The record length of an external data file is the length of a row of the data, as described under Data records. The header records that precede the data records are also split into this length. Table 21 shows the information contained in the header records.
Byte position | Information and type |
---|---|
1-8 | QMF object format level (8 characters of data)
The object level for QMF Version 8.1 is "QMF 3.0". The object level for all prior releases of QMF is "QMF 1.0". Data exported using QMF Version 8.1 cannot be imported to earlier releases of QMF. |
9-10 | Number of header records (halfword signed integer) |
11-12 | Number of data columns (halfword signed integer) |
13-30, 37-54, ... | Column name (30 characters of data) |
31-32, 55-56, ... | Data type (halfword signed integer). Data type codes are shown in Table 22. |
33-34, 57-58, ... | Column width (halfword signed integer)- for most
data types this is the width of the column in bytes- exceptions
are:
|
35, 59, ... | Nulls allowed: Y if nulls are allowed; N if they are not allowed (1 character of data). |
36, 60, ... | Unused byte |
Bytes 11-12 indicate the number of columns; this means that the information in bytes 13 through 36 is repeated for each column in the header records. Each column requires 24 bytes in the header record.
The data type codes are shown in Table 22.
Code in hexadecimal | Code in decimal | Data type | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
X'180' | 384 | DATE | Date |
X'184' | 388 | TIME | Time |
X'188' | 392 | TIMESTAMP | Time stamp |
X'1C0' | 448 | VARCHAR | Varying character |
X'1C4' | 452 | CHAR | Fixed character |
X'1D0' | 464 | VARGRAPHIC | Varying graphic |
X'1D4' | 468 | GRAPHIC | Fixed graphic |
X'1E0' | 480 | FLOAT | Floating point |
X'1E4' | 484 | DECIMAL | Decimal |
X'1F0' | 496 | INTEGER | Integer |
X'1F4' | 500 | SMALLINT | Small integer |
Date, time, and time stamp data are always exported in ISO format.