RE: Expanding a field in a file or adding a new field to the file

I got it from an IBM Redbook a few years ago. I think it was this one: https://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg248185.pdf




-----Original Message-----
From: Rob Berendt [mailto:rob@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2019 9:13 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: Expanding a field in a file or adding a new field to the file

I've actually seen vendor software do this for their Y2K rollout.

Rob Berendt
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-----Original Message-----
From: MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Justin Taylor
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2019 10:03 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: Expanding a field in a file or adding a new field to the file

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I don't personally like option 2 in general.

If option 1 is too much work to accomplish for one massive deploy, how about this strategy?
Create a new table (different name) that matches the layout of the original except the column in question will be longer. Create a LF over the new table with the matching layout, except the column in question has the original length. Load the new table with the original data, and then replace the old table with the new LF (rename LF to be old table name). Existing programs have the layout they expect and you have more time to migrate to the longer column.