When your program processes an existing file, code the description of the file in your COBOL program to be consistent with the file attributes of the data set, for example:
| Format-V files or |
The maximum record length specified in your program must be exactly 4 bytes smaller than the length attribute of the data set. |
| For Format-F files |
The record length specified in your program must exactly match the length attribute of the data set. |
| For Format-U files |
The maximum record length specified in your program must exactly match the length attribute of the data set. |
For details on how record lengths are determined from the FD entry and record descriptions in your program, see Enterprise COBOL Programming Guide.