Re: Managing one physical file with several subfile record formats

Vern,

Being pedantic for a moment... the term is "program described"
(meaning described in the program) vs. "externally defined" (defined
outside the program.) Not "internally described" -- though, of course,
I knew what you meant.

With regards to free format -- it's completely possible for them to be
program-described. You can't write I or O specs in free format, but you
can still use data structures to read/write data to/from
program-described files.

Good luck

On 6/21/23 6:40 AM, Vern Hamberg via RPG400-L wrote:

Hi Dave

Should I assume that your physical file is internally described?
Therefore, you are using fixed format? Free format file descriptions
have to be externally described.

Anyhow, with internal descriptions, we have I-specs with record
identifiers - this is old school, I've not used this for decades, I
think! :) And then there would be indicators, IIRC. Nowadays you
can give names to some indicators, maybe, for this purpose.

I did look at the SFILE keyword documentation -

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/i/7.3?topic=keywords-sfilerecformatrrnfield#fsfile

- you can see whether there is any way to use variables.

Regards
Vern

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