The keys are VMS descriptors that specify a global or local name, global directory and/or subscripts. The keys do not include "^" characters or "," characters. GT.M interprets the keys according to the mode argument. DAL functions perform no syntactic checks on keys to insure M legality. To avoid entering illegal keys into the database, ensure the validity of all key formats in DAL calls.

The descriptor contains the data type of the values. A subsequent section a??Data Types and Descriptorsa??, provides the legal combinations of the class and data types of the destination descriptor.

The keys are elements of an array of gtm_descriptors that specify a global or local name, Global Directory and/or subscripts. The keys do not include the M "^" or "(,)" delimiters. GT.M interprets the keys according to the mode argument. DAL functions perform no syntactic checks on keys to insure M legality. To avoid entering illegal keys into the database, ensure the validity of all key formats in DAL calls. The descriptor contains the data type of the values. keys are designated as key11, key12, if they are pieces of the same global/resource, then additional global/resource names within the same argument list would be key 21, key 31 ...key n1. The syntax for multiple keys within the key portion of argument1 is key11,[,key12[,...][0,mode,key21[,...]].