File Management - IBM

Date, time, and timestamp fields used by record keys (FROMKEY
and TOKEY)
When the number of key fields and a value are used to specify the FROMKEY or
TOKEY parameter, no conversion of data occurs if the corresponding key field in
the from-file is a date, time, or timestamp field. The user input string that you
specify (including the separators) must be in the same format as the date, time, or
timestamp field. If it is not, a file open error may occur, or the records copied may
not be the desired result.
If *BLDKEY is specified for the FROMKEY or TOKEY parameter and the
corresponding key field in the from-file is a date, time, or timestamp field, the
system attempts to convert the user-input key field value to the format (and
separators) of the from-file field. The following rules apply to the conversion:
v If the from-field is a date key field, the system first determines if the
user-input key value is in the same format and has the same separator as
specified in the current job under which the copy command is running. This can
be *MDY, *DMY, *YMD, or *JUL for the format and slash (/), hyphen (-), period
(.), comma (,), or blank ( ) for the separator. If the user-input key value is not in
the current job specified format and separator form, it determines if it is in one
of the Systems Application Architecture (SAA) formats (*ISO, *USA, *EUR, or
*JIS). It also determines if it is in a YYYYDDD form (no separator). If the system
can determine the user-input key value is in one of these forms, the input string
is converted to the actual format (and separator) of the from-file date field,
which is used for the key comparison. If the user-input string format cannot be
determined or the length or data value is not valid, the system issues a
diagnostic message. You must left-justify the date portion of the user-input key
value; it can contain trailing blanks.
v If the from-field is a time key field, the system first determines if the
user-input key value is in the same format and has the same separator as
specified in the current job under which the copy command is running. This
may be HHMMSS for the format and colon (:), comma (,), period (.), or blank ( )
for the separator. If the user-input key value is not in the current job specified
format and separator form, the system determines if it is in one of the SAA
formats (*ISO, *USA, *EUR, or *JIS). If the system can determine the user-input
key value is in one of these forms, the input string is converted to the actual
format (and separator) of the from-file time field, which is used for the key
comparison. If the user-input string format cannot be determined, or the length
or data value is not valid, the system issues a diagnostic message. You must
left-justify the time portion of the user-input key value; it can contain trailing
blanks.
v If the from-field is a timestamp key field, the system first determines if the
user-input key value is in the SAA format or YYYYMMDDHHMMSS form. If
the system determines the user-input key value is in one of these forms, the
input string is converted to the actual SAA timestamp format, which is used for
the key comparison. If the user-input string format cannot be determined, or the
length or data value is not valid, the system issues a diagnostic message. You
must left-justify the timestamp portion of the user-input key value; it can contain
trailing blanks.
Null-capable fields used by record keys (FROMKEY and TOKEY)
When you use the number of key fields and a value to specify the FROMKEY or
TOKEY parameter, the copy command ignores the null values. The command uses
only the buffer default values for values that are actually null for the comparison.
Chapter 4. Copying files 97