FORMAT Statement

Assigns a SAS format to an IMS item.

Type:	Optional statement
Applies to:	access descriptor or view descriptor

Syntax

Optional Arguments

Details

Syntax

FORMAT item-name | index-number <=> format

<… item-name-n | index-number-n <=> format-n> ;

Optional Arguments

item-name

is the name of the IMS item for which you want to assign or change the SAS format.

index-number

is the index number of the IMS item for which you want to assign or change the SAS format. The index number represents the item's place in the access descriptor. You can get the index number of an item using the LIST statement described later in this section.

format

is the SAS format that you want to assign to the specified IMS item.

Details

The FORMAT statement assigns a SAS format to an IMS item. You can assign formats to as many items as necessary using one FORMAT statement. Note that the equal sign (=) between arguments is optional. You cannot use the FORMAT statement for a record or group.