Building a Dictionary - mfx - 3.1

There are three types of dictionary statements:

• The constant_name statement

• The field_name statement

• The operator statement

Constant_names and field_names associate symbols with constants or field definitions; operators (POSITION, SKIP and ALIGN) are used to position fields you are defining.

In addition, you can have a comment statement or a blank statement:

• A statement with an asterisk (*) in the first column is a comment statement. MFX will not process it, but it can be printed.

• A blank statement contains blanks in positions 1 through 80. MFX will not process it, but it can be printed.

The following general rules apply to dictionary statements:

• A dictionary statement can start in any column from 1 through 80. However, a dictionary statement can only occupy one line; a continuation to a second line is not permissible.

• One or more blanks after the value indicate the beginning of a comment. Characters following the blank(s) are not processed by MFX but can be printed.

• A semicolon (;) can be used instead of a comma (,) to separate the dictionary_name and the value.