IBM Data Transfer: PC File Types and Considerations The document contains information on the supported data transfer PC file types and information on each file type when using Client Access or IBM i. Series Access. Important Note: This document discusses Client Access for Microsoft Windows 9.
Windows NT, Client Access Express, IBM i. Series Access, and IBM System i Access products. These names essentially refer to the same product; however, the functionality and name changed over the last several releases.
For the purposes of this document, the terms Client Access, Client Access Express, i. Series Access, and System i Access can be used interchangeably. Where a difference is important, the version of the product is used to identify the differences. PC File Types and Standards. The Client Access and IBM i. Series Access data transfer functions support several file types.
Each type has unique properties. Which type you use depends on user requirements and the capability of your applications. Client Access and i. Series Access data transfer functions attempt to use the most common features of a given file type when an absolute standard is not available. Every effort is made to ensure cross- compatibility between releases and versions of Client Access and i. Series Access. This file includes address and credit information for twelve fictional individuals. This database includes both character and zoned numeric data and is intended for use as canned test data for OS/4.
OS applications. Look at each file with a text editor (such as Notepad or DOS Edit). Note the differences on how data is stored and converted in each of the PC file types. To see the special characters referred to (such as carriage returns, line feeds, and end- of- file marks), a binary (hex) file editor or viewer can be used. Many excellent binary editors are available, both commercially and as Shareware.
For InterForm400 no additional software is required on the IBM i/AS400. 5) Create PDF files with embedded files of any file type. For Pro version you can request a temporary keys to test all the software features. For Standard version and the free tools you can.
DOS also ships with a binary file editor/debugger named DEBUG. DEBUG can be used as a primitive but powerful editor.
As with any system utility, consult the documentation and become familiar with PC file layout and hexadecimal notation before modifying files with a binary editor. Ensure a backup of important data is made before experimenting. For in- depth information on FDF layout, record size limits, data types, and PC file types (does not include the new data types introduced in the Microsoft Windows 9. Microsoft Windows NT client or i. Series Access), see the. Client Access/4. 00 for DOS and OS/2 Technical Reference, SC4.
This manual is available on the Web (search for SC4. Web site (this URL is case- sensitive). ASCII Text - also referred to as.
- We are trying to download a file through Client Access that has Simplified Chinese in. How do you create a file containing Simplified Chinese characters (DBCS).
- Create a Source Physical File QUSRSYS/QTMSADRLST record length 92.
- Printer File AS400 - Ebook download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read book online. Books Audiobooks Comics Sheet.
- Support Tool Download; Easy Marketplace. Then you have come to the right place. Cannot create file &6 defined with variable length records.
- 2 Oracle and DB2 Compared. Datafiles are files in the file system or an area of disk space specified by a device. It has a DBCS CCSID associated with it.
- How to copy the DBCS character through FTP? But a free alternative would be the FileZilla. You can download FileZilla Server from www.sourceforge.net.
PC Code for DBCS. These files are standard text- only files. ASCII text files have the following features. A carriage return (X. Data transfer now offers an option to remove the end- of- file indicator by changing the settings under the Details button when ASCII file format is specified. ASCII files are variable- length. Trailing spaces/blanks are dropped, in most cases (selectable feature starting with Client Access Express).
When transferring OS/4. OS zoned decimal data, one position is required for the sign.
When transferring OS/4. OS zoned decimal data, one position is required for the decimal.
ASCII special characters can be converted to blanks if no EBCDIC equivalent exists. Packed decimal data requires the following: -- Extra position for the sign. Either a blank or a minus (- ) in the first position of the field.- - Additional blank position if data+sign is an odd number of positions. Data+sign positions must always be even.- - Position for the decimal point.- - Positions to the right of the decimal must be fully populated with digits. Note for ASCII Text Numerics: On OS/4. OS, packed and zoned numerics indicate positive and negative values by flipping the least significant bit of the numeric value. The values used are as follows.
PREFERRED POSITIVE SIGN : F. OTHER POSITIVE SIGNS : A,C,E. PREFERRED NEGATIVE SIGN : D. OTHER NEGATIVE SIGNS : B. BASIC random - is a general purpose text file. BASIC random files have the following features. Records are fixed- length, including leading zeros and trailing blanks as required.
No delimiters are included between fields or records. No end- of- file marks are used. Hexadecimal data is unchanged during the transfer. BASIC sequential - is used for sequential processing by BASIC programs. Due to the use of the comma delimiter, this file type is often useful for other purposes and applications. BASIC sequential files have the following features.
A carriage return (X. This support was added in V5. R1. M0 Express. This support was added in V5. R1. M0 Express. Client Access for Windows 3. RUMBA/4. 00 file transfer processes files with more than 1.
BIFF files that are too large for Excel to load. Because of this, Client Access for Windows 9.
NT V3. R1. Mx, V3. R2. M0, V4. R4. M0 Express, V4. R5. M0 Express, V5. R1. M0 Express, and i. Series Access Data Transfer limit the amount of data you can download to 1. BIFF 3, BIFF 4, and BIFF 5 (see the note below). Microsoft Excel version 7.
Note: New in V5. R1. M0, BIFF 5 has a selectable option to download to multiple worksheets, each containing up to 1. By default, this option is off. BIFF 7 is an extension of BIFF5 and also allows downloading to multiple worksheets, each containing up to 1. By default, this option is on when using BIFF 7.
BIFF 8 file type is stored in Unicode. BIFF 8 supports downloading to multiple worksheets, each containing up to 6. The BIFF file version can be determined by looking at the first 2 bytes of the BOF record.
