EBCDIC to ASCII OPTCD=Q? (JCL)
in [Cobol]
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From: peteswansen on 19 Sep 2006 02:11 We ran into this problem in 1989 at Tooele Army Depot. Our mainframe was a IBM 3780 ( if memory serves me right!) and we operated between an ASCII database on MS-DOS computers- to Sperry Univac servers and then translated the data in EBCDIC for the mainframe run. Then we had to transfer back to ASCII. Our Honeywell page printer was tailored to EBCDIC formatted reports. The COBOL guys were sweating over this one!!!!! When they wanted us to start printing the mass reports I had to figure out how to get the Honeywell to print from a ASCII tape. I dug into the old-crusty reference manual and found the cryptic code to reprogram the Honeywell. I got a cash award for $200 and 1-grade promotion for my part in this adventure. You know, I still dream of stacks of cards, 4 part carbons, impact printers, tape drives and my short career programming in COBOL- now I use VB, Java, and C.
From: on 19 Sep 2006 07:50 In article <1158646261.405766.20440(a)m7g2000cwm.googlegroups.com>, <peteswansen(a)wavecable.com> wrote: > > We ran into this problem in 1989 at Tooele Army Depot. Damnation... I guess I'm not creative enough to come up with a new or unusual difficulty. >I >dug into the old-crusty reference manual and found the cryptic code to >reprogram the Honeywell. E'en worse... the target here is a WANG VS; from what I can tell the manuals were put in a Very Safe Place when folks did a floor-to-floor shuffle a few years back. Fortunately there is this WorldWide Web thingie that allows for researching such matters. >I got a cash award for $200 and 1-grade >promotion for my part in this adventure. You know, I still dream of >stacks of cards, 4 part carbons, impact printers, tape drives and my >short career programming in COBOL- now I use VB, Java, and C. Keep a close watch on those dreams... I recall reading, somewhere, about a fellow who was languishing in a prison until it was discovered that he could interpret dreams; he got promoted from the jail-house to second-in-command of a mighty empire... got a Company Chariot, too. DD
From: on 19 Sep 2006 08:50 In article <s%CPg.28511$jS4.18972(a)fe03.news.easynews.com>, William M. Klein <wmklein(a)nospam.netcom.com> wrote: >A couple of answers (to you and other posts). > >1) IBM mainframe (currently) only supports CODESET and OPTCD=Q for TAPE >datasets. I *think* that if you use BOTH CODESET clause and OPTCD=Q, then you >SHOULD be able to produce an ASCII TAPE output. Gah. Thanks much, Mr Klein; I am trying to do this entirely by utilities/JCL and I hope to avoid a dedicated COBOL program... if my hopes are in vain then I'll start down this path. > >2) My best guess from the symptoms reported is that this MIGHT be a "label >records standard" issue. I think COBOL OPTCD=Q files. Check out: > http://publibz.boulder.ibm.com/cgi-bin/bookmgr_OS390/BOOKS/igy3pg31/1.9.7 Most valuable... thanks much! [snip] >4) Will you have any COMP-3 or non-USAGE DISPLAY output (with sign is >separate). >If so, make certain that you (or the person who signs your check) knows >what is >REALLY wanted. 'Victory's father is the guy who signs the timesheet, defeat's daddy is The Consultant'... or something like that. > >5) All of this assumes a COBOL application. If you want a DFSort answer, I can >make certain that Frank Yeager knows about your post and he can probably >provide >additional DFSort information. Not necessarily DFSORT, *any* JCL/utility stream which will not require the creating of a special program full of obscure constructs and arcane references. The reason for this is, of course, that the less 'stuff' one needs to get past folks in order to get Prod implementation the less stuff there is for someone to look at and say 'I don't understand this... so it doesn't go in.' (for some reason folks here are more willing to let utilities/JCL constructs with which they are unfamiliar into Prod - I've put in the first jobs using things like referbacks and ICETOOL that this shop seems to have seen - than they are willing to let unfamiliar COBOL constructs pass in a similar manner) Thanks much! DD
From: Howard Brazee on 19 Sep 2006 09:29 On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 12:50:14 +0000 (UTC), docdwarf(a)panix.com () wrote: >Gah. Thanks much, Mr Klein; I am trying to do this entirely by >utilities/JCL and I hope to avoid a dedicated COBOL program... if my hopes >are in vain then I'll start down this path. In that case, I can post your request on the IBM-Main listserver, which is copied to the IBM-Main newsgroup. Shall I go ahead and do that?
From: on 19 Sep 2006 09:34
In article <93svg25kdd3k99p7enqouh5v6ulqug1mue(a)4ax.com>, Howard Brazee <howard(a)brazee.net> wrote: >On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 12:50:14 +0000 (UTC), docdwarf(a)panix.com () wrote: > >>Gah. Thanks much, Mr Klein; I am trying to do this entirely by >>utilities/JCL and I hope to avoid a dedicated COBOL program... if my hopes >>are in vain then I'll start down this path. > >In that case, I can post your request on the IBM-Main listserver, >which is copied to the IBM-Main newsgroup. Shall I go ahead and do >that? Sure, why not... I've been told to RTFM by better folks than they, I'm sure! Thanks much. DD |