ARMRCALC

Subject: ARMRCALC05

Creating virtual prune files with ARMRCALC

ARMRCALC's pruning capabilites may be put to use in selecting data base records for reporting. When the -virtual option is in effect, two additional prune bracket keywords become available for saving output lists in virtual prune files. These files are read by all standard ARMR reporting modules to filter the records that are output for display.

The general syntax for creating a virtual prune file with ARMRCALC is as follows:

      bracket_start= sublist(s)
         virtual=
         note= user's note
      bracket_end=

For single data bases, the output prune file is named virtual.pru. For multi-segment data bases, ARMRCALC outputs a prune file for each data base segment. These prune files are named VPRNn.pru. Where n corresponds to the base's segment number.

Following, is a sample of virtual= usage:

      prune_start=
         bracket_start=
            field= budget
            value= ()
            leftover= keep
         bracket_end=

         bracket_start= keep
            virtual=
            note= Sample virtual prune.
            note= Pruned for non-blank budget number.
         bracket_end=
      prune_end=
      end=

Virtual pruning may also be invoked with the -prunechk option. With -prunechk in effect, ARMRCALC will exit with a non-zero return code if the pruning operation results in an empty data set. Application developers can use this feature to determine if a report should be run following the prune operation.