format the input file if values are not given properly?

[Kapil Sharma]

Guys - how to format the input file if values are not given properly??

[Anuj Dhawan]

You might want to elaborate your question, I believe.

[nicc]

What do you mean by 'format'? What do you mean by 'file' (mainframes generally store data in data sets)? What values?

[Robert Sample]

You need to be aware that formatting is external to the data set -- the same characters may mean different things if formatted differently. For example, X'97994D' can be interpreted as 'pr(' if formatted as characters, or -97994 if formatted as packed decimal (COMP-3 in COBOL) or 9935181 if formatted as binary (COMP in COBOL). Which format is correct? There is no way to tell from the data set -- you must have an external indicator as to which one to use.

[Kapil Sharma]

I wanted to make them sorted. As the files were getting data in no order. I could use SORT job to do that.

[nicc]

Why so long to respond?

If you mean that you simply need to sort the data then sort it using the sort product installed at your site. Syncsort and DFsort have similar, but not always identical, control statements. For a simple sort such as you are suggesting then the control statements will be identical.

The Dfsort manuals can be found here https://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview. ... g3T7000080

[Kapil Sharma]

I don't have access to this site from work and needs to go to library most of the times or access it from phone. I'll look for SORT.