Active Area

The active area is a dynamic file that is suballocated from the scratch queue for each terminal user. Allocation is performed one track at a time, as needed, to minimize disk space usage.

This file is initialized by the CLEAR and FETCH functions. The CLEAR function removes all data from the file and unallocates its disk space. The FETCH function allocates disk space and copies data into the file. Several of the DB panels show a field that is named ACTIVE SIZE. The field tells the terminal user how many lines of text are in this active area. A CLEAR function is performed at every logon and logoff.