ASCII Character Sets

The Parse Copybook Data activity accepts both Strict ASCII and Modified ASCII. Both formats use ASCII codepoints for decimal digits but represent the sign byte differently. In Strict ASCII, a nibble value of x3 denotes a positive value; x7, a negative one.

Note: Strict ASCII and Modified ASCII represent positive signed and unsigned values in the same way. Modified ASCII does not have predefined nibbles. See the table on Modified ASCII Sign Bytes below.

For COBOL copybooks, the Render Copybook activity can generate both strict and modified ASCII formats. You can specify the desired format in two ways:

  • Use ASCII Zoned Format dropdown list on a Render Copybook Data activity to specify a format.
  • Pass strict or modified to the input field asciiZonedFormat. This field takes precedence over the ASCII Zoned Format dropdown.

For PL/I and RPG copybooks, Strict ASCII is generated.

Note: If the input data for the Parse Copybook Data activity does not conform to the expected format, an error occurs during execution.

In COBOL, if an item contains SIGN SEPARATE, the Plug-in represents the data as text in the selected character set with the character + or -.

Modified ASCII Sign Bytes
Sign Byte Sign of Entire Value Decimal Digit in Sign Byte
0x7B Positive 0
0x41 Positive 1
0x42 Positive 2
0x43 Positive 3
0x44 Positive 4
0x45 Positive 5
0x46 Positive 6
0x47 Positive 7
0x48 Positive 8
0x49 Positive 9
0x7D Negative 0
0x4A Negative 1
0x4B Negative 2
0x4C Negative 3
0x4D Negative 4
0x4E Negative 5
0x4F Negative 6
0x50 Negative 7
0x51 Negative 8
0x52 Negative 9