4. CA MICS Facilities › 4.2 CA MICS Component Generator (MCG) › 4.2.4 Generator Definition Statements › 4.2.4.5 Common Data Element Definition Statements

4.2.4.5 Common Data Element Definition Statements

Common data elements are elements that are used by more than
one CA MICS file. If a common element is used by files in
more than one product, the common element is defined in the
special generation library member called $DEGENIN.  If a
common element is used by files in a single product, the
common element is defined in that product's cccGENIN member
prior to the first AREA statement.

The characteristics of common data elements are defined
in a single place (the GENIN member) and they are included in
a file's definition through reference to the common
definition (using the TYPE and NAME statements).  These
statements are grouped in clusters, according to function.
The statement types used to describe common data elements are
TYPE, ALIAS, ALTNAME, and NAME.

The TYPE statement defines the summarization
characteristics of one or more data elements.  Each file in
the information area can have multiple TYPE statements.

Each of the other three statement types applies to the
definition of an individual data element:

    - The ALIAS statement is optional.  An ALIAS statement is
      used to define an alternate data element name.  The
      alternate name is used by MICF when it looks for the
      data element's documentation.  For example, data
      elements IMSRVAL1 through IMSRVAL8 will be documented
      on the CA MICS data dictionary by the member called
      IMSRVALX.  One ALIAS statement applies only to the data
      element defined by the NAME statement following the
      ALIAS statement.

    - The ALTNAME statement is used to replace the name of a
      common data element on all files in which that data
      element is kept.

    - The NAME statement gives the name and title of the data
      element itself.

These statements are described in the following sections:

    1 - Type Statement (TYPE)
    2 - Alias Statement (ALIAS)
    3 - Alternate Name Statement (ALTNAME)
    4 - Name Statement (NAME)

The grouping and order of the statements is important
because of the hierarchical nature of MCG statements.  This
diagram illustrates the order of statements:

           Common Data Element Definition

         +-------> +------------------- TYPE ....
         |         |
         |         |                     +- ALIAS ...
         |         | Data element group -+- NAME ...
         |         |
         |  type   |
         |  group -+ more data element groups ...
         |         |
GENLIB   |         |                     +- ALTNAME ...
member   |         | Data element group -+- NAME ...
$DEGENIN-+         |
or       |         |
cccGENIN |         |
         |         | Data element group -+- NAME ...
         |         +--------------------
         |
         |
         |  more
         |  type
         |  groups - ...
         |
         +--------------------------------- last type group