CATEGORY

This category contains the data items that describe the properties of collections of related data items. A DDL category is essentially a table, and in this category the characteristics of the table as a whole are defined. This category includes the data item, _category.id, to identify a category; the item, _category.description, to describe a category; the item _category.mandatory_code, to indicate if the category must appear in a data block; a method identifier, _category.method_id, which associates a procedure with a category; and _category.implicit_key which can be used to merge like categories between data blocks. The category identifier, _category.id, is a component of the basis in most of the DDL categories in this section. The parent definition of the category identifier as well as all of its child relationships are defined in this category.

Because special rules exist in the STAR grammar for the specification of data items which belong to a common category, the organization of data items within categories has a significant influence on how these items may be expressed in a data file. For example, a data category may be specified only once within a STAR data block or save frame, and at any level of a STAR loop structure only data items of a common category may appear.

The DDL for this category is given in the following section.

save_CATEGORY

    _category.description
;
     Attributes defining the functionality for the entire category.
;
    _category.id                         category
    _category.mandatory_code             no 
    _category_key.name                 '_category.id'                
     loop_
    _category_group.id                  'ddl_group'
                                        'category_group'
     save_


save__category.id   

    _item_description.description   
;
     The identity of the data category. Data items may only be looped
     with items of the same category.
;
     loop_
    _item.name
    _item.category_id                  
    _item.mandatory_code  
         '_category.id'                   category          yes
         '_category_examples.id'          category_examples implicit 
         '_category_key.id'               category_key      implicit 
         '_category_group.category_id'    category_group    implicit  
         '_category_methods.category_id'  category_methods  implicit  
         '_item.category_id'              item              implicit 

   _item_type.code                        idname

    loop_
    _item_linked.child_name
    _item_linked.parent_name
         '_category_examples.id'          '_category.id'
         '_category_group.category_id'    '_category.id'
         '_category_key.id'               '_category.id'
         '_category_methods.category_id'  '_category.id'
         '_item.category_id'              '_category.id'
     save_


save__category.description

    _item_description.description
;
     Text description of a category.    
;
    _item.name                         '_category.description'   
    _item.category_id                    category
    _item.mandatory_code                 yes 
    _item_type.code                      text
     save_

save__category.implicit_key

    _item_description.description
;
     An identifier that may be used to distinguish the contents of
     like categories between data blocks.  
;
     save_

save__category.mandatory_code

    _item_description.description
;
     Whether the category must be specified in a dictionary. 
;
    _item.name                         '_category.mandatory_code'     
    _item.category_id                    category
    _item.mandatory_code                 yes 
    _item_type.code                      code
     save_