ASCII translation

Use the ASCII entry field on the Set Tape Processing Options panel (option 0.3) to translate tape data between ASCII and EBCDIC format for all tape input and output options except the following:
  • Initialize Tape (option 4.12)
  • Tape Browse (option 4.1)
  • Tape Label Display (option 4.8)
  • Tape to Labeled Tape (option 4.2.3)
  • Tape to Tape Compare (option 4.9)
  • Tape Update (option 4.3)

For Tape Label Display, ASCII translation is automatically performed when needed. For Initialize Tape and Tape Browse, you can specify ASCII input or output on the respective panels. For the other functions, translation is not supported by FMN.

ASCII data is translated to EBCDIC format using the FMNA2E table. EBCDIC data is translated to ASCII format using the FMNE2A table. To translate data from one ASCII format to another ASCII format, customize these tables so that FMNA2E is different from FMNE2A. (For details, see the File Manager for z/OS Customization Guide .)

To translate tape data, set the ASCII entry field on the Set Processing Options panel to the appropriate value:
NO
Data not translated. This is the default.
IN
Translates ASCII tape data to EBCDIC format
OUT
Translates EBCDIC data to ASCII format for tape output
BOTH
Translates tape data from one ASCII format to another
Note: Translating labels or varying-length format tapes may produce incorrect output.