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Format buffers specify the fields to be processed during the execution of an Adabas read or update command. The format buffer must be long enough to hold the largest field definition contained in the related program, including the ending point (.) of the buffer itself.

Format buffers are used in combination with record buffers and, in ACBX interface direct calls, multifetch buffers. If a format buffer is specified, a record buffer must also be specified. If a record buffer is not provided, Adabas will create dummy record buffer (with length zero) to pair with the format buffer.

When using the ACBX direct call interface, multiple format buffers can be specified for an Adabas direct call.

In an ACBX interface direct calls, a multifetch buffer segment may also be listed. For more information, read Record Buffers and Multifetch Buffers.

For complete information about the relationships between the different types of ABD or buffer specifications, read Understanding the Different Buffer Types.

This document covers the following topics:

• Format Buffer Syntax

• Field Selection Criteria

• Record Format Specifications

• Specifying Field Lengths of LA (Long Alpha) Fields in Format Buffers

• Format Buffer Performance Considerations

Format Buffer Syntax

Format buffers are divided into two parts: optional field selection criteria for the buffer and the record format expected.

Multiple record formats may be specified in the format buffer for files that contain various record formats. The specific record format to be used is determined by the value of a field in the file (for example, record type). When specifying multiple record formats, each one must be preceded by a format selection criterion.

The format buffer has the following syntax:

[field-selection-criteria1] record-format1[,[field-selection-criteria2] record-format2]... .

A comma must be used to separate all format buffer entries. One or more spaces may be present between entries. The last entry may not be followed by a comma.

The format buffer must end with a period.

The following sections describe the components of this syntax:

• Field Selection Criteria

• Record Format Specifications

Field Selection Criteria

Field selection criteria (field-selection-criteria1 and field-selection-criteria2) are optional in a format buffer. They allow you to restrict record formats to specific values of fields. The syntax of field selection criteria is:

(field-name operator value1 [, value2]...)

field-name

The field name used in field selection criteria must be the valid name of a field in the FDT of the Adabas file being read. It cannot be:

• The name of a group or periodic group

• A field using any of the MU, PE, LA, or LB options

• A subfield, superfield, subdescriptor, or superdescriptor

• A collation descriptor

• A hyperdescriptor

• A phonetic descriptor.

In addition, fields specified with the NU or NC/NN options must have a non-null value; otherwise the selection criteria will be false.

operator

The following table lists the operators that can be used in the format buffer field selection criteria.

Operator	Meaning
EQ	equal to
=	equal to
NE	not equal to
LT	less than
<	less than
GT	greater than
>	greater than
LE	less than or equal to
GE	greater than or equal to

value1, value2

The value must be a numeric integer or an alphanumeric value.

If you use the EQ or = operator, a series of values can be specified, separated by commas. An alphanumeric value must be enclosed within apostrophes (for example, 'value').

Consider the following example:

(SA = 1) record-format-1, (SA = 2,3,4) record-format-2, (SA GE 4) record-format-3.

The field selection criteria specifies that:

• If the value of field SA is "1", record-format-1 is used;

• If the value of field SA is "2", "3" or "4", record-format-2 is used;

• If the value of field SA is equal to or greater than "4", record-format-3 is used.

The first criterion that is met is used. If no criteria are met, a response code is returned. In the example above, if the value of field SA is "4", both the last two conditions in the field selection criteria are satisfied. However, record-format-2 will always be used, rather than record-format 3 because it is the first criteria satisfied. Likewise, if the value of SA is "0", a response code is returned.

Record Format Specifications

The record format (record-format1) is required and is used to indicate which fields should be read or updated in the Adabas direct call. Additional record formats can also be specified (record-format2).

