2.3 RMS Record Formats

Records in RMS files can have the following formats:

• Fixed-length format, where the length of every record is defined at the time of the file's creation. This format is permitted with any file organization.

• Variable-length format, where the maximum length of every record is defined at the time of the file's creation. This format is permitted with any file organization.

• Variable-length format with a fixed-length control area (VFC), where every record is prefixed by a fixed-length field. This format is permitted only with sequential and relative files.

• Stream format, where records are delimited by special characters called terminators. Terminators are part of the record they delimit. The three types of stream formatting are as follows:

  • Stream, where records can be delimited with a form feed, vertical tab, new-line character, or carriage-return /new-line character.

  • Stream_cr, where records are delimited with the carriage-return character.

  • Stream_lf, where records are delimited with the line- feed character. This format variation is the default format when you create files using the Standard I/O functions.