Problem:

I have an existing application that uses Indexed Sequential files - IDXFORMAT(3), and they are approaching their size limit.

I need to continue to add additional records to the file.

Resolution:

Use REBUILD to convert to IDXFORMAT(8)

By default Visual COBOL V2.3 creates indexed sequential files as IDXFORMAT(8) (large format),

in addition FILEMAXSIZE(8) is also set by default.

In order to convert existing files to other formats, use the Rebuild utility.

Rebuild is a file management utility invoked from the command prompt which enables you to:

    Reorganize an indexed file

•     Rebuild a corrupt indexed file
•     Convert files from one organization to another
•     Validate an indexed file

In the example below Rebuild is used to display information about the file MUSTOCK.DAT using the /n parameter :

Note: the file format is IDX-3 - IDXFORMAT(3).

In order to convert this file to IDXFORMAT(8) (large format) follow these steps:

• Create a sub-directory to receive the new file (this is optional):
  
  md new
  
  
• use the following Rebuild command line to create the new IDXFORMAT(8) file:
  
  REBUILD MUSTOCK.DAT,new\MUSTOCK.DAT /t:MF8

Note: When working with Linux/UNIX:

mkdir new

rebuild MUSTOCK.DAT,new/MUSTOCK.DAT /t:MF8

This will create a new copy of the file as IDXFORMAT(8) in the new sub-directory:

Display information about the new file MUSTOCK.DAT using the /n parameter :

Note: the file format is IDX-8 - IDXFORMAT(8).

For further information regarding IDXFORMAT and FILEMAXSIZE, please refer to the product documentation.

For information with respect to File size limits for Server Express and Net Express please refer to this article.