Creating a Field Table File

2.9.2 Creating a Field Table File

Field table files are always required when FML buffers and/or FML-dependent VIEWs are used. A field table file maps the logical name of a field in an FML buffer to a string that uniquely identifies the field.

The following format is used for the description of each field in the FML field table:

$ /* FML structure */
   *base value
   name     number     type     flags    comments

The following table describes the fields that must be specified in the FML field table file for each FML field.

Table 2-10 Field Table File Fields

Field	Description
`*base value`	Specifies a base for offsetting subsequent field numbers, providing an easy way to group and renumber sets of related fields. The `*base` option allows field numbers to be reused. For a 16-bit buffer, the base plus the relevant number must be greater than or equal to 100 and less than 8191. This field is optional. Note: The Oracle Tuxedo system reserves field numbers 1-100 and 6000-7000 for internal use. Field numbers 101-8191 are available for application-defined fields with `FML`; field numbers 101-33, 554, and 431, for `FML32`.
`name`	Identifier for the field. The value must be a string of up to 256 characters, consisting of alphanumeric and underscore characters only.
`rel-number`	Relative numeric value of the field. This value is added to the current base, if specified, to calculate the field number.
`type`	Type of the field. This value can be any of the following: `char`, `string`, `short`, `long`, `float`, `double`, or `carray`.
`flag`	Reserved for future use. A dash (-) should be included as a placeholder
`comment`	Optional comment.

All fields are optional, and may be included more than once.

The following listing illustrates a field table file that may be used with the FML -dependent VIEW example.

Listing Field Table File for FML VIEW

# name        number     type   flags   comments
 FLOAT1        110       float    -       -
 DOUBLE1       111       double   -       -
 LONG1         112       long     -       -
 SHORT1        113       short    -       -
 INT1          114       long     -       -
 DEC1          115       string   -       -
 CHAR1         116       char     -       -
 STRING1       117       string   -       -
 CARRAY1       118       carray   -       -
 BOOL1
 SIGNEDCHAR1
 UNSIGNEDCHAR1
 WCHAR_T1
 UNSIGNEDINT1
 UNSIGNEDLONG1
 LONGLONG1
 UNSIGNEDLONGLONG1
 LONGDOUBLE1
 STRUCT1

Parent topic: Using an FML Typed Buffer