sf_name.ext

is the name and extension of the SF that contains the data.  The extension "CMD" is the default.

FIELDS field/skip list

is used to select data from each line when the form of the SF does not exactly match the SD of the DS.  Items in the list can be:

field_name [width], where the optional width is needed only when the width differs from that of the SD.  Width can be greater or less than that given for the field in the SD.  For DS’s having secondary fields, use only the primary field names.

skip is the number of characters that are not to be incorporated in the DS.  Items in the field/skip list are separated by commas.

If no field/skip list is given, ACCENT R assumes that the data in the SF is the correct width and type for each field in the SD.  Each line must be one complete record, terminated by a carriage return-line feed, and any data beyond the last field is ignored.  Line numbers are also ignored.

VIA clause

a Process Module (PM) can be used with LOAD to perform data validation or to modify or manipulate the records in other ways.  The field/skip list is applied to the record before it enters the DETAIL section.

APPEND

causes new data to be added to any currently in the DS.  The default, if APPEND is not expressed, is to clear the DS before new records are loaded.

TEST

screens all data in the SF for errors, but does not load the data into the DS.  Errors can then be corrected before loading the data to the DS.  This option is particularly useful if the sequence of the data is to be maintained.

ERRORS TO sf_name [ONLY]

checks the data, loads all valid records as records into the DS, writes invalid records to the specified SF preceded by an error message, and displays error messages for any invalid records at the terminal.  The option ONLY writes error messages to the output file but suppresses them at the terminal.  The error file has the default extension .ERR if one is not supplied.