# Read Access for ADABAS files **URL:** \ **Category:** Forum\ **Tags:** Adabas-Natural, Adabas, Adabas-on-Mainframes, Adabas-Basics-on-Mainframes\ **Created:** [September 22, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/read-access-for-adabas-files/79092 "2008-09-22T20:08:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MF-Stud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@MF-Stud](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/MF-Stud)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/read-access-for-adabas-files/79092/1 "2008-09-22T20:08:53Z")
I am new to adabas. I have 2 super-discriptors for a adabas view. It gives me differt sets of records when I read the same view with different super-discriptors . Can anyone why this happens ? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Ralph\_Zbrog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/user_avatar/techcommunity.softwareag.com/ralph_zbrog/32/78_2.png) [@Ralph\_Zbrog](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Ralph_Zbrog)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/read-access-for-adabas-files/79092/2 "2008-09-23T02:15:36Z")
Adabas has a terrific feature which can logically provide a small file from a physically large one. For example, you have a log of your customers’ account activity. Over time the file contains millions of records. Each night you report the day’s activity. Adabas allows you to process a logical file containing only those records not yet reported, perhaps a few hundred, rather than reading millions of records. This is done by adding a flag to the file which you set to a non-blank character when the record is added. As a record is reported, you update the flag to blank. A superdescriptor is created to read the file in a specific sequence. This superdescriptor also contains the flag, which is defined as “null suppressed.” Null suppression causes the superdescriptor value to be ignored if the corresponding field contains a null value. In your example, look closely at the components of your superdescriptors. I expect you to see null suppressed components. If a null-suppressed component contains a blank (zero for numeric fields), the corresponding record is not read. ---
**Author:** ![MF-Stud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@MF-Stud](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/MF-Stud)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/read-access-for-adabas-files/79092/3 "2008-09-24T19:23:56Z")
Thanks A lot Ralph. I found one field in the Super had null values . I was able to find it after tracking the ISNs . Is there any way in which i can view the DDMs for my adabas files. I use IBM reflection to connect to the mainframes. Thanks one more time for your earlier reply. ---
**Author:** ![Ralph\_Zbrog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/user_avatar/techcommunity.softwareag.com/ralph_zbrog/32/78_2.png) [@Ralph\_Zbrog](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Ralph_Zbrog)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/read-access-for-adabas-files/79092/4 "2008-09-24T21:22:22Z")
The terminal emulator (Reflection) is of no consequence. What programming language are you using? In Natural this is trivial. To see a selection list of all files available to you, enter the following on a command line. ```auto LIST VIEW ``` This can be abbreviated as ```auto L V ``` Enter L in the Cmd column for a specific view to see details of the record. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/original/3X/c/d/cd19967bb605d28a72d77eb83a1cae22f3df2eb8.svg) [@system](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 2:50pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/read-access-for-adabas-files/79092/5 "2021-04-02T14:50:55Z")