The formatted REWRITE statement performs the following operations:
- It retrieves binary values from internal storage.
- It translates those values to character form as specified
by FORMAT.
- It writes the translated data to a current (existing)
record in the following types of files:
- On OpenVMS systems, in a file with any type of
organization. (In sequential files, the new record must be
the same length as the current record.)
- On Tru64 UNIX systems, in a file with direct access.
The current record is the last record accessed by a preceding,
successful indexed (VMS only), direct access, or
sequential READ statement.
Errors occur under the following conditions:
- If you attempt to rewrite more than one record in a single
REWRITE statement operation
- If a record is too long (Unused space in a rewritten,
fixed-length record is filled with spaces.)
- If the primary key (VMS only) value is changed
Example
In the following example, the REWRITE statement updates the current
record contained in the relative organization file connected to
logical unit 3 with the values represented by NAME, AGE, and BIRTH.
REWRITE (3,10,ERR=99) NAME, AGE, BIRTH
10 FORMAT (A16,I2,A8)