NAME

sfsadmin create sequentialfile - creates a new sequential file

SYNOPSIS

sfsadmin create sequentialfile -server servername filename nfields {{fieldname fieldtype [fieldsize]}...} primaryindex volume [-preallocate npages] [-recordlimit nrecords]

ARGUMENTS

-server servername Specifies the name of the file server. The name must be registered with the DCE Directory Service. If the -server option is not specified, the default is the server defined by the environment variable ENCINA_SFS_SERVER. 

filename Specifies the name of the file to be created. 

nfields {{fieldname fieldtype [fieldsize]...}}
Specifies the record format of the file. Specify the number of fields per record as nfields. For each field, specify the name of the field as fieldname (which can be up to 32 characters long) and its type as fieldtype. Possible field types include: unsignedInt16, signedInt16, unsignedInt32, unsignedInt64, signedInt64, decimal, float, double, timestamp, string fieldsize, byteArray fieldsize, varLenByteArray fieldsize, shortVarLenByteArray fieldsize, nlsString fieldsize. Where noted, you must specify fieldsize. When specifying record fields, you must specify fixed-length fields before variable-length fields. When strings of the type nlsString are used as index fields, the collating sequence is determined by the value of the -c option on the sfs command line. If that option is not specified, any field of nlsString type is treated as an invalid type. 

primaryindex Specifies the name of the primary index of the new sequential file. 

volume Specifies the name of the volume on which the newly created file will reside. 

[-preallocate npages] Specifies the number of pages to be reserved for the file. The size of a page is 4096 bytes. If the -preallocate option is not specified, the value of npages is 0. 

[-recordlimit nrecords]
Specifies the limit on the number of records that can be inserted in the file. If -recordlimit is not specified, the record limit for sequential files is 236-10. 

DESCRIPTION

The sfsadmin create sequentialfile command creates a file whose records are organized sequentially. The records in an SFS entry-sequenced file are stored in the order in which they were inserted in the file; new records are always appended to the end of the file. Entry-sequenced files are useful for keeping time-sequenced event records, such as log files or audit trails. 

The primary index of an entry-sequenced file is based on entry sequence numbers (ESNs), which correspond to the order in which the records were inserted in the file. The SFS generates ESNs when records are inserted; they are not part of the record itself. ESNs cannot be set or modified by administrators or applications. 

The records in entry-sequenced files can have fixed- or variable-length fields. When an existing record of variable length is updated, the size of the new record cannot exceed the size required by the original record. 

The names of files, fields, and indices can be any sequence of null-terminated characters and must follow these rules:

File names cannot contain the slash (/) character, and must be less than or equal to 254 characters. 

Field and index names must be less than or equal to 32 characters. 

EXAMPLE

The command in the following example creates an entry-sequenced file named MerchandiseOrders with records that contain the fields customerName, orderNum, date, itemNum, and quantity. The primary index is ordersIndex. The file is created on volume sfsVol2. 

% sfsadmin create sequentialfile MerchandiseOrders 5 customerName string 64 orderNum unsignedInt32 date timestamp itemNum unsignedInt32 quantity unsignedInt32 ordersIndex sfsVol2

PRIVILEGE REQUIRED

Encina SFS create (C) permission on the server

RELATED INFORMATION

sfsadmin create relativefile

sfsadmin create clusteredfile

  —  March 1997