HP Data Entry and Forms Management System (VPLUS) Reference Manual (32209-90024)

Chapter 5 211
Reformatting Specifications
Output Record Menu
Strt Col (Optional)
If you want the field to start in a particular column in the output record
rather than immediately after the preceding field, you can specify a
starting column. Column numbers in this case correspond to character
(byte) positions in the output record. Columns are numbered starting with
1.
When you specify a new starting column, REFSPEC checks to make sure
the starting column does not overwrite a previous field in the output
record. If the starting column is not correctly specified, REFSPEC issues
an error message.
One reason for changing the starting column is to ensure that a field starts
on a word boundary. For example, suppose the first field to be written is
five characters long. You can either increase the length of this field in the
"Len" position to an even number of characters, or you can specify a new
starting column for the next field.
Default = Consecutive fields with no intervening spaces.
Len (Optional)
You can specify the number of characters for the output field in this
position. If you specify a length shorter than the input field, character type
data is truncated when it is written to the output field; numeric data may
not be converted if the field is too short.
If you plan to add a check digit to the field, you must specify the output
field length as at least one character longer than the input field length.
Default = Input field length (or substring length).
Strt Rec (Optional)
In order to separate the output into records, you must specify the
beginning of each record. Any character entered in the Strt Rec position of
the Output Record Menu marks the associated field or constant as the
beginning of a new record. For consistency, you should select a standard
character, such as an asterisk.
If a starting record is not marked in the output record definition, the fields
in the current definition follow the fields in the previous definition as part
of the same record.
Default = Field is not first field.
Constant (Optional)
You can specify a constant instead of a field name. The constant can be any
of the following:
• a character string (literal) enclosed within single or double quotes;
• the numeric equivalent of a USASCII character preceded by a dollar
sign ($);
• one of the system-defined constants:
— $CR carriage return