constant-length field

noun

UK /ˈkɒnstənt lɛŋθ fiːld/

US /ˈkɑːnstənt lɛŋθ fiːld/

A constant-length field is a spot in a computer that always holds the same number of letters or numbers.

The date is stored in a constant-length field so every record takes the same space.

SYNONYMS

fixed-length field fixed-width field static-length field uniform-length field

RELATED WORDS

record database data format variable-length field byte

OTHER MEANINGS

2. A data column in which every entry is padded to an identical size.

Names in the constant-length field were padded with spaces to twenty characters.

3. A file-format rule that reserves a set number of bytes for each value.

The old mainframe format used a constant-length field for each account number.

4. A programming structure member whose size never changes at runtime.

The parser reads the constant-length field before moving to the next record.