fixed field

Computer file with predefined record lengths. Each record is divided into segments called fields that uniformly represent in each record the same information, in the same location, and with the same number of characters. For example, the first field in each record in a customer file might be the customer's five-digit ZIP code, the second field might be her last name, and so forth. Fixed-field files must be redesigned at considerable effort to add a new field or extend the size of an existing field. The amount of information included in a variable field record is not the same across records.