Field attribute combinations
Combining attributes
When deciding on combinations of field attributes, use the following chart to see if the combination you want to use is valid.
The chart key explains the codes used in the chart.
Field attribute combinations
| Attribute | KEY | ORD CHAR | ORD NUM | FRV | UNQ | NR | DEF | LVL | ONE | INV | STR | FLT | BIN | COD | FV | OCC | LEN | PAD | UPD | BLOB | CLOB | MINLOBE | CHUNK | UTF8 | UTF16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KEY | N | N | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| ORD CHAR | N | N | N | N | N | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ORD NUM | N | N | N | N | N | ||||||||||||||||||||
| FRV | R | N | N | N | N | N | |||||||||||||||||||
| UNIQUE (UNQ) | @ | @ | N | N | N | N | |||||||||||||||||||
| NUM RANGE (NR) | N | N | =1 | N | N | ||||||||||||||||||||
| DEFERRABLE (DEF) | @ | @ | @ | N | @ | N | N | ||||||||||||||||||
| (LVL) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AT-MOST-ONE (ONE) | N | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| INVISIBLE (INV) | @ | @ | @ | @ | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | |||||||||||||
| STRING (STR) | N | N | N | N | |||||||||||||||||||||
| FLOAT (FLT) | N | N | N | N | N | F | R | N | N | N | |||||||||||||||
| BINARY (BIN) | N | N | N | N | N | N | |||||||||||||||||||
| CODED (COD) | F | F | N | N | N | ||||||||||||||||||||
| FEW VALUED (FV) | @ | @ | N | N | |||||||||||||||||||||
| OCCURS (OCC) | =1 | =1 | N | @ | @ | @ | |||||||||||||||||||
| LENGTH (LEN) | N | @ | N | F | @ | N | N | ||||||||||||||||||
| PAD | N | N | N | N | R | N | N | ||||||||||||||||||
| UPDATE (UPD) | N | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BINARY_LARGE_OBJECT (BLOB) | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | |||||||||
| CHARACTER_LARGE_OBJECT (CLOB) | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | |||||||||
| MINLOBE (MINLOBE) | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | |||||||||
| CHUNK (CHUNK) | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | |||||||||
| UTF8 (UTF-8) | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | |||||||||
| UTF16 (UTF-16) | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N |
Key to chart codes
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| N | This attribute combination is not valid. |
| R | This attribute combination is required. |
| @ | One of these attributes is required. You can choose any one of the attributes marked, but you must choose at least one. |
| =1 | The OCCURS clause is valid with this attribute only if defined as OCCURS=1. You cannot enter multiple field values for fields with these attributes. |
| F | The FLOAT attribute requires the LEN attribute. Since the FLOAT attribute can also be used with the CODED attribute, this is the only circumstance that the LEN attribute is valid with CODED attribute. |
Some of the invalid combinations are direct conflicts, such as UNIQUE and DEFERRABLE; others describe meaningless situations or unusable fields, such as ORDERED CHARACTER and ORDERED NUMERIC.
In addition, some attributes require other attributes. FLOAT, for example, requires a LENGTH specification.
Field descriptions that contain invalid combinations are rejected.
The "Field attribute combinations" chart is for Entry Order files. More stringent restrictions are placed on fields that are used as sort keys, hash keys, or record security fields. These restrictions are summarized in the discussion in DEFINE FIELD command.