The syntax of the record format is:

For information about each of the elements in this syntax, read the section listed in the following table:

field Syntax

The syntax for a field in record format syntax is:

Field Syntax

This section covers the following topics related to this field syntax:

• field-name Specifications
• Index or Range Notation (i [-j] Notation)
• Periodic Group References
• Multiple-Value Fields
• Multiple-Value Fields within Periodic Groups
• Count Indicator (C)
• Length Indicator (L)
• Highest Occurrence/Value Indicator (N)
• SQL Significance Indicator (S)

field-name Specifications

The field-name is the name of the field or group for which the value, range, or count is requested or for which a new value is being provided. The name specified must be two characters in length and must be present in the FDT of the file being read or updated by the Adabas direct call. The name can refer to an elementary, subfield, superfield, multiple-value field, a group, or a periodic group.

A field name that refers to a group results in all the fields within the group being referenced. Use of group names can greatly reduce the time required to process the command. A group name cannot be used if the group contains a multiple-value or variable-length field (no standard length).

For access commands, the same name may be specified more than once. In this case, the field value is returned multiple times.

For update commands, the same name cannot be used more than once (except in the case of multiple-value fields, as explained later in this section).

A subfield, superfield, subdescriptor, or superdescriptor name may be specified for access commands but not for update commands.

The following table illustrates the relationship between allowed single-value field types and the type of command:

Notes:

1. Format C may be used with read commands to request the record in its compressed format.
2. A field specified for an update command cannot be repeated, cannot contain a "1-N"-type specification, and cannot specify a group and an element (field or group) contained in the group.
3. A collation descriptor (COLDE) can only be specified in the format buffer of the L9 command and only when the decode option has been specified in the user exit. The value returned is not the index value but the original field value.

Index or Range Notation (i [-j] Notation)

The following is the field name syntax for selecting multiple-value fields or occurrences of periodic groups:

field-name i[-j]

where:

Periodic group names must be followed by a numeric or other appropriate suffix (see the discussions of the Count Indicator (C) and the highest occurrence/value indicator Highest Occurrence/Value Indicator (N) for more information). Specifying a periodic group name as the field name alone is incorrect syntax.

Multiple-value fields can be specified by explicitly identifying a particular value (indexing) or by referencing each value in sequence, letting Adabas assign an index based on the sequence. See Multiple-Value Fields for more information.

Periodic Group References

If a periodic group (or a field within a periodic group) is to be referenced, the specific occurrence to be used must be specified. This is accomplished by appending a one- to three-digit index (value 1-191, leading zeros are permitted) to the name.

Consider the following examples:

Note:
The examples in this section use the Adabas file definitions described in File Definitions Used in Examples.

1. An occurrence is identified by the name of the periodic group and the occurrence number.

   Example	Selects . . .
   GB3	the third occurrence of periodic group GB (fields BA3, BB3, BC3).

2. When selecting fields within one or more periodic groups, the field name and occurrences (values) are used; the group name is implied.

   Example	Selects . . .
   BB06	the sixth occurrence of field BB.

3. To refer to a range of occurrences of a periodic group (or a field within a periodic group), enter the periodic group or field name, followed by the first and last occurrence numbers separated by a hyphen. The occurrence numbers must occur in ascending sequence; a descending range is not permitted.

   Example	Selects . . .
   GB2-4	the second through fourth occurrences of periodic group GB, including all fields within these occurrences (BA2, BB2, BC2; BA3, BB3, BC3; and BA4, BB4, BC4).
   BA2-4,BC2-4	the second through fourth occurrences of field BA and BC (BA2, BA3, BA4, BC2, BC3, BC4).

Multiple-Value Fields

Multiple-value fields can be specified in the format buffer in two ways: by explicitly identifying a particular value (indexing) or by referencing each value in sequence, letting Adabas assign an index based on the sequence. These two methods apply as well to sub- or superdescriptors derived from multiple-value fields.

Note:
The examples in this section use the Adabas file definitions described in File Definitions Used in Examples.

1. Indexing: To refer to a particular value of a multiple-value field, enter a one- to three-digit index (value 1-191, leading zeros permitted) after the field name.

   Example	Selects . . .
   MF2	the second value of the multiple-value field MF.
   MF1, MF10	the first and tenth values of the multiple-value field MF.

