IBM Extension

FORMAT Phrase

Required if there is more than one record format for the file.

The value specified in the FORMAT phrase contains the name of the record format to use for this I-O operation. The system uses this to specify or select which record format to operate on.

Identifier-2, if specified, must be a an alphanumeric data item of 10 characters or less.

Literal-1, if specified, must be an uppercase character-string of 10 characters or less.

If the FORMAT phrase is not specified on the I-O statement when indexed files are accessed in random access mode, the first format defined is used.

End of IBM Extension