14. FUNCTION-AREA: DATE (8 bytes)

The FUNCTION-AREA is used with the FUNCTION-ID. In this release, it is only implemented with the DATE field. The remainder of the FUNCTION-AREA is RESERVED.

This field is used for Date-Sensitive Processing if FUNCTION-ID = 1. The date specified here, as well as the dates specified in the table (effective and expiration date) must be of the same format: YYYYMMDD. The DATE field specifies the date against which the effective and expiration date will be checked (the baseline date), and it is used in conjunction with the row key to form the search key. If this field is spaces or low values, then the system’s current date will be inserted here by tableBASE.