OSVSVSC2MF The RECORDING MODE Clause

The RECORDING MODE clause specifies the format of the logical records in the file.

General Formats
Format 1 (Record Sequential Files)
MFFormat 2 (Line Sequential Files)
MFFormat 3 (Relative and Indexed Files)
Syntax Rules
  1. MFF and FIXED are synonyms.
  2. MFV and VARIABLE are synonyms.
General Rules
    All Formats (All Files)
  1. Specifying RECORDING MODE IS F causes all the records in the file to be the same length.
  2. Format 1 (Record Sequential Files)
  3. MFThe "U" option is documentary only.
  4. Formats 1 and 3 (Record Sequential,Relative and Indexed Files)
  5. When RECORDING MODE IS V is specified, the records in the file can be either fixed or variable in length. Each data record includes a record length field. These fields are not part of the record description.
  6. MFFormat 2 (Line SequentialFiles)
  7. MFLine sequential files are neither truly fixed nor truly variable format files: the presence or absence of any RECORDING MODE, RECORD CONTAINS or RECORD VARYING IN SIZE clause does not, therefore, impact their performance.