Externally Defined Files

[Robert Munday <rwmunday@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Greetings from South Carolina.

I am adding a file to a program and thought it would be great if I could define my file with the external fields defined with ALIAS data names.  I was trying to avoid creating needless duplicate input specs and thought I could rely on the external definitions.  That appears not to be working out for me.

Are the fields in an externally-described file good for anything inside my COBOL program?  Will I end up having to create input specs and copy my format into those specs?  Surely there must be an easier way.

I'd like to solve this one and turn in a completed program before my gig ends on Friday.



Thanks,


Robert Munday
Munday Software Consultants
Montgomery, AL
on assignment in Columbia, SC
soon to be somewhere else...