The DATFMT keyword allows the specification of a default external date format and a default separator (which is optional) for all date fields in the program-described file. If the file on which this keyword is specified is indexed and the key field is a date, then this also provides the default external format for the key field.
For a Record-Address file this specifies the external date format of date limits keys read from the record-address file.
You can specify a different external format for individual input or output date fields in the file by specifying a date format/separator for the field on the corresponding input specification (positions 31-35) or output specification (positions 53-57).
See Table 33 for valid formats and separators. For more information on external formats, see Internal and External Formats.