3 5 9 Default Action

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Mandatory.

The actions to take if no records can be found in the 3.5.3 Accessed Table that have a key matching the 3.5.11 Key Columns/Values specified.

Default= Ignore and continue processing (IGNORE).

Rules

Allowable values are:

Abort and issue an error message (ABORT): The function attempting to access the table specified should abort (fail) with an error message indicating the cause of the problem. This option can be used to continually verify database integrity. For instance, an access route from an order lines table to an order header table should always find a record. An order line without an associated order header probably indicates database corruption.

Ignore and continue processing (IGNORE): The function attempting to access the table specified should ignore the no records situation and continue to process. This option may be valid in the reverse access path of the case above. It is perfectly valid for an order header record to have no associated order lines.

Create a dummy record with empty columns (DUMMY): The function attempting to access the table specified should create a "dummy" record when no "real" record(s) can be found. The dummy record created will have blanks in all alphanumeric columns and zero (0) in all numeric columns. Only one dummy record will be created.

Create a dummy record and mark columns as not available (N/AVAIL): The function attempting to access the table specified should create a "dummy" record when no "real" record(s) can be found. The dummy record created will have zero (in all numeric columns, blanks in all alphanumeric column less than 3 characters long, and as much of the string as will fit in all other alphanumeric columns. Only one "dummy" record will be created.

Tips & Techniques

The N/AVAIL option is useful in situations where the no record situation arises occasionally. For instance an access route from an archived invoices table to a customer master table may use this option. When the name of a customer associated with an archived invoice cannot be found (presumably because it has been deleted) then it will be displayed as N/AVAIL, rather than causing an error.