PREPARE

ANSI

A file must be created or opened prior to any attempt to process data against it. The PREPARE (which may be abbreviated as PREP) instruction opens an existing file (clearing any associated key files) or creates a new file and key file, where applicable, if the file does not exist. Since there are three different types of files (FILE, IFILE, and AFILE), each is covered individually.

See Also: OPEN, CLOSE, Disk I/O Instructions