Managing the Record Length

The length specified by the Len = intRecordLength option is used by random-access files as the size of data records that will be passed from Visual Basic to the file. This size is necessary when accessing records from a file. The first record in a file begins at location 1, and all subsequent records are written at locations in increments of 1. The actual location in the file of any given record is N   x  intRecordLength, where N is the record number.

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A record is one logical line from a file that holds a complete set of data. For example, if your file holds inventory data, one record would be one item's inventory information, such as the description, price, and quantity.

Accessing records operates quite like the way you access arrays. Whereas the first element in an array is stored in Array(0), the first element in a file is stored at record number 1. To make index coordination between arrays and files easy, use Option Base 1 in your Declarations section or define your arrays to begin with element 1 and ignore the 0 subscript.

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