IXF Files Overview

Version 0 System/370 IXF

The IXF format is especially useful if you want to create DB2 tables outside the QMF environment and import them.

The EXPORT command in TSO and CICS/MVS™ copies objects to a TSO dataset at the system where QMF is executing.
The syntax for exporting objects in QMF temporary storage is different from the syntax for objects in the database. For the table object the syntax is the following:

EXPort TABLE tablename To dataset___ ________________ _______________>
                                    |_Confirm=Yes|No_|
                                    |_Member=member__|
>____ ______________________________________________________ ________
     |              _Qmf_________________________________   |
     |_Dataformat=_|_Ixf__ ____________________________ _|__|
                          |              _Binary____   |
                          |_Outputmode=_|_Character_|__|


For example:

EXPORT TABLE CUSTOMERS TO PROGRAM.TEST(O=C,D=I,C=NO,M=MYTABLE

When you use the EXPORT command to export a DATA or TABLE object using the DATAFORMAT=IXF option, the file, data set, or CICS data queue is exported in the Integrated Exchange Format (IXF).

In QMF an exported IXF file, data set, or CICS data queue consists of the following records:

• Header record (H)
• Table record (T)
• Column record (C)
• Data record (D)

The exported file, data set, or CICS data queue consists of one H record, followed by one T record. The T record contains a count of how many C records follow the T record. There is a C record for each column in the table. D records follow C records. There is a D record for each row in the table. The arrangement of records in an exported file, data set, or CICS data queue looks like:

PC Version of IXF File Format

The PC version of IXF (PC/IXF) file format is a database manager adaptation of the Integration Exchange Format (IXF) data interchange architecture. The IXF architecture was specifically designed to enable the exchange of relational database structures and data. The PC/IXF architecture allows the database manager to export a database without having to anticipate the requirements and idiosyncrasies of a receiving product. Similarly, a product importing a PC/IXF file need only understand the PC/IXF architecture; the characteristics of the product which exported the file are not relevant. The PC/IXF file architecture maintains the independence of both the exporting and the importing database systems.

In general, a PC/IXF file consists of an unbroken sequence of variable-length records. The file contains the following record types in the order shown:

• One header record of record type H
• One table record of record type T
• Multiple column descriptor records of record type C (one record for each column in the table)
• Multiple data records of record type D (each row in the table is represented by one or more D records).

For more information:

Developing QMF Applications CONTENTS via IBM BookManager BookServer
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/bookmgr-cgi/bookmgr.cmd/BOOKS/DSQAD061/CCONTENTS

C.0 Appendix C. Integrated Exchange Format (IXF)
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/cgi-bin/bookmgr/BOOKS/DSQAD061/C.0

QMF Reference Library
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/cgi-bin/bookmgr/BOOKS/DSQRS001/CCONTENTS

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