HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
Determining the File Format
When creating a file for sorting data, first determine the information to
include and its format. For example, the input file EMPLOYEE contains
four key data items in each record (employee's last name, first name, job
title, and employee number). The format for the first two lines of the
file EMPLOYEE is shown in Figure 3-1 .
________________________________________________________________
| |
| |
| 1 2 3 4 |
| 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345 |
| |
| 1 FISHER TOM SHIPPING CLERK 7309 |
| 2 TAYLOR HEATHER SECRETARY 7272 |
| \---------/\---------/\----------------/\--/ |
| \/ \/ \/ \/ |
| Last First Job Employee |
| Name Name Title Number |
| |
________________________________________________________________
Figure 3-1. File Format For Sorting
The file format shown in Figure 3-1 allots 11 characters (columns) for
last names beginning in position 1; 11 characters for first names,
beginning in position 12; 19 characters for jobs titles, beginning in
position 23; and 4 characters for employee numbers, beginning in position
42. Use the starting position location for each key data item as tab
settings when creating the file. A single line record can contain up to
80 characters.
For clarity in reading the report when it is printed, allow enough
characters for the longest piece of information in each key data item,
and some blank spaces between them.
When creating multiple files containing similar information to be sorted
and then merged, ensure the key data item starting positions and data
length are identical in all files.