Using a Complex Flat File Stage

Complex Flat File stages are used only as source stages and cannot receive input links. As a source, they read data from a flat file. Complex Flat File stages can have one or more output links, and the outputs must be linked to active stages.

When you edit a Complex Flat File stage, the Complex Flat File Stage dialog box appears. This dialog box has two pages:

• Stage. Displays the stage name, which can be edited. This page has up to five tabs. The General tab is where you specify the source data attributes. You can also type an optional description of the stage, which appears in the generated COBOL program. The General tab has the following fields:
  • The File name field is the mainframe source file from which data will be read.
  • Generate an end-of-data row. Select this check box to add an end-of-data indicator after the last row is processed on each output link. The indicator is a built-in variable called ENDOFDATA which has a value of TRUE, meaning the last row of data has been processed. (See ENDOFDATA for more information about using this variable). In addition, all columns are set to null.
  • The DD name field is the data definition name of the file in the JCL. It can be 1 to 8 alphanumeric characters and the first character must be alphabetic. The default name is DDn, where n is the internal job number. You can edit this name.
  • The Access type list defines whether the data is part of a QSAM or VSAM file. You must specify the category your data falls into:

    QSAM_SEQ_COMPLEX. QSAM file structure.

    VSAM_ESDS. VSAM Entry-Sequenced Data Set file structure.

    VSAM_KSDS. VSAM Key-Sequenced Data Set file structure. If this is selected, at least one column must be defined as a Key.

    VSAM_RRDS. Relative Record Data Set file structure.

  • Start row. Select First row to read the source file starting with the first row, or Row number to start reading from a specific row number. Type a whole number in the Row number field, which has a default value of 1. There is no maximum.
  • End row. Select Last row to stop reading the source file after the last row, or Row number to stop after a specific row number. Type a whole number in the Row number field, which has a default value of 1. There is no maximum.
  • Block type. Select the block type of the source file. The default is Fixed block file, which indicates that the source file contains fixed record lengths. Complex Flat File stages can also be used to read variable-block files with or without OCCURS DEPENDING ON clauses.

    The Columns tab is where you specify the column definitions for the source data. See Specifying Stage Column Definitions for details about defining or loading column definitions.

    The File view tab displays specialized information about the columns in your source file, including the COBOL PICTURE clause, the starting and ending offsets, and the storage length of each column. You can right-click to save the file view layout as an HTML file.

    The Pre-sort tab allows you to pre-sort your source data before passing it to the next stage in the job design. See Pre-Sorting Data for details about creating the sort control statement.

    The Options tab is available only if you have chosen to pre-sort your source data on the Pre-sort tab. See Specifying Sort File Parameters for details about setting these options.

• Outputs. Specifies the column definitions for the data output links.

Click OK to close this dialog box. Changes are saved when you save the job.