Data processing technique for formatting data files that are subjected to a high volume of changes

摘要

A system for processing a data file which includes versioned records of a fixed length, each record having one or more data fields and a reserve area for accommodating a change in the record format by creating a further field using a portion of the reserve area such that the length of the record is not changed. Additional records may be added to the record set to accommodate new or expanded data fields that exceed the fixed length of the records. Each record of the data file has a version number. The system includes an input vertical stack processor for transitioning previous versions of the records into a current version of the record for processing by an application processor. An output vertical stack processor creates outbound versioned records including the current version and all previous versions for each record of the data file.