COBOL Manual for TNS/E Programs (H06.08+, J06.03+)

complete alternate key is used for positioning (as explained in START Statement With the
POSITION Phrase).
wait-time
is the time interval, in seconds, in which the operation must complete. wait-time can be a
literal or the name of a data item. In either case, it must have a value described with at most
seven digits preceding any decimal point position. Any fractional portion is truncated to two
decimal places.
If file-name was not opened with a TIME LIMITS phrase, including wait-time in the
START statement causes a run-time error.
imperative-stmt-1
is an imperative statement to be executed when an invalid-key condition is encountered by the
START operation. It is required if no USE statement is applicable for the file. If both a USE
statement and an INVALID KEY phrase are present, only the INVALID KEY phrase is used.
imperative-stmt-2
is an imperative statement to be executed when no invalid-key condition is detected in the
START operation.
END-START
ends the scope of the START statement, making the START statement a delimited-scope statement.
If the START statement does not end with an END-START phrase, the presence of the INVALID
KEY or the NOT INVALID KEY phrase makes the START statement a conditional statement,
which ends at the next period separator.
Usage Considerations:
• Action of the START Statement
The START statement proceeds in this manner:
1. It establishes the specified key as the key of reference and searches the file for the first
logical record whose value for that key satisfies the specified relation with respect to the
comparison data item values.
When the specified key is the prime record key or an alternate record key, the comparison
data item is handled as if it were an alphanumeric data item (regardless of its actual
description) and the normal nonnumeric comparison rules apply, except that the standard
collating sequence for the first 128 characters is always used.
NOTE: The program collating sequence does not apply to file key comparisons.
When the size of the comparison data item in character positions is less than that of the
file key, the comparison proceeds as if the record’s key value were truncated on the right
so as to reduce its size to the equivalent number of characters.
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