Synonym Fields

A synonym field provides an alternative name for referencing an existing APPX field in the same record. By using synonym fields, you can reference the same data under more than one field name, and with more than one field sequence number.

You can only establish synonyms for physical fields. Synonyms cannot reference substrings, group headers, or group trailers. The sequence number of a synonym field must be greater than the sequence number of the field it references. In addition, a field that is referenced by a synonym field must be a single-occurrence field in the same record.

The Synonym specifications overlay, shown in Figure 2-4-36, automatically displays after you complete the entries on the Fields specifications screen if the Field Type you select is SYNONYM.

Figure 2-4-36. Synonym Fields Overlay

The Synonym fields overlay contains the following fields:

·    Synonym of identifies the physical field that is referenced by the synonym. The referenced field cannot be a substring, group trailer, group header, or another synonym field, and is limited to a single occurrence. The sequence number for this field must be smaller than the sequence number that is assigned to the synonym.

·    Descriptive provides a longer, more easily understood alternative to Field Name, one that is not required to be unique within an application. If blank at all default levels, Field Name is used.

·    Column Hdgs designates up to two lines of column heading text. The APPX output process facility uses this text to generate standard column heading images for Start of Page and Start of Range class frames. For cosmetic reasons, the length of headings should not exceed the length of a field itself. Refer to Standard Column Heading Image for additional information.