FOPEN Function: z/OS

Opens an external file and returns a file identifier value.
Category: External Files
z/OS specifics: Files opened with FOPEN must be closed with FCLOSE
See: FOPEN Function in SAS Functions and CALL Routines: Reference
Syntax
Details
See Also

Syntax

FOPEN(fileref<,open-mode <,record-length <,record-format> > > )

Required Arguments

fileref
specifies the fileref assigned to the external file.
open-mode
specifies the type of access to the file:
A
APPEND mode allows writing new records after the current end of the file.
I
INPUT mode allows reading only (default).
O
OUTPUT mode defaults to the OPEN mode that is specified in the host option in the FILENAME statement or function. If no host option is specified, it allows writing new records at the beginning of the file.
S
Sequential input mode is used for pipes and other sequential devices such as hardware ports. Sequential input mode should be used for files that extend to multiple volumes.
U
UPDATE mode allows both reading and writing.

Optional Arguments

record-length
specifies the logical record length of the file. To use the existing record length for the file, specify a length of 0, or do not provide a value here.
record-format
specifies the record format of the file. To use the existing record format, do not specify a value here. Valid values are as follows:
B
data should be interpreted as binary data.
D
use default record format.
E
use editable record format.
F
file contains fixed length records.
P
file contains printer carriage control in host-dependent record format. For data sets with FBA or VBA record format, specify 'P' for the record-format argument.
V
file contains variable-length records.

Details

FOPEN returns a 0 if the file could not be opened. Under z/OS, files that have been opened with FOPEN must be closed with FCLOSE at the end of a DATA step; files are not closed automatically after processing.
FOPEN can be used to open ddnames with instream data that are not already opened if you specify 'S' for the open-mode attribute.
The default open mode for the FOPEN function is I, which means input but also implies random access. The I open mode is acceptable for a single-volume file because the NOTE and POINT operations can be performed internally. However, the operating system does not support NOTE and POINT across multiple volumes in a file. If you use the I open-mode attribute to open an external file that extends to multiple volumes, SAS flags it as an error at OPEN time. The best way to get around this problem is to specify S as the open-mode attribute to FOPEN. The S open-mode attribute requests strictly sequential processing, and no conflict occurs.
For code examples, see FINFO Function: z/OS.

See Also

FCLOSE Function: z/OS
FOPTNAME Function: z/OS
FOPTNUM Function: z/OS
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