Use this key field-level keyword to specify that only the zone portion (farthest left 4 bits) of each byte of the key field is used when constructing a value associated with this key field. The digit portion is filled with zeros.
This keyword has no parameters.
This keyword is applied against the entire key field (not just a position within the field) and is valid only for character, hexadecimal, or zoned decimal type fields.
ZONE is not allowed with the ABSVAL, SIGNED, or DIGIT keywords.
If you specify ZONE for a key field, the value of the field is treated as a string of unsigned binary data rather than signed (which is the default for zoned decimal fields).
The following example shows how to specify the ZONE keyword.
|...+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7....+....8
00010A K CODE ZONE
A
If CODE is a 1-byte field, the values of the field for three different records might be as follows:
| Values | Hexadecimal | Digits used for key |
|---|---|---|
| A | C1 | C |
| B | C2 | C |
| E | C5 | C |