Record-level descriptions

A record-level description provides the arrangement of the fields in a file. These keywords only apply to the screen with which they are associated. They will not influence any other record formats defined within the file.

DDS allows the following types of record-level descriptions:

Specification Type
Function
Keyword
Applies to a specific record format within the file.
Help
Enables the help key to appear.
Field
Describes various fields within the record.
Key (physcial/logical files only)
Designates which fields are to serve as keys to the file.
Select-omit (logical files only)
Provides information about which database records are to be returned to the program when processing the file.
Join (join-logical files only)
Identifies records from two separate files to be combined into one record.