ICF Files, REFFLD

Use this field-level keyword when referring to a field under one of the several conditions.

The name of the referenced field is different from the name in positions 19 through 28.
The name of the referenced field is the same as the name in positions 19 through 28, but the record format, file, or library of the referenced field is different from that specified with the REF keyword.
The referenced field occurs in the same DDS source file as the referencing field.

The format of the keyword is:

REFFLD([record-format-name/]referenced-field-name [  {*SRC |
[library-name/]database-file-name}])

The referenced-field-name is required even if it is the same as the referencing field. Use the record-format-name when the referenced file contains more than one record format. Use *SRC (rather than the database-file-name) when the referenced-field-name is in the same DDS source file as the referencing field. *SRC is the default value when the database-file-name, the library-name, and the REF keyword are not specified.

Note: When you refer to a field in the same DDS source file, the field you are referring to must precede the field you are defining.

Specify the database-file-name (qualified by its library-name if necessary) when you want to search a particular database file.

If, in the same DDS source file, you specify REF at the file level and REFFLD at the field level, the particular search sequence depends on both the REF and REFFLD keywords. For more information, see the topic When to specify REF and REFFLD keywords for DDS files.

The letter R must be specified in position 29. In some cases, if you specify a value for length, some keywords specified with the field in the database file are not included in the ICF file. For more information, see Reference for ICF files (position 29).

You can specify a distributed data management (DDM) file on this keyword.

When using a DDM file, the database-file-name and the library-name are the DDM file and library name on the source system. The referenced-field-name and the record-format-name are the field name and the record format name in the remote file on the target system.

Note: Interactive data definition utility (IDDU) files cannot be used as reference files.

Option indicators are not valid for this keyword.

Example

The following example shows how to specify the REFFLD keyword.

|...+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7....+....8
00010A          R FMAT1
00020A            ITEM           5
00030A            ITEM1     R               REFFLD(ITEM)
00040A            ITEM2     R               REFFLD(FMAT1/ITEM)
00050A            ITEM3     R               REFFLD(ITEM FILEX)
00060A            ITEM4     R               REFFLD(ITEM LIBY/FILEX)
00070A            ITEM5     R               REFFLD(FMAT1/ITEM LIBY/FILEX)
00080A            ITEM6     R               REFFLD(ITEM *SCR)
     A

Because the REF keyword is not specified, the default for lines 00030 and 00040 is to search the DDS source file in which they are specified. In line 00080, the parameter value *SRC explicitly specifies the source file.

REFFLD (Referenced Field) keyword for ICF files

Example