NAT3040 error with Long Alpha field

We are exploring the use of Long Alpha fields as part of our solution for our web-based applications that store data in Natural 424, Predict 452, ADABAS 742 on z/OS 1.9. We created an ADABAS File (Figure 1, EQ-NEW-FILE1-ADB) and User View (NEW-FILE-3, same fields) for this purpose. The DDM for the User View (Figure 2) was generated using a reference to ADABAS Version I8, because generating the DDM using our current ADABAS version (I7) returned the error shown below in Figure 3.

The program ZEDNFILE (Figure 4) stows, however, we receive the NAT3040 error when we try to execute/run it. What do we need to do to resolve the NAT3040 error?

One other item in all this that we could not understand (or change) was the reference to OPTIONS=LB on the DDM view (Figure 2). In Predict we had to specify field type LO, which generated the LB option; this does not coincide with the Options reference in AOS for this file (see Figure 5). When we tried to load the file using the ADACMP cards generated by Predict (Option LB), we received the error in the Compress step shown in Figure 6. So the file was successfully loaded only after we tweaked the ADACMP cards to use Option LA (ADACMP FNDEF=‘01,LA,0,A,LA,NU’).

Figure 1
> + Fi: EQ-NEW-FILE1-ADB L: 1 S: 2
Ty L Field ID F Cs Length Occ D U DB S All
*- - -------------------------------- *- * -------- ----- * * – *
1 A8-FIELD A 8.0 AA N
1 LA-FIELD LO 16381.0 LA N

Figure 2

DDM DBID 0 DDM FNR 402 VSAM Name Default Sequence

T L DB Name F Leng S D Remark


  •    Generation started                                                    
    
  •    at 2009-03-20 14:04:18                                                
    
  •    by user Q1AD019                                                       
    
  • 1 AA A8-FIELD A 8 N
    1 LA L@LA-FIELD I 4
    1 LA LA-FIELD A N
    LE=16381
    OPTIONS=LB

Figure 3

10:16:02 ***** P R E D I C T 4.5.2 ***** 2009-03-27
- Generate a DDM - Page: 1

DBID: 0 FNR: 402 DDM: NEW-FILE-3 DEF.SEQ:
T L DB Name F Leng S D Remarks


1 AA A8-FIELD A 8.0 N

  • Skipped field: LA-FIELD
    Warning: 1 Field(s) are not valid for used Adabas version skipped.
    ***** DDM replaced *****

Figure 4

NAT3040 Syntax error detected in format buffer. DB/FNR 100/402.

                                  > +  Program     ZEDNFILE 

All …+…1…+…2…+…3…+…4…+…5…+…
0010 DEFINE DATA LOCAL
0020 01 NEW-FILE-3 VIEW OF NEW-FILE-3
0030 02 A8-FIELD
0040 * Length is not specified in Predict for LA-FIELD field
0050 02 LA-FIELD (A16381)
0060 END-DEFINE
0070 A8-FIELD := ‘20090327’
0080 LA-FIELD := ‘blah blah blah blah’
E 0090 STORE RECORD IN NEW-FILE-3
0100 END TRANSACTION
0110 END

Figure 5

10:31:30 ***** A D A B A S BASIC SERVICES ***** 2009-03-27

DBID 100 - Display FDT - PDRD002

Field Description Table: File 402 (EQ-NEW-FILE-ADB)

======================= Total Fields … 2

*************** T o p of F D T ***************
Lev I Name I Leng I Form I Options I Predict Field Names
-----I------I-------I-------I----------------- I-----------------------------
1 I AA I 008 I A I NU I
1 I LA I 000 I A I LA NU I

Figure 6

A D A C M P V7.4 SM4 DBID = 00001 Started 2009-03-27 10:39:17

Parameters:

ADACMP COMPRESS
ADACMP FILE=402
ADACMP MINISN=1
ADACMP DEVICE=3380
ADACMP FNDEF=‘01,AA,8,A,NU’ *A8-FIELD *********

*** ADACMP FNDEF=‘01,LA,0,A,LB,NU’ LA-FIELD 2009-03-20
**
ERROR-027, Invalid or conflicting Field Options used

       See the ADABAS Utilities Manual for further information            
       about field definition syntax.                                     

       Correct the error and rerun the job.                               

A D A C M P Terminated 2009-03-27 10:39:17

TIA as always,
Dave Love
California Board of Equalization

You need to upgrade to Adabas 8. The problem is that LA fields greater than 253 bytes are not supported until Adabas 8.1.2.

From the Adabas 8.1.2 Release Notes: (http://techcommunity.softwareag.com/ecosystem/documentation/adabas/ada814mfr/adamf/relnotes/enh811_812.htm#enh811_la)

"Long Alpha (LA) Field Changes

Long alpha (LA) fields have been updated in Adabas 8 to include much of the support available for large object (LB) fields.
The following updates have been made to long alpha (LA) fields in this release:
LA fields can now specify fixed field lengths greater than 253 in format buffers. For more information, read Format Buffer Changes."