   To refer to a range of values for a multiple-value field, specify the first and last values desired, connected by a hyphen, immediately after field name. An ascending range must be specified.

   Example	Selects . . .
   MF1-3	the first three values of the multiple-value field MF.

2. Sequencing: To refer to multiple-value fields by repeating the field name, first specify the first value, then the second, and so on.

   Example	Selects . . .
   MF,MF	the first and second values of the multiple-value field MF.
   AA,MF,AB,MF,AC,MF	the first three values of the multiple-value field MF and the values for the fields AA, AB and AC, in the order shown.

Both methods of referencing a multiple-value field can be used in the same format buffer. If no occurrence index is specified, an index that is one higher than the last index, proceeding from left to right, is implicitly (or explicitly) assigned. If the last index was specified as "N" or "1-N", referring to the highest existing occurrence, a new field specification without an explicit index will refer to the same field occurrence as the last specification. See Highest Occurrence/Value Indicator (N) for more information about the highest occurrence/value indicator N/1-N/NC.

For an update command where all format buffer references to a multiple-value field are specified without indexes (i.e., by sequencing), only those occurrences specified will remain in the record; all other occurrences that might exist are deleted. If any one reference to a multiple-value field is specified with an index, then only the specified occurrences are changed; all other occurrences remain unchanged.

Multiple-Value Fields within Periodic Groups

If a multiple-value field is within a periodic group, specifying the multiple-value field name implies the periodic group name. The group name, therefore, does not have to be specified; only the group occurrence or occurrence range is required. The general syntax for selecting a multiple-value field value or value range within a periodic group occurrence or occurrence range is:

field-name i[-j] (i[- j])

where:

Consider the following examples:

Note:
The examples in this section use the Adabas file definitions described in File Definitions Used in Examples.

1. To refer to a multiple-value field contained within a periodic group, enter the occurrence number of the periodic group after the field name, followed by the desired multiple-value field values or range of values enclosed within parentheses.

   Example	Selects . . .
   CB2(5)	the fifth value of the multiple-value field CB in the second occurrence of the periodic group that contains field CB.
   CB2(1-5)	the first five values of the multiple-value field CB in the second occurrence of the periodic group that contains field CB.

2. To refer to either the same multiple-value field or the same ranges of multiple-value fields contained within a range of periodic group occurrences, enter the range of occurrences after the field name, followed by the multiple-value field value or range of values, enclosed within parentheses.

   Example	Selects . . .
   CB3-5(2)	the second value of multiple-value field CB in each of the third through the fifth occurrences of the periodic group containing field CB.
   CB1-2(1-4)	the first four values of the multiple-value field CB in the first occurrence of the periodic group containing field CB, followed by the first four values of CB in the second occurrence of the periodic group.

Count Indicator (C)

To obtain the count of periodic group occurrences, or the count of existing values of a multiple-value field not in a periodic group, specify the periodic group or multiple-value field name followed by "C":

field-name C     count for multiple-value field or periodic group "field-name"

The count is returned in the record buffer as a one-byte binary number unless an explicit length and/or format is specified (see Length and Data Format).

If your Adabas file uses the Adabas 8 extended MU/PE limits, verify that your program reads the occurrence count into a record buffer field with two or more bytes so that it can handle two-byte occurrence count values (for example, FB='MUC,2,B.'). Adabas returns response code 55, subcode 9 if you only provide a one-byte field in the record buffer for the occurrence count of an MU field or PE group in a file with extended MU/PE limits.

To obtain the count of the existing values of a multiple-value field contained within a periodic group, enter the multiple-value field name followed by the group occurrence and "C":

field-name i C   count for multiple-value field "field-name" within a group occurrence

For update commands, specifying "C" causes Adabas to skip in the record buffer the number of positions occupied by the count field, thus ignoring the count.

The user cannot directly update multiple-value or periodic group count fields. These count fields are updated by Adabas when multiple-value field values and periodic group occurrences are added or deleted.

