The START statement provides a means of positioning within an indexed or
relative file for subsequent sequential record retrieval. This positioning
is achieved by comparing the key values of records in the file with the value
you place in the RECORD KEY portion of a file’s record area (for an indexed
file), or in the RELATIVE KEY data item (for a relative file) prior to execution
of the START statement.
Note: When the START statement is executed,
the associated indexed or relative file must be open in INPUT or I-O mode.

START Statement - Format
>>-START--file-name-1--+-----------------------+---------------->
| (1) |
'-+------+--NO LOCK-----'
'-WITH-'
>--+----------------------------------------------------------------+-->
'-KEY--+----+--+-EQUAL--+----+-----------------------+--| data |-'
'-IS-' | '-TO-' |
+-=-----------------------------------+
+-GREATER--+------+-------------------+
| '-THAN-' |
+->-----------------------------------+
+-NOT LESS--+------+------------------+
| '-THAN-' |
+-NOT <-------------------------------+
+-GREATER--+------+--OR EQUAL--+----+-+
| '-THAN-' '-TO-' |
'->=----------------------------------'
>--+------------------------------------------+----------------->
| (1) (2) |
'-FORMAT----------+----+--+-identifier-1-+-'
'-IS-' '-literal-1----'
>--+----------------------------------------+------------------->
| (1) |
'-NULL-KEY-MAP------+----+--identifier-2-'
'-IS-'
>--+------------------------------------------+----------------->
'-INVALID--+-----+--imperative-statement-1-'
'-KEY-'
>--+----------------------------------------------+------------->
'-NOT INVALID--+-----+--imperative-statement-2-'
'-KEY-'
>--+-----------+-----------------------------------------------><
'-END-START-'
data
(1)
|--+-EXTERNALLY-DESCRIBED-KEY-----+-----------------------------|
| .-------------. |
| V | |
'---data-name-1-+--------------'
Notes:
- IBM Extension
- Applies only to indexed files on DATABASE devices