The -gen option creates empty Vision files. This is equivalent to doing an OPEN OUTPUT on the files from COBOL and is supplied as an alternative to writing a program explicitly to create empty data files. The command syntax is:
vutil -gen [ -3456 ]
or
vutil -gen [ -3456 ] [ -q ] list directory
The first command format invokes a prompting program that asks you for the name of the new file and each file attribute. The second command format allows you to specify all of the file attributes in advance, and store them in a file.
Whether you store the attributes in a file or respond to prompts at the keyboard, the file attributes you provide are the same.
| -6 | creates a file in Vision Version 6 format. This is the default. |
| -5 | creates a file in Vision Version 5 format. |
| -4 | creates a file in Vision Version 4 format. |
| -3 | creates a file in Vision Version 3 format. |
| -q | This option causes vutil to exit (with status 99) if user interaction is required. |
To generate an empty Vision file based on the format of an existing Vision file, run vutil -info -g on the existing Vision file to generate a list of parameters you can use to recreate the file format. See Examining File Information for details.
When you perform vutil -gen, one of the following status values is returned to the host operating system when vutil quits:
| 0 | file successfully rebuilt |
| 255 | unsuccessful |