Length Indicator (L)

The format buffer indicator, L, can be used to retrieve or specify the actual length of any LA or LB alphanumeric or wide-character field value. This format buffer element is referred to as the length indicator.

Note:
At this time, the length indicator can only be used in format buffer specifications for LA or LB fields. Support for use of the length indicator in other fields as well will be considered in a future release of Adabas.

The length indicator is specified using the field name followed by the character L (for example, FB='ACL,4,B.' would return the length of the AC field). If the field is a multiple-value field or is located in a periodic group, the field name and character L are followed by the related occurrence indices (for example, FB='ACL2,4,B.' would return the length of the second value of multiple-value field AC). The compressed field length is returned in four-byte binary format. A different length and format cannot be specified.

• Using the Length Indicator with MU/PE Fields
• Using the Length Indicator in Read Commands
• Using the Length Indicator in Update Commands

Using the Length Indicator with MU/PE Fields

When used with MU or PE fields, the length indicator must specify occurrence indices, including the range of occurrence index. However, it cannot specify the 1-N occurrence index. Consider the following examples.

1. In the following example, the length of the fifth value of the second occurrence of periodic group field AC would be returned:

   FB='ACL2(5).'

2. In the following example, the lengths of the first ten values of multiple value field AC would be returned:

   FB='ACL1-10.'

3. The following example is illegal as the 1-N notation is notation is not allowed with the length indicator in MU/PE fields:

   FB='ACL1-N.'

4. The following example is also illegal as the length indicator does not support MU fields with out an occurrence index:

   FB='MCL.'

In addition, if you elect to combine the length indicator and an asterisk length notation value request in the same format buffer for an MU or PE field, the value requests must use corresponding ranges as the length requests. It does not matter whether the length requests and value requests are specified in the same or different format buffer segments. Consider the following examples, where XX is an LA or LB field with the MU option:

1. The following valid examples request the length of the first two values of the XX field as well as their actual values.

   FB='XXL1-2,XX1-2,*.'

   FB='XXL1,XXL2,XX1,*,XX2,*.'

2. The following invalid examples are attempts to request the length of the first two values of the XX field as well as their actual values. However, these examples are invalid because the ranges specified for the MU field in the length and value requests are not specified in a corresponding manner.

   FB='XXL1,XXL2,XX1-2,*.'

   FB='XXL1-2,XX1,*,XX2,*.'

3. The following two format buffers request the length of the third and fourth values of the XX field, as well as their actual values.

   FB='XXL3,XXL4.'

   FB='XX3,*,XX4,*.'

4. The following invalid format buffers attempt to request the length of the third and fourth values of the XX field, as well as their actual values, but fail because the ranges specified for the length and value requests are not specified in a corresponding manner.

   FB='XXL3,XXL4.'

   FB='XX3-4,*.'

Using the Length Indicator in Read Commands

When the length indicator is specified for a field in the format buffer of a read command, the number of bytes required for the field value in the record buffer (without padding and with no further length indication) is returned at the corresponding field position in the record buffer. The amount of space required in the record buffer is based on the field format and the UES-related definitions for the database, file, and user.

You cannot, in the same format buffer, specify the length indicator to retrieve the length of an LA or LB field in combination with a request for the actual field value in a different format (converted) from the field's base format. For example, if character LB field L1 is stored in format A, FB='L1L,4,B,L1,*,W.' is an illegal format buffer specification because it requests the length of the the L1 field in addition to the value of the L1 field converted to Unicode (format W). The reason for this restriction is that the length element gives the length of the field in its native format, but the length of the value returned in the requested format (Unicode) would be different due to the conversion.

If character LB field L1 (format A) contains a 40,000-byte EBCDIC value, consider the following examples:

1. Suppose the format buffer specification for L1 is:

   FB='L1L,4,B.'

   The record buffer will contain the four-byte binary length of the value of field L1:

   X'00009C40'

2. Suppose the format buffer specification for L1 is:

   FB='L1L,4,B,L1,*,A.'

   The record buffer will contain the four-byte binary length of the value of field L1 at the beginning of the record buffer area , followed by 40,000 characters of the actual L1 data.

