Position Description 
You use syntax rule field_spec to describe either a start position of a data field or a start and an end position of a data field. These can be:
The position of the input field in the data stream when importing application data (Column Description)
The position of an output field in the data stream when exporting application data (Output Column)
The position of a comparison value for importing application data selectively (Selecting Data Records)
Structure
Syntax
<field_spec> ::= <unsigned_integer> | <unsigned_integer> - <unsigned_integer>
In the column description, specify a position description field_spec for every column. The position description depends on the format of the data stream.
Format CSV
The data fields do not have a uniform format. They are separated by commas and end with a line break. Enter position descriptions field_spec as relative positions only. If you enter position descriptions with start and end positions for single columns or all columns, Loader generates an error and terminates the command.
Example
EXPORT COLUMNS * FROM hotel.reservation
MAP COLUMNS
rno 1
cno 2
hno 3
type 4
arrival 5
departure 6–15 ERROR
DATA OUTSTREAM 'reservation_csv.data' CSV
Assign position 1 to the first column in your list. The position number is incremented by 1 for each further column. This also means that each position number can only be assigned once. If you do not observe these rules, Loader generates an error and terminates the command.
Example
EXPORT COLUMNS * FROM hotel.reservation
MAP COLUMNS
rno 1
cno 2
hno 3
type 4
arrival 5
departure 6
type 7
DATA OUTSTREAM 'reservation_csv.data' CSV
You can assign a column to multiple positions.
Example
Data stream customer_csv.data with data at position 1, 2, 3, 4, ...
"3000","Mrs","Jenny","Porter",...
"3100","Mr","Peter","Brown",...
"3200","Company","?","Datasoft",...
Import Command
IMPORT TABLE hotel.customer
DATA INSTREAM 'customer_csv.data'
cno 1
title 2
firstname 3
name 4
zip 5
address 6
PAGE WITH 80% USAGE
Format FWV
The data fields have a standard format, and end with a line break. Specify all position descriptions field_spec with their exact start and end positions. Specify ascending, non-overlapping values only for position descriptions. If the positions entered are not consecutive, Loader fills the gaps with blank characters. This also applies to binary data.
Example
EXPORT COLUMNS * FROM hotel.reservation
MAP COLUMNS
rno 01-05
cno 06-10
hno 11-15
type 16-21
arrival 25-34
departure 36-45
DATA OUTSTREAM 'reservation_fwv.data' FWV
Example
Data stream customer_fwv.data
-3000Mrs----Jenny-----Porter
-3100Mr-----Peter-----Brown-
-3200Company?---------Dataso
Import Command
IMPORT TABLE hotel.customer
DATA INSTREAM 'customer_fwv.data' FWV
cno 01-05
title 06-12
firstname 13-22
name 23-32
zip 33-37
address 38-62
PAGE WITH 80% USAGE
Define the positions for the data stream so that they are at least as long as the length of the values in the database. If you define a position for the data stream that is longer than the length of the value in the database, the following occurs:
Character strings are aligned to the left and blank characters are entered to correct the length.
Numeric values are aligned to the right and blank characters are entered to correct the length.
If you define a position for the data stream that is shorter than the length of the value in the database, Loader generates an error and terminates the command.
Format FWV BINARY
The data fields have a standard format and do not end with a line break.
Example
IMPORT TABLE hotel.customer
DATA INSTREAM 'customer_fwv_binary.data' FWV BINARY
cno 01-05
title 06-12
firstname 13-22
name 23-32
zip 33-37
address 38-62
PAGE WITH 80% USAGE