Causes word boundary alignment of an elementary field. Format { SYNCHRONIZED } [ LEFT ] { SYNC } [ RIGHT] { } [ ]
1 – Arguments
LEFT Allows compatibility with DEC COBOL record definitions. DEC DATATRIEVE accepts the argument but ignores the boundary alignment specification that the field begin at the left boundary of the unit of storage the field occupies. RIGHT Allows compatibility with DEC COBOL record definitions. DEC DATATRIEVE accepts the arguments but ignores the boundary alignment specification that the field end at the right boundary of the unit of storage the field occupies.
2 – Example
This example shows the difference in storage allocation a SYNC clause can make. A field of USAGE type LONG occupies four bytes of storage (the equivalent of one longword): DTR> DEFINE RECORD NOSYNC_REC USING DFN> 01 TOP. DFN> 03 ONE PIC X. DFN> 03 TWO LONG. DFN> ; [Record is 5 bytes long.] DTR> DEFINE RECORD SYNC_REC USING DFN> 01 TOP. DFN> 03 ONE PIC X. DFN> 03 TWO SYNC RIGHT LONG. DFN> ; [Record is 8 bytes long.] DTR>