There are three kinds of internal data items and file connectors: automatic, initial, and static. The designation of automatic, initial, and static items relates to their persistence and the persistence of their contents during the execution of a run unit.
Data items and file connectors have an initial and last-used state. The initial state of a data item depends on the presence or absence of a VALUE clause in its data description entry, the section in which the data item is described, and the description of the data item. The initial state of a file connector is that it is not in an open mode.
Last-used state means that the content of the data item or file connector is that of the last time it was modified.
Automatic items are set to their initial state any time a function, method or program is activated, and each instance of the function, method or program has its own copy of the item. An automatic item is an item described in the Local-Storage Section.
Initial items are set to their initial state any time an initial program is activated. All data items and file connectors in an initial program are initial items. Also, an attribute of a screen item in an initial program is treated as an initial item.
Static items are set to their initial state any time a function, method, object, or program is set to its initial state. (See the section State of a Function, Method, Object or Program.) A static item is an item described in the File or Working-Storage Section of a source element that is not an initial program. Also, an attribute of a screen item in a source element that is not an initial program is treated as a static item.