Generating Headers and Trailers

HEADER1 and HEADER2

HEADER1 defines the main report header—one or more lines written at the very beginning of the OUTFIL output. HEADER2 defines the page header: it repeats at the top of each page when you specify LINES=n. Without LINES=, there is no pagination, so HEADER2 typically appears only once (or as defined by the product). Use HEADER1 for the report title and optional print date/time; use HEADER2 for column titles and page number so every page is self-explanatory.

Positioning and Multi-Line Syntax

In HEADER1=, HEADER2=, TRAILER1=, or TRAILER2=, you use position:value to place text at a specific column. For example 20:'Report Title' starts the text at column 20. You can list multiple items separated by commas; the order and position control the layout. Use / (slash) to start a new line. Example:

1
2
  HEADER1=(20:'Student Details',
    37:'Printed on ',DATE=(MD4/),' AT ',TIME)

The first line has "Student Details" at column 20 and "Printed on " followed by the date (format MD4/), then " AT " and the time. DATE= and TIME formats (e.g. MD4, MD4-, Y2Y) are product-specific. The slash in DATE=(MD4/) may denote a date format; check your manual.

HEADER2 with Page Number and Column Titles

For a page header that repeats on each page, use HEADER2 with PAGE (or the product keyword for page number), date, and column titles. Use / to put the column titles on the next line and an underline on the line after that:

1
2
3
4
  HEADER2=(/,15:'Class X Students details',
    40:'Page',PAGE,53:' on ',58:DATE=(MD4-),/,
    1:'Std num',11:'Std name',30:'Department',45:'Total marks',/,
    1:'-------',11:'--------',30:'----------',45:'-----------')

The first line of HEADER2 is blank (/, then positioned text). The second line has the subtitle, "Page", the page number, " on ", and the date. The next line has column titles; the next has underlines. So each page starts with this block before the detail lines. LINES= must be set (e.g. LINES=60) for HEADER2 to repeat.

TRAILER1: Report Trailer and Count

TRAILER1 is written at the end of the report. It often contains a record count or grand total. The syntax for a count is product-specific; a common form is COUNT=(edit_mask,LENGTH=n) where the edit mask (e.g. M10, M11) formats the count and LENGTH is the output length. Example:

1
  TRAILER1=(1:'Total records: ',COUNT=(M11,LENGTH=10))

This produces a line that starts with "Total records: " followed by the number of detail records written, formatted with M11 (e.g. leading zeros or blanks). Your product may use different keywords (e.g. TOTAL=, RECORDCOUNT=); see the manual. TRAILER1 can also be a fixed message with no count, or multiple lines using /.

TRAILER2 and TRAILER3

TRAILER2 is the page trailer: it appears at the bottom of each page when LINES= is specified. Use it for "Page n of m" or a short footer. TRAILER3 is used with SECTIONS: it is written after each section (each group of records with the same section key). Use TRAILER3 for section subtotals or a line after each group. The exact syntax for section totals (e.g. subtotal of a numeric field) is product-dependent; refer to control-break and report-totals documentation.

DATE= and TIME Formats

In headers and trailers you can insert the current date and time. DATE=(format) and TIME (often with format options) are replaced at run time. Common date formats include MD4 (MM/DD/YYYY or similar), MD4- (MM-DD-YYYY), Y2Y (year format), and others. TIME often produces HH:MM:SS. The exact codes and punctuation (e.g. MD4/ for a slash separator) depend on your DFSORT version; check the manual.

LINES= and Pagination

LINES=n sets the number of lines per page. It is required for HEADER2 and TRAILER2 to repeat—without LINES=, there is no page boundary. The value n usually includes the lines used for header and trailer on that page. Example: LINES=60,BLKCCH2 for 60-line pages with blocking; BLKCCH2 may specify carriage control for the output. Detail records fill the lines between HEADER2 and TRAILER2 on each page.

Complete Example

Sort by student number; output 80-byte records; add a report header with title and date/time, a page header with column titles and page number, and a trailer with record count. Use LINES=9 for a short page (e.g. for illustration):

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
  SORT FIELDS=(1,5,ZD,A)
  OUTFIL FNAMES=OUTPUT1,LINES=9,BLKCCH2,
    HEADER1=(20:'Student Details',
      37:'Printed on ',DATE=(MD4/),' AT ',TIME),
    HEADER2=(/,15:'Class X Students details',
      40:'Page',PAGE,53:' on ',58:DATE=(MD4-),4/,
      1:'Std num',11:'Std name',30:'Department',45:'Total marks',/,
      1:'-------',11:'--------',30:'----------',45:'-----------'),
    TRAILER1=(1:'Total records: ',COUNT=(M11,LENGTH=10)),
    OUTREC=(1,80)

HEADER1 runs once at the start. HEADER2 runs at the top of each page (LINES=9). TRAILER1 runs once at the end with the count. OUTREC=(1,80) copies the full record. Define OUTPUT1 in JCL; BLKCCH2 and exact DATE/TIME/PAGE/COUNT syntax depend on your product.

Explain It Like I'm Five

Imagine a worksheet: at the very top you write the title and the date (HEADER1). Then on every new page you write a small title and "Page 1", "Page 2", and the column names (HEADER2). At the very bottom of the whole worksheet you write "Total: 10 rows" (TRAILER1). And at the bottom of each page you might write "Page 1" again (TRAILER2). Generating headers and trailers in DFSORT is telling the sort program to do exactly that: add those lines for you so your report has a title, column names, page numbers, and a total at the end.

Exercises

1. Write HEADER1 that has the title "Monthly Report" at column 25 and the current date at column 60. Use positioning and DATE= (check your manual for the format code).
2. What is the purpose of the slash (/) in a HEADER or TRAILER specification?
3. If you want a record count only at the end of the report (no count on each page), which trailer do you use?
4. Look up your DFSORT manual: what is the exact syntax for COUNT= in TRAILER1 (keyword and edit mask)?