  RMS Indexed Record Manipulation? 
 The Question is:
 
Good morning,
 
     I am having a problem altering an indexed file. The file was
 
created and is modified by a fortran program that was written
 
10 years ago. Unfortunately the update component is not updating
 
the file correctly. Specifically it is not updating a single
 
entry that I need to replace. Basically all I need to do is replace
 
a users's seven character last name (appended to a 9 character
 
id). The file will not function as a sequential file because the
 
fortran programs that created it will only deal with it as an
 
indexed file. Any attempt to edit it (a copy) results in a
 
sequential file that cannot be reconverted to an indexed file.
 
I played some games with setting the file attributes and rms.fdl
 
files, so that I could edit that one entry, but the bottom line
 
seems to be if I convert it to a sequential file I can't reconvert
 
it. I'd rather not approach it from the fortran side if I can
 
help it.
 
Is there any easy way I can change that one entry without rewriting
 
several programs. Isw there any sort of configurable editor for this
 
kind of thing?
 
Here's what the file looks like. I would appreciate any help.
 
IDNUMS.DAT;1                  File ID:  (15487,1,0)
Size:        49620/49620      Owner:    [ACS_PRIV,OVERHEAD]
Created:   11-OCT-1988 14:46:57.91
Revised:    9-JUN-1999 11:18:17.96 (3862)
Expires:   17-JAN-2025 10:17:02.23
Backup:     7-JUN-1999 14:38:15.10
Effective: &lt;None specified&gt;
Recording: &lt;None specified&gt;
File organization:  Indexed, Prolog: 3, Using 1 key
Shelved state:      Online
File attributes:    Allocation: 49620, Extend: 0, Maximum bucket size: 1
                    Global buffer count: 0, No version limit
Record format:      Fixed length 35 byte records
Record attributes:  Fortran carriage control
RMS attributes:     None
Journaling enabled: None
File protection:    System:RWED, Owner:RWE, Group:RWE, World:
Access Cntrl List:  None
 
Total of 1 file, 49620/49620 blocks.
 
				Thanks for your assistance,
 
					Don Perreault
 
 
 The Answer is:
 
  The OpenVMS Wizard suspects the value you are trying to change is the
  primary key for a record.  RMS indexed files do NOT allow this.  The
  official solution is to read the record reserving the data within the
  application, delete the record, and then change the key and create a
  record with the fresh value.
 
  After a bit of practice on a copy of the file, you can perform this
  operation entirely using DCL:
 
        $ OPEN/READ/WRITE [/SHARE=WRITE] file IDNUMS.DAT
        $ READ/KEY="xxxx" file record
        $ SHOW SYMBOL record                           ! The correct record?
        $ READ/KEY="xxxx"/DELETE file record
        $ record = "yyyy" + F$EXTRACT(4,999,record)    ! Or whatever is needed
        $ WRITE record file
 
  You can also perform these changes from within a text editor, as long as
  you remember to re-convert the file back to an indexed file when done:
 
        $ ANAL/RMS/STAT/FDL/OUT=idnums idnums.dat
        $ CONV/FDL=nl:[/SHARE] idnums.dat idnums.seq   ! Optional, really.
        $ EDIT idnums.seq                              ! make the changes
        $ CONV/STAT/FDL=idnums idnums.seq idnums.dat
 
  Your file specification listing "Created:   11-OCT-1988 14:46:57.91" and
  "Revised:    9-JUN-1999 11:18:17.96 (3862)" indicates this file is long
  overdue for a CONVERT.   The other file attributes also tend to indicate
  that this file is long overdue for an optimization pass as well.
 
  Suggestions:
 
    o OPTIMIZE the file using the command EDIT/FDL/NOINTER isdnum.FDL,
      before performing the CONVERT.
 
    o CONVERT the file, whether it needs it or not.
 
