- 1
- Comments (optional): Comments can appear on any line in DDS. They are identified by an asterisk in position 7.
- 2
- File level (optional): File-level keywords appear before the record format name (RECORD on line 00040).
- 3
- Record level (only one record is allowed in physical files): R in position 17 identifies RECORD as a record format name. The record level continues until the first field is named.
- 4
- Field level (at least one field name is required, unless the FORMAT keyword is specified on the record): For fields in physical files, specify at least a name and length. Other attributes can be specified explicitly or by default.
- 5
- Key field level (optional): K in position 17 identifies the field as a key field. A K must be specified for each key field. Specify the key field level by repeating a field name (here, FIELDA) after the field-level specifications.
Note: See the Positional
entries for physical and logical files topic for a description of each
of the columns shown in the figure.