Transferring Data from BASIC Sequential Files

When you transfer data from BASIC sequential files to iSeries, eServer™ i5, or System i5® files, the data changes as follows:
  • ASCII character, date, time, and time-stamp data changes to EBCDIC character data on a byte by byte basis and to hexadecimal by changing 2 ASCII bytes into 1 hexadecimal byte.
  • ASCII numeric data translates to system binary, zoned decimal, or packed decimal data, depending on the specified data type. The lengths of the system data and the workstation data might be different because the minus signs and decimal points are stored in ASCII numeric fields, and leading and trailing spaces are stripped away.

    BASIC might create exponential numbers in these files. The data transfer function also changes these numbers.

    Each translated field is individually verified to ensure that the resulting field length matches the specifications for that field. The data transfer function tries to fit the workstation data into the system field.