Read Operations, Length Indicators, and the NB (No Blank Compression) Option

If the length indicator of a field is specified in the format buffer (for example, FB='L1L,4,B.'), and if the field is not subject to blank compression (the NB option is specified for the field in the FDT), the length returned is the number of bytes specified when the value was stored (which can be zero). However, if the field is subject to blank compression, the length returned is the number of significant left-most bytes, beyond which the value is padded with blanks. For an all blank value, the returned length is the length of one blank (one byte for alphanumeric fields, two bytes for wide-character fields).

Using the Length Indicator in Update Commands

When a length indicator is specified in the format buffer for an update command, the corresponding value in the record buffer specifies the actual value length of the field in the record buffer. Only one length indicator for the base field can be specified and it must be accompanied by the asterisk (*) length notation in the format buffer.

The length indicator must occur in its format buffer segment prior to any format element that implies a variable length in the record buffer (due to the use of asterisk notation or zero length notation). In other words, the length indicator is located in a constant position, independent of the values of any fields mentioned in the format.

Highest Occurrence/Value Indicator (N)

The indicator "N" selects the last value in a series of values comprising a multiple-value field, or the last occurrence of a periodic group, removing the need to know the number of the last value or occurrence.

Note:
The 1-N notation is not supported for LB fields.

The notation "1-N" selects all values comprising a multiple-value field, or all occurrences of a periodic group. For multiple-value fields in periodic groups, it is not possible to combine the specification 1-N for the group occurrence with any specification for the field occurrences.

The notation "NC" selects the count of the existing values of a multiple-value field in the last occurrence of the periodic group containing the field.

field-name  N

field-name  NC

field-name  NC

field-name  N (N)

field-name  N(1-N)

field-name  N( i [- j ] )

FB='L21.'

FB='L2.'

field-name i [- j ] (N)

FB='L32(5).'

field-name  i [-j ] (1-N)

SQL Significance Indicator (S)

The "S" significance, or null, indicator and the corresponding null indicator value in the record buffer indicate whether a field's value is significant, including zero or blank, or not significant (undefined). The S indicator can only be applied to elementary fields that are defined with the NC option, but not for an NU option field:

field-name S    SQL significance indicator

See the section Record Buffer for a description of the null value indicator, and the ADACMP utility description in the Adabas Utilities documentation for information about defining SQL null fields.

The related null indicator value in the record buffer, described below, has a two-byte standard length and fixed point format; this length and format cannot be overridden.

For update-type commands, a null value will be stored in the field if the corresponding null indicator value is X`FFFF' and no NN option is specified for the field. Otherwise, the null indicator must be X`0000'. This, combined with the S indicator, shows that the field's value given elsewhere in the record buffer is to be stored.

The S indicator is not required for update-type commands; if the S indicator is not specified, the field value is updated exactly as if the S indicator had been specified and the corresponding null indicator value had been set to zero (a null in the field is a value). See the examples below.

For read-type commands, the S indicator is required when the NC fields are defined without the NN option. If the S indicator is not present when a read command detects an NC-specified field and the field actually contains a null value, a response code 55 is returned.

Example:

This example uses the "field-name S" indicator with the two-byte null indicator in the record buffer to update or add a record, setting field AA equal to the SQL null value and ignoring the value for field AA:

AAS , AA , 2 , ... .

FFFF  123F

For examples showing the use of the SQL significance indicator when a group or range of fields containing an NC field is specified, see the section The SQL Significance Indicator and Field Series Notation.

The "field-name S" indicator can be anywhere within the format buffer; that is, it need not precede the corresponding field element. For update-type commands, the format buffer cannot contain more than one element referring to the same field:

This means that several format buffer elements referring to the same field cannot be specified for an update-type command:

Length and Data Format

The length and format parameters are used if a field value is being provided or is to be returned in a length or format different from the standard defined for the field in the FDT. If the length or format parameters are omitted, the field value must be provided or is returned in the standard length and format of the field:

[ , length ] [ , data-format ]

Possible format and length conversions are suggested by the information in the following table. A format conversion cannot be specified for subfields or subdescriptors; superfields or superdescriptors; or hyperdescriptors.

