Input
The statements and their operands can be abbreviated as long as they remain unique. This option should be used in interactive mode only.
SDF-I supports continuation lines. The maximum length of a statement is 2044 characters.
The statements for a merge operation must be issued in the following order (several consecutive MERGE statements are possible):
OPEN
MERGE/REMOVE
END
Compatibility of syntax file formats
In the past, further development of SDF sometimes also included changes to the syntax file format. This resulted in formats V1, V2, V3, V4 and, most recently, the format which is currently used, V4.1, being created. Formats V1 through V4 are historical and can only occur in older syntax files. The format of a syntax file is contained in the output information of the SHOW-SYNTAX-FILE statement.
The internal logical structure of a syntax file altered with the transition from format V1 to V2. Consequently syntax files with format V2 or higher are also referred to as syntax files in the “new” format (V1 was the “old” format).
The following must be observed when processing with SDF-I:
SDF-I processes only input syntax files in the new format (format V2 and higher). If syntax files in the old format still exist, you can convert them to the new format using the CONVERT-SYNTAX-FILE statement.
When files are merged, the format of the output syntax file depends on the format of the input syntax files. SDF-I generates the output syntax file with the highest format that appears among the input syntax files. If only syntax files with V2 and V3 format are merged, for example, the output syntax file receives the V3 format.
SDF-I enters the name of the product SDF-A in the output syntax file as “SDF-A”. In syntax files with earlier formats (OLD or V1-FORMAT), the name of SDF-A is defined as “SDFA”. If you process such a syntax file is processed with SDF-I, you should have the actually entered name displayed with the SHOW-SYNTAX-FILE statement and only use that name in the SDF-I statements.
During an OPEN/MERGE sequence, products that are already contained in the syntax file are replaced by the new versions when merged. The product SDF with a version < V4.0 is an exception.