Arrange key fields in ascending or descending sequence

Key fields can be arranged in either ascending or descending sequence.

Consider the following records.

Record	Empnbr	Clsnbr	Clsnam	Cpdate
1	56218	412	Welding I	032188
2	41322	412	Welding I	011388
3	64002	412	Welding I	011388
4	23318	412	Welding I	032188
5	41321	412	Welding I	051888
6	62213	412	Welding I	032188

If the Empnbr field is the key field, the two possibilities for organizing these records are:

In ascending sequence, where the order of the records in the access path is.

Record	Empnbr	Clsnbr	Clsnam	Cpdate
4	23318	412	Welding I	032188
5	41321	412	Welding I	051888
2	41322	412	Welding I	011388
1	56218	412	Welding I	032188
6	62213	412	Welding I	032188
3	64002	412	Welding I	011388

In descending sequence, where the order of the records in the access path is.

Record	Empnbr	Clsnbr	Clsnam	Cpdate
3	64002	412	Welding I	011388
6	62213	412	Welding I	032188
1	56218	412	Welding I	032188
2	41322	412	Welding I	011388
5	41321	412	Welding I	051888
4	23318	412	Welding I	032188

When you describe a key field, the default is ascending sequence. However, you can use the DESCEND DDS keyword to specify that you want to arrange a key field in descending sequence.