Nlynx ETU400 Creating DDS Specifications, Field Name Field Length Field Type Decimal Positions

Creating DDS Specifications

In order to transfer field-oriented data, like that found in spreadsheets or databases, you must create a template that tells the AS/400 where each field begins and ends, and what type of data will be in each field. This is done with DDS specs or F&I specs. See Appendix D for a detailed explanation of creating F&I specs. The PDM utility on the AS/400 is used to create the DDS.

In this example you will see how to create DDS specs that allow a PC file to be transferred and properly formatted on the AS/400. The PC file is called SAMPLE and was created using a PC spreadsheet application. The PC spreadsheet file is represented in Figure C-1 shown below. This spreadsheet contains four fields. Table C-1, at the bottom of this page, describes how you will define each field.

Figure C-1 SAMPLE file created with PC spreadsheet
	A		B		C	D	E
1	Bart Simpson		President		45301	San Jose
2	Homer Simpson		Vice President		34500	Austin
3	Fred Flintstone		General Manager		57500	Denver
4	Cliff Anderson		Technical Support Manager		42300	Springfield
5	Tom Stiles		Customer Relations		32400	Los Angeles
6	Monica Martinez		Manager		24300	Buda
			Office Manager
7	Scott Haram		Director of Intelligence		00700	Chicago
8	Tom Williams		Sales Manager		43200	Dallas
9	Mr. Spock		Foreign Relations		23400	Vulcan
10	Dilbert Dill		Engineering Manager		42300	San Jose
11	Wally Findley		Marketing Manager		76700	Houston
12	Herman Munster		Software Engineer		66600	Waco
13	Cosmo Kramer		Personal Director		32100	New York
14	Harry Potter		Vice President		43200	London
15	Gandalf Wizard		Information Systems
16			Manager
17
18
19
20
21
Table C-1 Field definitions for file SAMPLE
Field Name		Field Length Field Type		Decimal Positions
NAME		17	Alphabetic	-
TITLE		36	Alphabetic	-
SALARY		7	Numeric	2
CITY		15	Alphabetic	-

ETU400 User Guide 011603 C-3