9. Creating and Using Data Structures
  A data structure is a collection of data items that can
  contain elements or components of different data types.

  The RECORD statement lets you create your own data
  structures. You use the RECORD statement to create a pat-
  tern of a data structure, called the RECORD template .
  Once you have created a template, you use it to declare
  an instance of the RECORD, that is, a RECORD vari-
  able . You declare a RECORD variable just as you declare
  a variable of any other type: with the DECLARE statement
  or another declarative statement. A RECORD instance is
  a variable whose structure matches that of the RECORD
  template.

  The RECORD statement does not create any variables. It
  only creates a template, or user-defined data type, that you
  can then use to create variables.

  This chapter describes how to create and use data structures.