The statement code J appends the specified record to the preceding record. The appended record is then deleted.
Statement code | Key |
J | [DUE] or [F2] |
If the total of the record lengths of the records joined in this way exceeds the maximum permitted record length of 32768 characters then it is truncated to the maximum record length. In this case, the record (partially) appended with J is not deleted and the message EDT2400 is output.
If the statement code J is issued for the first record in the work file then it is ignored.
The opposite operation – separating a record – is described in section “Statement in datawindow – splitting a record” (see also the description of the @SEP statement).
Example
The records in lines 4.00 and 7.00 are each to be joined to the record that directly precedes them.
The records have been appended. Appending a record to a record of length 0 is equivalent to moving the appended record.