CLOSE processing

Each file which is opened by a program must be closed after file processing has been completed. In the CLOSE macro, the programmer can decide whether he/she wants to close only one or several of the files still open in the program.

If the programmer “forgets” to write the necessary CLOSE macro, all files opened in a program but not explicitly closed are closed automatically when the program is terminated. It is only in the case of a system crash that a file may not be closed correctly.

By means of the VERIF macro or the CHECK-FILE-CONSISTENCY and REPAIR-DISK-FILES commands, the user can “recover” such files to such a degree that file access is again possible (see section "File recovery").