Hello,

I am a WebFocus developer (since 2004), but only recently I have discovered this forum.

I have the following issue:

In the documentation for WF (Describing data with WebFocus Language V7.6), I’ve read:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Syntax: How to Specify a Data Source Name
FILE[NAME] = data_source_name
where:
data_source_name
Is the name of the data source that the Master File describes.
The name can be a maximum of eight characters.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But we already use masterfiles like the one below for some years (filename is 12 characters long, and we even have examples with 15 characters) and we never had any problems with them. We only use one segment per masterfile.
Originally the masterfiles and acx-files where generated via New synonym in the Developer Studio, but nowadays they are coded.

VWDMIS0052VT.MAS
FILE=VWDMIS0052VT, SUFFIX=SQLORA ,$
SEGNAME=VWDMIS0052VT,
SEGTYPE=S0 ,$
FIELD=OFFERTENR ,OFFERTENR,
P7 ,P8 ,MISSING=ON ,$
etcetera

VWDMIS0052VT.ACX
SEGNAME=VWDMIS0052VT,
TABLENAME=DWHVIEW."VWDMIS0052VT",
CONNECTION=dwhp,
KEYS=0
,$

In the documentation for our Oracle Adapter (Adapter Administration for Unix, Windows, Open VMS, i5/OS, and z/Os V7.6.2) Chapter 41, I found:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Accessing Multiple Database Servers in One SQL Request
To access a remote Oracle table using DATABASE LINKs, the following conditions must
exist:
· The Oracle database server to which you are connected must have a valid DATABASE LINK defined.
· The TABLENAME attribute in the Access File for the Oracle table to be queried must have the following format:
TABLENAME=[owner.]table@databaselink
where:
owner
Is the user ID by default. It can consist of a maximum of 30 characters. Oracle
prefers that the value be uppercase.
table
Is the name of the table or view. It can consist of a maximum of 30 characters.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can this be the reason why we don’t have problems?

Or can we expect problems in the future?

Who can explain this situation?

Ton

I believe that the documentation about FILENAME is now out of date, and will work with a value up to 64 characters.

You can test this by creating a master with a filename of 65 characters and running CHECK FILE against it.

Your approach seems to be correct and the normal way people use the MFD and ACX files.

There was a limit at one time due to the IBM mainframe world of eight characters for DDNAME which is still a limiting factor if using Job Control Language. As Alan mentions in other environments it is out of date.

Thank you for your answers