Micro Focus Enterprise Developer 2.3 for Visual Studio 2015 > General Reference > Open PL/I Language Reference Manual > Statements > DEFINE ALIAS

DEFINE ALIAS

Purpose

Specifies a name that can be used as a synonym for the set of data type attributes you give to the alias.

Syntax

DEFINE ALIAS [alias-name, attribute,...];

Parameters

alias-name: Specifies the name that can be used wherever the explicit data type defined by the specified attributes is allowed.
attributes: The specified attributes for the alias. Separate each attribute with a comma(,). The attributes that can be specified are any of the attributes for variables that can be returned by a function (for example, those attributes valid in the RETURNS option and attribute). Therefore, you cannot specify an alias for an array or a structured attribute list.; Also, as in the RETURNS option and attribute, any string lengths or area sizes must be restricted expressions.
Missing data attributes are supplied using PL/I defaults.

Description

An alias can be used wherever an explicit data type can be used. Using DEFINE ALIAS, you can define an alias for a collection of data attributes. This lets you assign meaningful names to data types, which can make a program easier to understand. Aliases also let you provide a shorter notation for a set of data attributes, which can decrease typographical errors.

Example

define alias Name   char(31) varying;
define alias Salary fixed dec(7);     /* real by default */
define alias Zip    char(5)           /* nonvarying by default */

Note: Whenever Name is used in a DECLARE statement, it has the attributes char(31) varying.

Restrictions

Using the attributes parameter to specify an alias for a type that is defined in a DEFINE ORDINAL statement is not supported.

Alias of aliases is also not supported.