1. A method for processing files containing fields which are defined by COBOL (i.e., COmmon Business Oriented Language) language record descriptions that contain elementary items that specify data items that include a varying length characteristic, the method comprising: providing COBOL language record descriptions that contain elementary items that specify variable length elementary data items that include a varying length characteristic and a plurality of subfields including a data item length subfield; and compiling and processing the COBOL language record descriptions to create at least one of a compiled specification and compiled data wherein the subfields are treated as a single composite field and wherein the length subfield is automatically set to a varying value which represents the varying length of the variable length elementary data item during the step of processing the compiled record descriptions.
1. A method for processing files containing fields which are defined by COBOL (i.e., COmmon Business Oriented Language) language record descriptions that contain elementary items that specify data items that include a varying length characteristic, the method comprising: providing COBOL language record descriptions that contain elementary items that specify variable length elementary data items that include a varying length characteristic and a plurality of subfields including a data item length subfield; and compiling and processing the COBOL language record descriptions to create at least one of a compiled specification and compiled data wherein the subfields are treated as a single composite field and wherein the length subfield is automatically set to a varying value which represents the varying length of the variable length elementary data item during the step of processing the compiled record descriptions. 8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the varying length characteristic is indicated by a VARYING clause or abbreviation VAR and wherein the value is based on a maximum field length minus a number of trailing blanks.