Option

Default

Description

PREFIX

Nothing

Items inserted before the record. The possible values are listed in PREFIX and POSTFIX Codes.

POSTFIX

Nothing

Items inserted after the record. The possible values are listed in PREFIX and POSTFIX Codes.

DATACHECK

TRUE

Determines whether the format should contain code for validating data, such as checking for nulls, illegal characters, and integer overflows. Syntax:

DATACHECK [ TRUE | FALSE ]

By setting DATACHECK to FALSE, the formatting routines will be smaller and execute faster (by about 5%). For example:

COBOL format COBOLFIXED using filter EVERYTHING
prefix STRNAME RECTYPE CHANGECODE
postfix UID PUID
DataCheck false

The Span and Snapshot Accessories can benefit from setting DATACHECK to FALSE especially if they use a DISPLAY FORMAT such as FIXEDFORMAT. (DBServer/DATABridge Client will see very little improvement.)

Note: The DATACHECK option is not valid for RAW formats.

SEPARATOR

Nothing

Identifies the separator to use between each item (column). The value specified here will separate each of the DATAITEMS selected from each DATASET. This value does not apply to PREFIX or POSTFIX.

DECIMALPT

Nothing

Identifies the decimal point character.

Note: For a COBOL format, DECIMALPT must be either a period or a comma.

PADDING

NULL

The character used to fill short records.

POSITIVE

VALUE

The format of a non-negative number. For more information, see DATANAME and VALUE. If you want the name of the data item in the output records, enter the keyword DATANAME, as follows:

POSITIVE DATANAME = +VALUE

Note: DATANAME is illegal for a COBOL format.

NEGATIVE

VALUE

The format of a negative number. See DATANAME and VALUE. If you want the name of the data item in the output, enter the keyword DATANAME, as follows:

NEGATIVE DATANAME = -VALUE

Note: DATANAME is illegal for a COBOL format

UNSIGNED

VALUE

The format of an unsigned number. See DATANAME and VALUE.

If you want the name of the data item in the output, enter the keyword DATANAME, as follows:

UNSIGNED DATANAME = VALUE

Note: DATANAME is illegal for a COBOL format

TEXT

VALUE

The format of an alphanumeric item. See DATANAME and VALUE. If you want the name of the data item in the output, enter the keyword DATANAME, as follows:

TEXT DATANAME = "VALUE"

Note: DATANAME is illegal for a COBOL format

TRANSLATE

None

The name of a translation table defined in the Translations portion of the GenFormat parameter file. Translation tables are explained in Creating and Using Translation Tables.

Note: TRANSLATE is illegal for a COBOL format.

FLOAT

SCIENTIFIC (11)

The format of a real number. Can be specified as DECIMAL (w, d) or SCIENTIFIC (w).

DECIMAL has a fixed number of decimal places, indicated by d. For example, DECIMAL (12, 2) means 12 total characters, two of which are to the right of the decimal point.

Example: #########.##

SCIENTIFIC uses exponential notation to represent a floating point number in a fixed width, indicated by w. For example, SCIENTIFIC (11) means 11 total characters in the following format:

#.#####E-##

OVERFLOW

9

When you include the OVERFLOW option, an integer overflow replaces the field with the OVERFLOW character for the width of the field.

If you do not specify an OVERFLOW character, the field will contain all nines and will be formatted normally.

Note: OVERFLOW is illegal for a COBOL format.

NULL

Numbers: 0

Text: spaces

If specified and the field contains the DMSII defined NULL character(s), then the formatting routine will replace the field with the FORMAT-defined NULL character for the width of the field.