conditions applies:

• the field name has a suffix code specifying a different format
• the initial value is character format data. CA JARS Wizard establishes the field as character with a length equal to the initial value

Field-name1 can be qualified by using suffixes. The suffixes specify format, length, scaling, editing, and print attributes for the field, overriding the defaults. (See the "Appendix B" chapter for a discussion on the suffixes.)

field-name2

refers to any data field defined in the glossary, a keyword, or a previously defined work item. Once defined, the field can be referenced by its glossary name or its new name. The column heading is based on the name used in the LIST statement.

(x,y)

The (x,y) suffix designates a subfield within an existing character field.

x

designates the first position of the subfield within the existing field.

y

designates the length of the subfield.

For example, (2,4) indicates that only the second, third, fourth, and fifth characters of the existing data field are considered. This suffix cannot be specified for date or numeric fields.

value

can be any character or numeric literal. A character field can contain up to 255 letters, digits, and special characters. A numeric field can be up to 9,999,999 unless the field name has a suffix code establishing a larger format.

The reserved words BLANK, BLANKS, SPACE, and SPACES can be used to establish initial values of blanks for character fields.

The reserved word LOVALUE can be used to establish initial values of zeros for numeric fields, according to the field's format.

fCCa-b

The CC notation refers to positions in a nonglossary file in the run. CC stands for Control Column.

f

specifies the physical file (1 = first physical file, etc.). This can be omitted if only one nonglossary file is present.

a

specifies the starting position of the field in the record.

b

specifies the ending position of the field in the record.