I need to populate a database using COBOL copybooks, which change on a regular basis. I can populate the DB once and then fill in appropriate additional information (such as field description) for the fields, but the DB needs to be maintainable and this is where I have the question.
The next time I load the copybook, the sequence of the fields can change. Fields could be moved around, inserted or added to the end. I need to keep information such as the field description linked with the appropriate field, even when this field moves around.
Any ideas? I'm sure there's some sort of absolute or concatenated key structure that would make this work, but it's evading me right now....
