The file section defines the structure of data files. The file section must begin with the header FILE SECTION, followed by a separator period.
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, or numeric.
More than one record description entry can be specified; each is an alternative description of the same record storage area.
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 declaration of a given external file.