Data Definition Language (DDL) Reference Manual (G06.24+)

Definition Attributes
Data Definition Language (DDL) Reference Manual—426798-002
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EXTERNAL Clause
currency symbol at the beginning. Also, it is valid to display fewer characters to the
right of the decimal point than the elementary item contains there.
The data length of the second edit picture is invalid because it has too many minus
signs. An edit picture can include 1 extra character for a minus sign, but the number of
remaining minus signs must be equal to or less than the number of digits in the
elementary item.
The data length of the third edit picture is valid because the length on each side of the
decimal point is less than or equal to the data length on that side in the elementary
item.
EXTERNAL Clause
The EXTERNAL clause lets you output the EXTERNAL clause in COBOL source files.
The COBOL source files can be part of a copy library that is shared among different
program modules.
When emitting language output, DDL generates the EXTERNAL clause verbatim for
COBOL output; for output in C, FORTRAN, Pascal, pTAL, TACL, and TAL, DDL strips
this clause.
EXTERNAL Clause Guidelines
The following points are guidelines for using the EXTERNAL clause:
•
The EXTERNAL clause can be specified only on the object-name level.
•
If you specify the EXTERNAL clause in a definition statement, none of the line
items in the definition or the record can have a VALUE clause or a REDEFINES
clause.
•
The EXTERNAL clause is not inheritable.
•
The EXTERNAL clause cannot be used in combination with the FILLER clause.
EXTERNAL