The length specified must be large enough to contain the value in the chosen format, but cannot exceed the maximum length permitted.

If a length of zero is specified, or if field-name refers to a variable-length field (no standard length), the value returned by Adabas in the record buffer is preceded by a one-byte binary field containing the length of the value (including the length byte itself). For update commands, you must provide this length byte at the beginning of the record buffer.

If a zero length is specified in the format element, the amount of space available for LB field values in the record buffer is variable and depends on the actual LB field value. In this case, the first four bytes of the LB field value in the record buffer are used to store the actual length of the LB field, including the four-byte length itself (the LB field value length plus four).

The format specified must be compatible with the standard format of the field.

• Conversion between packed/unpacked decimal values and binary is limited to values between 0 and 2,147,483,647.

• Conversion from a numeric format to alphanumeric results in an unpacked value, left justified, without leading zeros and with trailing blanks. For example, the three-byte packed value "10043F" would be converted to "F1F0F0F4F3404040". Value truncation is possible with this type of conversion.

The following additional topics are covered in this section:

• Asterisk (*) Length Notation
• Edit Mask Notation (Read Operations Only)
• Examples

Asterisk (*) Length Notation

For LA and LB fields only, you can specify an asterisk (*) instead of a length in the format element. Asterisks cannot be specified for regular alphanumeric or wide-character fields. The presence of an asterisk indicates that the amount of space available for the LB field value in the record buffer is variable and depends on the actual value of the LB field. However, unlike the zero length specification setting, no four-byte length field precedes the LB field value in the record buffer; the record buffer area corresponding to the LB format element only contains the value of the LB field. The actual LB field value length should be retrieved for read commands and must be specified for update commands using the new format buffer length indicator, L. For more information about the length indicator, read Length Indicator (L), elsewhere in this guide.

In the following example, the record buffer for LB field L1 contains only the value of the L1 field, followed by the value of the AA field for which 10 bytes have been allotted.

FB='L1,*,AA,10,A.'

In the following example, the record buffer for LB multi-value field L2 contains the first ten values of L2.

FB='L21-10,*.'

The record buffer is not necessarily required to provide sufficient space for the entire field if its format element includes an asterisk length setting. However, in read command processing, the field value can be truncated if both of the following conditions are met:

• The record buffer space available is insufficient for the field value.

• A field with asterisk notation is specified at the end of the format buffer.

In these conditions, no error is returned. If this were the case in the second example above (FB='L21-10,*.'), Adabas would truncate the ten values to be read down to the length of the corresponding record buffer segment. (The truncation occurs from right to left; that is, the last value is truncated first; if the remaining space is still insufficient, the second-to-last value is truncated, and so on.) In extreme cases, if no space is available at all for the field value, the value is truncated down to zero bytes.

In the first example above (FB='L1,*,AA,10,A.'), if the record buffer segment is too short, no truncation occurs because this is not allowed for fields specified with a fixed length or length of zero (0). Rather, the nucleus returns response code 53 (record buffer too small).

Only read commands executed by the Adabas nucleus may truncate values specified with the asterisk notation; no truncation occurs in update commands. In addition, the ADACMP utility does not truncate values specified with the asterisk notation.

Edit Mask Notation (Read Operations Only)

Edit masks are used according to the standard edit mask rules used in the COBOL programming language.

An edit mask may only be specified for numeric fields. All data returned by Adabas to an edited field is converted to unpacked decimal format regardless of the standard format of the field. A maximum of 15 digits (not counting edit characters) can be returned to an edited field.

For a field with an edit format specified, the length parameter must be large enough to contain the field value plus all required edit characters.

Note:
Although edit formats E3 and E4 provide space for the century digits (see the following examples), they do not enforce date formats that are compatible with year 2000 requirements.