For BIFF 5 and BIFF 7, the first 2 bytes of the BOF record are 0. For BIFF 4, the first 2 bytes are 0. For BIFF 3, the first 2 bytes are 0. For BIFF 3 and 4, these values are very easy to find because they are typically the first 2 bytes in the file. With BIFF 5 and 7 workbooks, the BOF record is typically encapsulated within the book stream framework. For a full description of the layout of Microsoft Excel BIFF format files, refer to the Microsoft Office Software Developer's Kit for the applicable version of Microsoft Office and/or Microsoft Excel.
This includes information on identifying the BOF record. All BIFF file format (including BIFF8) do not support downloading from IBM i of field lengths larger than 2. If the field is larger error message CWBFT0. PC data truncation.
Comma Separated Variable (CSV) - is similar to the BASIC sequential file type. Features of the CSV file type include. A carriage return (X.
With a proper FDF and correct data layout, this should produce no problems with Client Access data transfer. Character data fields cannot contain ASCII double quotes as data (X. Note: PC regional settings do not affect this. Numeric data fields cannot contain ASCII commas (X. The data section has the following basic layout. Each data value consists of the following lines: Type indicator, Number value.
String valueo. Possible values for type indicator are: -1 - the data is a special value. If the data is numeric, the number value contains the numeric data, and the string value is blank. In the data is a string, the number value contains a zero (0), and the string value contains the text data. The following indicates a null number which is also a string, which is not valid. Applications such as Quattro Pro have been known to put data values in this format.
Note: Although DIF is an IBM Lotus specification, it appears to have been dropped from newer versions of IBM. BIFF or CSV can be used as an effective alternative to DIF for spreadsheet- like data. DOS random files have the following features. No carriage return (X. On the OS/4. 00 or i.
OS, X. On the OS/4. OS, X. DOS random type 2 files follow the IBM Systems Application Architecture (IBM SAA) standard, using an X. This is often required for numeric data coming from UNIX- or VAX- based applications. Consider the following. Variable- length OS/4.
OS fields are converted to fixed- length fields during an AS/4. PC transfer. Trailing blanks are added. Date, time, and timestamp data is converted to EBCDIC character data during an AS/4. PC transfer. o Variable- length null fields are converted to fixed lengths and trailing EBCDIC blanks (or EBCDIC zeros) are added during an AS/4. PC transfer. o Trailing blanks are removed during PC- to- AS/4.
The following formats are new to Client Access Express: WK4(Lotus) - Available starting with Client Access Express V4. R4. M0, data transfer now provides the capability to transfer files with the Lotus 1. WK4 file format. This support is classified under the optional installation due to the size of the files required for supporting the function. Lotus 1- 2- 3 (. WK4) files only support 8. Select this option to create secondary sheets when the first sheet overflows after 8.
If you do not select this option, then the sheet will be truncated at 8. Include column headings. Select this option to place column heading text on the main sheet. Include column headings on extra sheets. Select this option to place column heading text on secondary sheets.
This option is only available if Create extra sheets when first sheet overflows and Include column headings are selected. Lotus) - Support has been added in Client Access Express V5. R1. M0 for Lotus . The . 1. 23 file type is the standard type used in the 9. Lotus 1- 2- 3. Lotus 1- 2- 3 Version 9 can handle a maximum of 6.
Data Transfer supports only NUMBER, LABEL (character), and FORMULA cells resulting in numeric data for this file type. In a Tab Delimited Text file, the fields are separated by tabs, with each row ending with a line ending combination of carriage return line feed. The Unicode file type can be modified to. Truncate spaces from the end of records. This eliminates the trailing spaces from rows in ASCII and Unicode text files.
Pad numeric fields with leading zeroes. This replaces the spaces by padding numeric fields with zeroes. Add Byte. Order Mark(BOM).
This includes a BOM at the beginning of the file.
IBM i Access Client Solutions. IBM i Access Client Solutions is the newest member of the IBM i Access family. It provides a Java based, platform- independent interface that runs on most operating systems that support Java, including Linux, Mac, and Windows. The latest version of IBM i Access Client Solutions is available to customers with an IBM i software maintenance contract. Features include: 5. IBM's Host- on- Demand.
Session Manager support modeled after IBM Personal Communications Session Manager. Multiple language support for concurrent 5.
Data Transfer similar to IBM i Access for Windows Data Transfer plus support for Open. Document spreadsheet (*.
Excel Workbook (*. Data Transfer integration with Excel and Open. Office. Simplified SSL Configuration. Download and viewing of spool files. IBM i Virtual Control Panel for LAN and HMC consoles.
LAN and HMC consoles. Consolidation of hardware management interface configurations, including ASMI, IVM, and HMCInstalling and updating IBM i Access Client Solutions is as simple as unpacking the zip archive. And it can be deployed to a network shared drive providing a single location to update for all users. IBM i Access Client Solutions uses the same IBM i host servers as the other IBM i Access Family products and requires the same IBM i Access Family license (XW1) in order to use the 5.
Data Transfer features. IBM i Access Client Solutions also provides two optional platform- specific packages which include middleware for using and developing client applications. IBM i Access Client Solutions - Windows Application Package for Windows operating systems. Here is an example of downloading the base package for IBM i Access Client Solutions along with its two optional packages for Windows and Linux. Customers requiring physical media can acquire it by ordering refresh feature 6. SS1 or 5. 77. 0- SS1.
The next available update is planned for October 2. To report a problem to IBM, additional information is available here.