Hi, David:
So, you are talking about what factors contribute to the "hash" that
comprises the "Record Format Level Identifier" ... In other words, you
want to know what attributes can be changed without affecting the Record
Format Level ID?
I found this link (from V5R2), but it is not exactly correct:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/iseries/v5r2/ic2924/index.htm?info/dm/rbal3mst27.htm
From what I recall, the record format name matters, but field names are
not relevant -- the number of fields, their types, lengths and decimal
places, and the order of the fields in the record layout is relevant.
So, if you add a new field, or delete a field, or change the size of a
field, the Record Format Level ID will change. Note that if you have
two fields adjacent to each other, both with the same type, length and
decimal places, and you just swap the order of those two fields in the
record, that type of change will _not_ be detected -- in other words, it
will not change the Level ID. (Basically, anything that changes the
"layout" of the record, or the total record length.)
Bear in mind that CHGPF or ALTER TABLE would also change the record
format Level ID, if any of the above attributes changed.
However, there have occasionally been "inconsistencies" (bugs) in the
way this was implemented, at different releases, and for example, I
recall at one time, you would end up with a different Level ID if you
used CREATE TABLE with SQL DDL source, versus CRTPF with DDS source,
even though all of the field / column names, attributes, etc., were
exactly the same. There have even been some "PTF wars" over this issue.
So, my best advice is, just create a small test FILE or table, and then
make one small change, changing just one attribute, and see
(empirically) if it changes the Level ID. Only in that way, can you be
sure of the results on any given version / release of OS/400 or IBM i,
at a given PTF level.
Hope that helps,
Mark S. Waterbury
> On 4/20/2016 3:42 PM, David Gibbs wrote:
Folks:
I'm trying to find a list of the file & field attributes that control
the format level identifier on modern tables.
Can anyone point me to the correct web page?
david
midrange.com