Examples

Field Series Notation

The notation "field-name - field-name" may be used to refer to a series of consecutive fields (as ordered in an FDT). The user specifies the beginning and ending field names connected by a dash:

field-name - field-name  series notation

No multiple-value field or periodic group may be contained within the series.

A name that refers to a group may not be specified as the beginning or ending name, but a group may be embedded within the series.

Standard format and length is in effect for all the fields within the series. No length or format override is permitted.

The SQL Significance Indicator and Field Series Notation

When a group or range of fields contains a field specified with the NC option, the corresponding S operator is optional for read (Lx) commands. For update (A1) commands, the S operator must not be specified. Adabas assumes that the null indicator corresponding to the NC field in the format buffer is located just in front of the field's value in the record buffer.

For example, given the following field definitions in the FDT:

01,GR
  02,AA,8,A
  02,BB,8,A,NC
  02,CC,8,A

if the format buffer of an update-type command specifies GR. or AA-CC. , the record buffer has the following structure:

AA-value null-indicator-BB BB-value CC-value

That is, the null indicator must be included in the record buffer sequence, although the S indicator was not (and must not be) specified in the format buffer.

If the format buffer of a read (Lx) command specifies GR,BBS. or AA-CC,BBS., the record buffer has the following structure:

AA-value null-indicator-BB BB-value CC-value
null-indicator-BB

In other words, the first appearance of the null indicator is implied in the record buffer while the second appearance was explicitly called for by the format buffer.

Space Notation (nX)

The nX syntax is used differently for read and update commands:

nX

For read commands, nX indicates that "n" spaces are to be inserted in the record buffer by Adabas immediately before the next field value:

  AA    ,    5X    ,    BB

value-AA   5-blanks  value-BB

For update commands, nX causes "n" positions in the record buffer to be ignored by Adabas:

   XX     ,     5X     ,     YY

value-XX  ignore-5-bytes  value-YY

Text Insertion Notation

The text syntax is used differently for read and update commands:

'text'

For read commands, the character string specified in the format buffer is to be inserted in the record buffer immediately before the next field value. The character string provided can be 1-255 bytes long, and may contain any alphanumeric character except a quotation mark.

For example:

   AA,'here is some text', BB

value-AA here is some text value-BB

For update commands, the number of positions enclosed within the apostrophes in the format buffer will be ignored in the corresponding positions of the record buffer.

Specifying Field Lengths of LA (Long Alpha) Fields in Format Buffers

The LA option is normally used with variable-length data. The length of an alphanumeric field with the LA option can also be specified in the format buffer. However, the length is then limited to 16381 bytes:

AA,5, ...

ABC__

A field with LA option can also have the NU (null suppression), NC/NN SQL null significance, or the MU (multiple-value field) option, and can be a member of a PE (periodic) group.

A field with the LA option cannot be a descriptor and cannot be the parent of subfields, superfields, subdescriptors, superdescriptors, hyperdescriptors, or phonetic descriptors.

A field is compressed the same way, with or without the LA option; that is, by removing trailing blanks. This must be kept in mind if you store binary data in an LA field.

Format Buffer Performance Considerations

Performance improvements may be achieved by using the following guidelines during format buffer construction:

• Use group names wherever possible rather than referring to elementary fields individually. Use of group names reduces the time required by Adabas to interpret the format buffer.

• Use of the field series notation does not result in performance improvements. A field series notation is converted by Adabas into a series of elementary fields.

• Use length and format overrides only when necessary. Using overrides requires additional processing time when interpreting the format buffer and when processing the field.

• If the same fields of a record are to be read and then updated, the same format buffer should be used for the read and update commands. For more information, refer to the descriptions of command and format IDs.

• You should request periodic (PE) group and multiple-value (MU) field occurrences, based on the requirements of the application. In other words, do not arbitrarily request all occurrences; doing so requires extra time to translate the format buffer, and may mean decompressing numerous empty occurrences. Generally, the AA1-N field argument is the most efficient for selecting periodic group occurrences.

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