HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
Determining File Format
When creating a new file to be merged with an existing file, both files
must have the identical format. For example, when creating the file
NEWHIRES to be merged with the existing file EMPLOYEE, the beginning
position of each key data item must be identical in both files. The 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 4-1 .
_______________________________________________________________
| |
| |
| 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 4-1. File Format For Merging
Since you want the file format for NEWHIRES to be identical to the file
format of EMPLOYEE, you would allow 11 characters (columns) for last
names, beginning in position 1; 11 characters for first names, beginning
in position 12; 19 characters for job 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.
If any of the key data items in the file NEWHIRES is longer than the
number of characters established for the key data items in the file
EMPLOYEE you may need to alter the format in both files. All characters
exceeding established character limits are truncated and do not appear in
the file COMPANY.