Holding And Reusing Data

FOCUS allows you to process a request, then hold the results for further processing using the command: ON TABLE HOLD. The resulting data file contains the fields requested per the verb, sort or compute commands, complete with a corresponding Master File Description (MFD) which you can use to generate new reports.

For example, the following request creates a HOLD file that identifies the total timebase for each of your employees:

EX AC

TABLE FILE AC

SUM AC:FTE

by ac:ssa

by ac:wname

on table hold AS PERMRPT

end

retype

? HOLD PERMRPT

The default name of the file generated is HOLD. You can optionally name a temporary hold file, or specify one of your permanent hold files using the AS command. For example: ON TABLE HOLD AS PERMRPT.
If a permanent hold file is not specified, the hold file will be deleted when your FOCUS session ends.
You will not see the resulting data when the report is executed online or in batch. Instead, FOCUS responds with the following message: HOLDING...To display the contents of your hold file, issue the RETYPE command, or issue a TABLE request against the hold file.
The fields in a HOLD file have the original names that would be retrieved had the report been displayed or printed, unless you use the AS phrase to rename a field in your request, or used the ACROSS command. To view the MFD, issue the command: ? HOLD filename. Where filename is the name provided per the AS command. The MFD for the request above would appear as follows:

fieldname alias format

ac:ssa e01 a11

ac:wname e02 a39

ac:fte e03 p9.3

After creating a HOLD file, you can generate additional reports using the fieldnames or aliases listed in the MFD. Note: You cannot use hold file data for generating ad hoc reports if a format was specified for downloading purposes.

For example, the following request to identify employees with a total timebase that exceeds .997 reuses the hold file data:

table file hold

print ac:wname

if ac:fte gT .997

end

Refer to your FOCUS documentation or the CIRS User Manual for more information on creating and using hold files.