FILE SECTION

file-description-entry

Represents the highest level of organization in the FILE SECTION. It provides information about the physical structure and identification of a file, and gives the record-names associated with that file. For the format and the clauses required in a file description entry, see DATA DIVISION--file description entries.

record-description-entry

A set of data description entries (described in DATA DIVISION--data description entry) that describe the particular records contained within a particular file.

A record in the FILE SECTION must be described as an alphanumeric group item, a national group item, or an elementary data item of class alphabetic, alphanumeric, DBCS, national, UTF-8, or numeric.

A record in the FILE SECTION of a VSAMDB file must be described as an elementary item of class and category alphanumeric or UTF-8.

More than one record description entry can be specified; each is an alternative description of the same record storage area. A record description entry containing a DYNAMIC LENGTH item cannot have an alternative description.

Data areas described in the FILE SECTION are not available for processing unless the file that contains the data area is open.

A method FILE SECTION can define external files only. A single run-unit-level file connector is shared by all programs and methods that contain a definition of a given external file.

The FILE SECTION cannot be specified in a function prototype definition.