Propagating Mixed-Case Column Titles to a HOLD File

A report request can display custom column titles on the report output by using an AS phrase to specify the title. These names can be propagated as field names to a HOLD Master File by issuing the SET ASNAMES command. With SET ASNAMES=ON, all column titles are converted to uppercase when propagated to the HOLD file. To retain mixed-case column titles as field names, use the SET ASNAMES=MIXED command.

Syntax: How to Propagate Mixed-Case Column Titles to a HOLD File

SET ASNAMES = {OFF|ON|MIXED|FOCUS}

ON TABLE SET ASNAMES {OFF|ON|MIXED|FOCUS}

where:

OFF: Does not use the literal specified in an AS phrase as a field name in HOLD files, and does not affect the way ACROSS fields are named.
ON: Uppercases the literal specified in an AS phrase and propagates it as the field name in the HOLD Master File. Creates names for ACROSS fields that consist of the AS name value concatenated to the beginning of the ACROSS field value and controls the way ACROSS fields are named in HOLD files of any format.
MIXED: Uses the literal specified in an AS phrase for the field name, retaining the case of the AS name, and creates names for ACROSS fields that consist of the AS name value concatenated to the beginning of the ACROSS field value.
FOCUS: Uses the literal specified in an AS phrase as the field name and controls the way ACROSS fields are named only in HOLD files in FOCUS format. FOCUS is the default value.

Reference: Usage Notes for SET ASNAMES

Special characters and blanks used in the AS phrase are preserved in the field name that is created when SET ASNAMES is used. Use single quotation marks around the non-standard field names when referring to them in the newly created Master File.
Text specified in an AS phrase that contains more than 66 characters is truncated to 66 characters in the Master File.
Aliases are not carried over into the HOLD Master File. A new set of aliases is supplied automatically. These aliases are named E01 for the first field, E02 for the second, and so forth.
Duplicate field names may occur in the newly created Master File as a result of truncation or the way AS phrases have been specified. In this case, refer to the fields by their aliases (E01, E02, and so forth).
When commas are used as delimiters to break lines in the column heading, only the literal up to the first comma is used as the field name in the Master File. For example, the following produces the field name PLACE in the HOLD Master File.
```
PRINT COUNTRY AS 'PLACE,OF,ORIGIN'
```
If no AS phrase is specified for a field, the field name from the original Master File is used. The TITLE attribute specified in the Master File is not used unless SET HOLDATTR was previously issued.
When ACROSS is used in a report request and the results are extracted to a HOLD file, the columns generated by the ACROSS phrase all have the same field names in the HOLD Master File. If SET ASNAMES is issued, each new column may have a unique field name. This unique field name consists of the AS name value specified in the display command, concatenated to the beginning of the value of the field used in the ACROSS phrase. If several field names have the same letters, this approach does not work.
SCAN and FSCAN do not support mixed case field names.

Top of page

Example: Retaining Mixed-Case AS Names in a HOLD Master File

The following request against the GGSALES data source creates custom mixed-case column titles for the fields:

SET ASNAMES = OFF
TABLE FILE GGSALES                        
SUM DOLLARS AS 'Sales' UNITS AS 'Quantity'
BY ST AS 'State'                          
BY CATEGORY AS 'Product'                  
ON TABLE HOLD                    
END

With SET ASNAMES=OFF, the HOLD Master File has the same field names as the original Master File:

FILENAME=HOLD    , SUFFIX=FIX     , IOTYPE=BINARY, $       
  SEGMENT=HOLD, SEGTYPE=S2, $                              
    FIELDNAME=ST, ALIAS=E01, USAGE=A02, ACTUAL=A04, $      
    FIELDNAME=CATEGORY, ALIAS=E02, USAGE=A11, ACTUAL=A12, $
    FIELDNAME=DOLLARS, ALIAS=E03, USAGE=I08, ACTUAL=I04, $ 
    FIELDNAME=UNITS, ALIAS=E04, USAGE=I08, ACTUAL=I04, $

With SET ASNAMES=ON, the field names in the HOLD Master File are the AS names, converted to uppercase:

FILENAME=HOLD    , SUFFIX=FIX     , IOTYPE=BINARY, $       
  SEGMENT=HOLD, SEGTYPE=S2, $                              
    FIELDNAME=STATE, ALIAS=E01, USAGE=A02, ACTUAL=A04, $   
    FIELDNAME=PRODUCT, ALIAS=E02, USAGE=A11, ACTUAL=A12, $ 
    FIELDNAME=SALES, ALIAS=E03, USAGE=I08, ACTUAL=I04, $   
    FIELDNAME=QUANTITY, ALIAS=E04, USAGE=I08, ACTUAL=I04, $

With SET ASNAMES=MIXED, the field names in the HOLD Master File are the AS names, in the case specified in the request:

FILENAME=HOLD    , SUFFIX=FIX     , IOTYPE=BINARY, $       
  SEGMENT=HOLD, SEGTYPE=S2, $                              
    FIELDNAME=State, ALIAS=E01, USAGE=A02, ACTUAL=A04, $   
    FIELDNAME=Product, ALIAS=E02, USAGE=A11, ACTUAL=A12, $ 
    FIELDNAME=Sales, ALIAS=E03, USAGE=I08, ACTUAL=I04, $   
    FIELDNAME=Quantity, ALIAS=E04, USAGE=I08, ACTUAL=I04, $