Driver Initialization

The onpload utility calls the configure function that you returned in pl_get_user_method(), expecting this function to configure all driver methods that are to be customized. The configure function must call the pl_inherit_methods() function, specifying the class of driver that is appropriate for the data being processed.

A driver class can be one of following classes.

Driver Class

Description

Fixed

Fixed drivers process data on the assumption that the data is organized as constant length records of the same format. Fields in the record will consistently appear at the same offset in each record.

Delimited

Delimited drivers assume that the record and field boundaries are defined by markers (called delimiters) in the data.

COBOL

The COBOL driver treats data as constant length records in the same manner as the Fixed driver. The distinguishing factor of the COBOL driver is its support for conversion of the ANSI COBOL data types.

After the pl_inherit_methods() function is called, you can add additional functions that are called to support open, close, read, and write requirements of the driver. Call pl_set_method_function() to tie your driver functions into the onpload execution.