Format

      INITIAL_VALUE IS  value-expr

1  –  Parameters

1.1  –  value-expr

    Specifies an expression a product can use to calculate a field's
    value. See Expressions for more information on value expressions.

2  –  Description

    The INITIAL_VALUE field property declares a field's value when
    the product first allocates the field. The expression you specify
    must be a valid expression for the product evaluating it.

    The value of the expression must fit into the space allocated for
    the field.

    You can specify a complex number for the INITIAL_VALUE property
    of a field if the field's data type is F_FLOATING COMPLEX, D_
    FLOATING COMPLEX,
    G_FLOATING COMPLEX, or H_FLOATING COMPLEX.

    You can specify a fixed-point number for the INITIAL_VALUE
    property of any field whose data type is not DATE, TEXT,
    UNSPECIFIED, or VARYING STRING.

    You can specify a floating-point number for the INITIAL_
    VALUE property of a field whose data type is not DATE, TEXT,
    UNSPECIFIED, or VARYING STRING.

    You can use Japanese in an INITIAL_VALUE field property and to
    document comments (DESCRIPTION and AUDIT clauses) for a field.
    To do this set the character set of a session to DEC_KANJI;
    otherwise, the information may not display correctly. See the
    SET CHARACTER_SET command to set the character_set of a session.

3  –  Examples

    1.CDO>  DEFINE FIELD AMOUNT
      cont>   DATATYPE IS UNSIGNED NUMERIC
      cont>   SIZE IS 8 DIGITS
      cont>   INITIAL_VALUE IS 0.

      In this example, the DEFINE FIELD command assigns 0 as the
      initial value to the AMOUNT field element.

    2.CDO>  CHANGE FIELD AMOUNT
      cont>   NOINITIAL_VALUE.

      In this example, the NOINITIAL_VALUE keyword removes the
      INITIAL_VALUE property from the AMOUNT field element.