Tachyon Un-Xmit - Output Files

Tachyon Un-Xmit can write an extract sequential file or partitioned data set member in any of the following file types:

ASCII Text

If the original mainframe data set or PDS members contain EBCDIC text records, the records can be usefully extracted as ASCII text. By default, each record will be converted to ASCII and line end characters will be appended. ISPF-packed PDS members containing fixed length records of 256 bytes or less will be automatically unpacked when they are extracted as ASCII text. The following options are available when extracting a file as ASCII text:

Maximum Record Length

This option will cause Tachyon Un-Xmit to truncate any records that are longer than the specified length. For instance, you can remove the sequence numbers often found in columns 73-80 from source code by specifying a maximum record length of 72.

Strip Ending Blanks

This option will shorten output lines by removing EBCDIC characters less than or equal to X'40' from the end of each line. This removal is performed after any truncation is performed on the line.

Tab Compression

This option will replace sequences of blanks with horizontal tab characters (X'08'). The tab stops may be set to every 4 or 8 columns or may be set to 0 to prevent compression.

Line End Style

This option determine the characters that will be generated at the end of each line. The line termination style can be either DOS/Windows (carriage-return and line-feed: X'0D0A') or UNIX (line-feed: X'0A').

Load library members may also be extracted as ASCII text, but the effect is very different from other mainframe file types. When a load library member is extracted as text, a formatted listing of the directory entry and each record will be printed. No options are available for this type of extraction.

Dump

Any type of mainframe data set may be extracted in dump format. The result of this is a listing containing a formatted dump of each record in the data set or member. The only option is whether to print the dump in wide or narrow format. Wide format will display 32 bytes per line. Narrow format will display 16 bytes per line.

TOS

Except for load library members, data sets can be extracted as TOS. This type is useful for preparing test files for input to programs run by the Tachyon Operating System. Tachyon Un-Xmit will automatically generate the proper format depending on the original data set’s RECFM as follows:

F or FB

Fixed length records.

U

Each record will be prefixed with a 2-byte field containing the length of the record. The length does not include the 2-byte field.

V or VS

Each record will be prefixed with a 4-byte standard Record Descriptor Word without a Block Descriptor Word.

VB or VBS

Each record will be prefixed with a 4-byte standard Record Descriptor Word. Each block will be prefixed with a 4-byte standard Block Descriptor Word.

IBM

Except for load library members, data sets can be extracted as IBM. For this type, Tachyon Un-Xmit attempts to recreate the file on the workstation in as similar a format as it can to the original data set. Tachyon Un-Xmit will automatically generate the proper format depending on the original data set’s RECFM as follows:

F or FB

Fixed length records.

U

Each record will be written with no record prefix or delimiter. It is up to the program reading this format to determine how long each record is.

V, VB, VS or VBS

Each record will be prefixed with a 4-byte standard Record Descriptor Word. Each block will be prefixed with a 4-byte standard Block Descriptor Word.

Convert

All data sets can be extracted to files with an explicit format that does not depend on the RECFM of the original data set. The records can be extracted in any of the following formats:

Fixed

Fixed length records.

Variable Unblocked

Each record will be prefixed with a 4-byte standard Block Descriptor Word and a 4-byte standard Record Descriptor Word.

Variable Blocked

Each record will be prefixed with a 4-byte standard Record Descriptor Word. Each block will be prefixed with a 4-byte standard Block Descriptor Word and may contain any number of records.

Spanned Unblocked

Each record segment will be prefixed with a 4-byte standard Record Descriptor Word. Each block will be prefixed with a 4-byte standard Block Descriptor Word and will contain the segment of only one record.

Spanned Blocked

Each record segment will be prefixed with a 4-byte standard Record Descriptor Word. Each block will be prefixed with a 4-byte standard Block Descriptor Word and may contain the segments of any number of records.

No Record Delimiters

Each record will be written with no record prefix or delimiter. It is up to the program reading this format to determine how long each record is.

2-byte Exclusive RDW

Each record will be prefixed with a 2-byte field containing the length of the record. The length does not include the 2-byte field.

2-byte Inclusive RDW

Each record will be prefixed with a 2-byte field containing the length of the record. The length includes the 2-byte field.

4-byte Standard RDW

Each record will be prefixed with a 4-byte standard Record Descriptor Word without a Block Descriptor Word.

4-byte Spanned RDW

Each record segment will be prefixed with a 4-byte standard Record Descriptor Word without a Block Descriptor Word.

Beyond the format, the following options are available when extracting a file using this extraction mode:

Record Length

For fixed length output records, all of the records will be written to the specified length. If any of the original records are shorter than the specified length, they will be padded using the Strip / Pad Character.

For all output record formats if any of the original records are longer than the specified length, they will be truncated if the Truncate option is specified - otherwise an error message will be displayed and the extract function will be terminated.

For the Variable Unblocked, Variable Blocked, Spanned Unblocked, Spanned Blocked, 4-byte Standard RDW and 4-byte Spanned RDW formats, the specified record length is 4 bytes longer than the data length to include the length of the Record Descriptor Word. For the other formats, the specified record length only includes the data length.

Block Size

For blocked output record formats, the specified block size will determine the maximum size of a block. For spanned output record formats, the specified block size will also determine the maximum size of a record segment.

Strip / Pad Character

For fixed length output records, if any of the original records are shorter than the specified Record Length, they will be padded with the specified character. For other output formats if Strip Trailing is specified, any records containing the specified character at the end of the record will be stripped of those trailing characters.

Strip Trailing

If specified for other than fixed length output records, any records containing the Strip / Pad Character at the end of the record will be stripped of those characters.

Truncate

If specified, any of the original records longer than the specified Record Length will be truncated. If not specified and any of the original records are longer than the specified record length, an error message will be displayed and the extract function will be terminated. If Strip Trailing is specified, the record length is reduced by any characters stripped before the length is tested against the maximum.

Translate to ASCII

If specified, the data portion of the output records will be translated using the EBCDIC to ASCII Translation Table.

Delink

Tachyon Un-Xmit can extract load library members as object files by delinking them. The resulting object files can be relinked using either a mainframe binder or linkage editor or the Tachyon Linkage Editor. One object file will be created for each load library member that is extracted.

Relink

If you have a license for the Tachyon Linkage Editor, Tachyon Un-Xmit can extract load library members and automatically relink them as executable programs for the Tachyon Operating System. One program file will be created for each load library member that is extracted. You must provide the linkage editor listing options and the listing file name or path pattern when relinking load modules.