Format Information

The Format Information stores the definition records of data formatting of Send files. A maximum of 32,766 records can be registered in the Format Information. Besides, a maximum of 1000 fields can be registered per record, and the total byte count per record is 19,997 at maximum. One field consists of several elements and it ranges from the Field Name to the Field Type. There are two ways to register records in the information.

Registration using the Management Console

->Refer to Creating and editing a record of the Format Information
Registration using parameter file and command

->Refer to Registering and updating a record in management information.

(1) Fields

The table below indicates field values, optional fields, and so on, that are applicable when the fields are specified from the Management Console. The check marks in the Optional column are applicable only to the Management Console. The values might differ when commands are used to specify the fields. For details on optional fields for the command-based specification, refer to Registering and updating a record in management information.

Table 2.13 Fields of the Format Information
Field Name		Default Value	Valid Values	Optional	Remarks
Screen	File	Default Value	Valid Values	Optional	Remarks
Format ID	FMT		Alphanumeric characters		Within 50 bytes starting with an alphabetic letter
Field Name	FORMAT DEF to DEFEND		Characters		Within 16 bytes (1)(2)
Start Position			From 1 to 9999	✔
Byte Count			From 1 to 9999
Decimal Places			0 to 9	✔
Field Type			X,B,P,N,M,9,F,I,S
Comment	COMMENT		Characters	✔	Within 60 bytes

✔	:	Optional
Blank	:	Mandatory
*1	:	You can register a string that starts with a number sign (#) as a value for the Field Name on HULFT Management Console. However, you cannot register a string that starts with a number sign (#) as a value for the Field Name when you use the Management Information Batch Registration command (UTLIUPDT), because the sign represents a comment line in the command description. In this manual, the hexadecimal code 0x7B is expressed as "#". The character represented by 0x7B varies depending on the code set.
*2	:	You can register a string "DEFEND" as a value for the Field Name on HULFT Management Console. However, you cannot register a string "DEFEND" as a value for the Field Name when you use the Management Information Batch Registration command (UTLIUPDT), because the string is a reserved word in the command.

(2) Explanation of each field

This section explains the fields to be specified in a record of the Format Information. A string within brackets () is the tag of a field name to be specified when you use a parameter file to register the information.

Format ID (FMT)

The ID to identify the registered record of formatting definition

This ID is used as the format ID in the Send Management Information and in the Multi Format Information.

Field Name (FORMAT DEF to DEFEND)

Name to identify the field

Start Position (FORMAT DEF to DEFEND)

The start position of the relevant field

The starting position of the field (byte count from the top of the record) is specified.

If omitted, the sum value of the byte count and the Start Position of the preceding field is specified (automatically calculated).

Byte Count (FORMAT DEF to DEFEND)

Byte count of the field.

Decimal Places (FORMAT DEF to DEFEND)

The decimal places of the relevant field.

Specify the Decimal Places when the field carries data in numeral and, if any, there is decimal position.

If omitted, "0" is set.

Field Type (FORMAT DEF to DEFEND)

Data type of the field

X :: Character
M :: Variable-length Characters
N :: Double-byte Graphic Characters
B :: Binary
F :: Floating Point
9 :: Unsigned External Decimal
S :: Signed External Decimal
P :: Signed Internal Decimal
I :: Image (No Conversion)

Comment (COMMENT)

Comment on the format.

(3) Field types

The sizes and descriptions of the field types are shown below.

Table 2.14 Field types
Field Type		Size (Byte)	Description
X	Character	From 1 to 9999	Character data format that consists only of single-byte codes. The data of this field type must not include double-byte codes.
M	Variable-length Characters	From 1 to 9999	Character data format that consists of single-byte codes and double-byte codes. A character code in Type-EBCDIC Code Set must be enclosed within shift codes.
N	Double-byte Graphic Characters	From 2 to 9998	Character data format that consists only of double-byte codes. The data of this field type must not include single-byte codes. Only even numbered bytes can be handled. The field type is used for the Type-EBCDIC Code Sets, which do not use shift codes.
9	Unsigned External Decimal	From 1 to 18	Decimal data format of zoned numeric without sign.
B	Binary	2,4,8	Numeric data format of signed integer.
P	Signed Internal Decimal	From 1 to 10	Packed decimal data format with sign. At maximum 18-digit number can be handled.
S	Signed External Decimal	From 1 to 18	Decimal data format of zoned numeric with sign.
F	Floating point	4,8	Floating point data format with sign. Mainframe supports IBM format, while other host types support the floating decimal format of IEEE.
I	Image	From 1 to 9999	Data format that indicates No Conversion.

For details on the code conversion rules for each field type, refer to Code Conversion Manual.

(4) Points to be noted on the settings

Field Name Duplication

Within a record for a format ID, you cannot specify the same field name more than once.