4.4.5 Using a Leading DEF_BREAK Command

The original example RDML program that printed the ACCOUNTS file with the company number in the page heading looked like this:

     GROUP_BY    NAME(#ACCOUNT) 
                 FIELDS(#COMP #DIV #DEPT #EXPEND #REVNU)
     DEF_HEAD    NAME(#HEADING) 
                 FIELDS(#COMP) TRIGGER_BY(#COMP *OVERFLOW)
     DEF_LINE    NAME(#DETAILS) 
                 FIELDS(#DIV #DEPT #EXPEND #REVNU)
 
     SELECT      FIELDS(#ACCOUNT) FROM_FILE(ACCOUNTS)
     PRINT       LINE(#DETAILS)
     ENDSELECT
     ENDPRINT

which produced a 2 page report like this:

^Company 01
^{Division    Department   Expenditure   Revenue}
^{1 ADM 400 576}
^{1 MKT 678 56}
^{1 SAL 123 6784}
^{2 ADM 46 52}
^{2 SAL 978 456}
^{3 ACC 456 678}
^{3 SAL 123 679}

^{Company 02}
^{Division    Department   Expenditure   Revenue}
^{1 ACC 843 400}
^{1 MKT 23 0}
^{1 SAL 876 10}
^{2 ACC 0 43}

The layout of this report can be easily improved by using a "leading" break line to "cluster" the divisions together. This could be done like this:

     GROUP_BY    NAME(#ACCOUNT) 
                 FIELDS(#COMP #DIV #DEPT #EXPEND #REVNU)
     DEF_HEAD    NAME(#HEADING) FIELDS(#COMP) 
                 TRIGGER_BY(#COMP *OVERFLOW)
     DEF_BREAK   NAME(#BREAK01) FIELDS(#DIV) 
                 TRIGGER_BY(#COMP #DIV) TYPE(*LEADING)
     DEF_LINE    NAME(#DETAILS) FIELDS(#DEPT #EXPEND #REVNU)
 
     SELECT      FIELDS(#ACCOUNT) FROM_FILE(ACCOUNTS)
     PRINT       LINE(#DETAILS)
     ENDSELECT
     ENDPRINT

Note how the DEF_BREAK command indicates the field #DIV is to be printed and it is to be "triggered" by change of #COMP or change of #DIV.

The resulting report would probably look something like this:

^{Company 01}
^{Department   Expenditure   Revenue}
^Division 1
^{ADM 400 576}
^{MKT 678 56}
^{SAL 123 6784}
^Division 2
^{ADM 46 52}
^{SAL 978 456}
^Division 3
^{ACC 456 678}
^{SAL 123 679}

^{Company 02}
^{Department   Expenditure   Revenue}
^Division 1
^{ACC 843 400}
^{MKT 23 0}
^{SAL 876 10}
^Division 2
^{ACC 0 43}

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