External - Sequential Format(4.3)

Owned by Jenni Wallin
Aug 26, 2024

A sequential external format specification consists of two parts; the record declaration and the field declarations. The record declaration can contain information about UDR size and how the record type is identified. The field declarations may be grouped into larger structures such as bit_block and set. The syntax of the external format declarations is declared as follows:

external <format_name> [: <record declaration>] {
         <content declarations>
};


The comma separated elements of the record declaration list may be (in any order):

  • terminated_by( <terminator> )

  • dynamic_size( <expression> )

  • static_size( <constant expression> )

  • identified_by( <conditional expression> )

The content declarations can be:

  • field declarations

  • bit_block declarations

  • set declarations

  • switched_set declarations


This chapter includes the following sections: