Supported Data Types


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This section lists the following data types supported by XML Translator.

MFL Data Types

Table A-1 lists the MFL data types that XML Translator supports. These types are specified in the "type" attribute of a FieldFormat element.

Table A-1 Supported MFL Data Types

Data Type
Description

String

A string of characters. Requires a length, a length field, a delimiter, or a delimiter field. If no length, length field, or delimiter is defined for a data type String, a delimiter of "\x00" (a NUL character) will be assumed.

String: NUL terminated

A string of characters, optionally NUL (\x00) terminated, residing within a fixed length field. This field type requires a length attribute or length field which determines the amount of data read for the field. This data is then examined for a NUL delimiter. If a delimiter is found, data following the delimiter is discarded. If a NUL delimiter does not exist, the fixed length data is used as the value of the field.

Numeric

A string of characters containing only digits, i.e. '0' through '9'. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field.

Binary (Base64 encoding)

Any character value accepted. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field. Resulting XML data for this field is encoded using base-64.

Binary (Hex encoding)

Any character value accepted. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field. Resulting XML data for this field is encoded using base-16.

EBCDIC

A string of characters in IBM Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field.

Packed Decimal: Signed

IBM signed packed format. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field to be specified. The length or length field should specify the size of this field in bytes.

Packed Decimal: Unsigned

IBM unsigned packed format. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field to be specified. The length or length field should specify the size of this field in bytes.

Zoned Decimal: Signed

IBM signed zoned decimal format. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field to be specified. The length or length field should specify the size of this field in bytes.

Zoned Decimal: Leading sign

IBM signed zoned decimal format where the sign indicator is in the first nibble. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field to be specified. The length or length field should specify the size of this field in bytes.

Zoned Decimal: Leading separate sign

IBM signed zoned decimal format where the sign indicator is in the first byte. The first byte only contains the sign indicator and is separated from the numeric value. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field to be specified. The length or length field should specify the size of this field in bytes.

Zoned Decimal: Trailing separate sign

IBM signed zoned decimal format where the sign indicator is in the last byte. The last byte only contains the sign indicator and is separated from the numeric value. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field to be specified. The length or length field should specify the size of this field in bytes.

Zoned Decimal: Unsigned

IBM unsigned zoned decimal format. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field to be specified. The length or length field should specify the size of this field in bytes.

Integer: Signed, 1 byte

A one byte signed integer, i.e. '56' is 0x38.

Integer: Unsigned, 1 byte

A one byte unsigned integer, i.e. '128' is 0x80.

Integer: Signed, 2 byte, Big-Endian

A signed two-byte integer in big endian format, i.e. '4660' is 0x1234.

Integer: Signed, 4 byte, Big-Endian

A signed four-byte integer in big endian format, i.e. '4660' is 0x00001234.

Integer: Signed, 8 bytes, Big-Endian

A signed eight-byte integer in big endian format, i.e. '4660' is 0x0000000000001234.

Integer: Unsigned, 2 byte, Big-Endian

An unsigned two-byte integer in big endian format, i.e. '65000' is 0xFDE8.

Integer: Unsigned, 4 byte, Big-Endian

An unsigned four-byte integer in big endian format, i.e. '65000' is 0x0000FDE8.

Integer: Unsigned, 8 bytes, Big-Endian

A unsigned eight-byte integer in big endian format, i.e. '65000' is 0x000000000000FDE8.

Integer: Signed, 2 bytes, Little-Endian

A signed two-byte integer in little endian format, i.e. '4660' is 0x3412.

Integer: Signed, 4 bytes, Little-Endian

A signed four-byte integer in little endian format, i.e. '4660' is 0x34120000.

Integer: Signed, 8 bytes, Little-Endian

A signed eight-byte integer in little endian format, i.e. '4660' is 0x3412000000000000.

Integer: Unsigned, 2 bytes, Little-Endian

An unsigned two-byte integer in little endian format, i.e.'65000' is 0xE8FD.

Integer: Unsigned, 4 bytes, Little-Endian

An unsigned four-byte integer in little endian format, i.e. '65000' is 0xE8FD0000.

Integer: Unsigned, 8 bytes, Little-Endian

A unsigned eight-byte integer in little endian format, i.e. '65000' is 0xE8FD000000000000.

FloatingPoint: 4 bytes, Big-Endian

A four byte big endian floating point number that conforms to the IEEE Standard 754.

FloatingPoint, 4 bytes, Little-Endian

A four byte little endian floating point number that conforms to the IEEE Standard 754.

FloatingPoint: 8 bytes, Big-Endian

A eight byte big endian floating point number that conforms to the IEEE Standard 754.

FloatingPoint: 8 bytes, Little-Endian

A eight byte little endian floating point number that conforms to the IEEE Standard 754.

Date: YYYYMMDD

An eight byte numeric string of the format YYYYMMDD. A base data of String or EBCDIC may be specified to indicate the character encoding.

DateTime: YYYYMMDDhhmmss

A fourteen byte numeric string of the format YYYYMMDDHHMISS. A Base data type may be specified.

Date: MMDDYY

A six digit numeric string defining a date, i.e. 012200.

Date: MMDDYYYY

An eight digit numeric string defining a date, i.e. 01222000.

DateTime: MMDDYYhhmm

A string of numeric digits defining a date and time, i.e. 0122001224.

DateTime: MMDDYYhhmmss

A string of numeric digits defining a date and time, i.e. 012200122400.

Date: MM/DD/YY

A string defining a date, i.e. 01/22/00.

Date: MM/DD/YYYY

A string defining a date, i.e. 01/22/2000.

DateTime: MM/DD/YY hh:mm

A string defining a date and time, i.e. 01/22/00 12:24.

DateTime: MM/DD/YY hh:mi AM

A string defining a date and time, i.e. 01/22/00 12:24 AM.

DateTime: MM/DD/YY hh:mm:ss

A string defining a date and time, i.e. 01/22/00 12:24:00.

DateTime: MM/DD/YY hh:mm:ss AM

A string defining a date and time, i.e. 01/22/00 12:24:00 AM.

Date: DDMMMYY

A string defining a date, i.e. 22JAN00.

Date: DDMMMYYYY

A string defining a date, i.e. 22JAN2000.

Date: DD/MM/YY

A string defining a date, i.e. 22/01/00.

Date: DD/MM/YYYY

A string defining a date, i.e. 22/01/2000.

DateTime: DD/MM/YY hh:mm

A string defining a date and time, i.e. 22/01/00 12:24.

DateTime: DD/MM/YY hh:mm AM

A string defining a date and time, i.e. 22/01/00 12:24 AM.

DateTime: DD/MM/YY hh:mm:ss

A string defining a date and time, i.e. 22/01/00 12:24:00.

DateTime: DD/MM/YY hh:mm:ss AM

A string defining a date and time, i.e. 22/01/00 12:24:00 AM.

Date: DD-MMM-YY

A string defining a date, i.e. 22-JAN-00.

Date: DD-MMM-YYYY

A string defining a date, i.e. 22-JAN-2000.

Date: MMM-YY

A string defining a date, i.e. JAN-00.

Date: MMM-YYYY

A string defining a date, i.e. JAN-2000.

Date: MMMYY

A string defining a date, i.e. JAN00.

Date: MMMYYYY

A string defining a date, i.e. JAN2000.

Date: MMMDDYYYY

A string defining a date, i.e. JAN222000.

Time: hhmmss

A string defining a time, i.e. 122400.

Time: hh:mm AM

A string defining a time, i.e. 12:24 AM.

Time: hh:mm

A string defining a time, i.e. 12:24.

Time: hh:mm:ss AM

A string defining a time, i.e. 12:24:00 AM.

Time: hh:mm:ss

A string defining a time, i.e. 12:24:00.

Date: Wed Nov 15 10:55:37 CST 2000

The default date format of the Java platform, i.e. 'WED NOV 15 10:55:37 CST 2000'

Literal

A literal value determined by the contents of the value attribute. When binary data is translated to XML, the presence of the specified literal in the binary data is verified by WLXT. The literal is read, but is not translated to the XML data. When XML data is translated to a binary format, and a literal is defined as part of the binary format, WLXT writes the literal in the resulting binary byte stream.

Filler

A sequence of bytes that is not translated to XML. This field of data is skipped over when translating binary data to XML. When translating XML to binary data, this field is written to the binary output stream as a sequence of spaces.

Data Type	Description
String	A string of characters. Requires a length, a length field, a delimiter, or a delimiter field. If no length, length field, or delimiter is defined for a data type String, a delimiter of "\x00" (a NUL character) will be assumed.
String: NUL terminated	A string of characters, optionally NUL (\x00) terminated, residing within a fixed length field. This field type requires a length attribute or length field which determines the amount of data read for the field. This data is then examined for a NUL delimiter. If a delimiter is found, data following the delimiter is discarded. If a NUL delimiter does not exist, the fixed length data is used as the value of the field.
Numeric	A string of characters containing only digits, i.e. '0' through '9'. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field.
Binary (Base64 encoding)	Any character value accepted. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field. Resulting XML data for this field is encoded using base-64.
Binary (Hex encoding)	Any character value accepted. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field. Resulting XML data for this field is encoded using base-16.
EBCDIC	A string of characters in IBM Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field.
Packed Decimal: Signed	IBM signed packed format. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field to be specified. The length or length field should specify the size of this field in bytes.
Packed Decimal: Unsigned	IBM unsigned packed format. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field to be specified. The length or length field should specify the size of this field in bytes.
Zoned Decimal: Signed	IBM signed zoned decimal format. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field to be specified. The length or length field should specify the size of this field in bytes.
Zoned Decimal: Leading sign	IBM signed zoned decimal format where the sign indicator is in the first nibble. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field to be specified. The length or length field should specify the size of this field in bytes.
Zoned Decimal: Leading separate sign	IBM signed zoned decimal format where the sign indicator is in the first byte. The first byte only contains the sign indicator and is separated from the numeric value. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field to be specified. The length or length field should specify the size of this field in bytes.
Zoned Decimal: Trailing separate sign	IBM signed zoned decimal format where the sign indicator is in the last byte. The last byte only contains the sign indicator and is separated from the numeric value. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field to be specified. The length or length field should specify the size of this field in bytes.
Zoned Decimal: Unsigned	IBM unsigned zoned decimal format. Requires a length, length field, delimiter, or a delimiter field to be specified. The length or length field should specify the size of this field in bytes.
Integer: Signed, 1 byte	A one byte signed integer, i.e. '56' is 0x38.
Integer: Unsigned, 1 byte	A one byte unsigned integer, i.e. '128' is 0x80.
Integer: Signed, 2 byte, Big-Endian	A signed two-byte integer in big endian format, i.e. '4660' is 0x1234.
Integer: Signed, 4 byte, Big-Endian	A signed four-byte integer in big endian format, i.e. '4660' is 0x00001234.
Integer: Signed, 8 bytes, Big-Endian	A signed eight-byte integer in big endian format, i.e. '4660' is 0x0000000000001234.
Integer: Unsigned, 2 byte, Big-Endian	An unsigned two-byte integer in big endian format, i.e. '65000' is 0xFDE8.
Integer: Unsigned, 4 byte, Big-Endian	An unsigned four-byte integer in big endian format, i.e. '65000' is 0x0000FDE8.
Integer: Unsigned, 8 bytes, Big-Endian	A unsigned eight-byte integer in big endian format, i.e. '65000' is 0x000000000000FDE8.
Integer: Signed, 2 bytes, Little-Endian	A signed two-byte integer in little endian format, i.e. '4660' is 0x3412.
Integer: Signed, 4 bytes, Little-Endian	A signed four-byte integer in little endian format, i.e. '4660' is 0x34120000.
Integer: Signed, 8 bytes, Little-Endian	A signed eight-byte integer in little endian format, i.e. '4660' is 0x3412000000000000.
Integer: Unsigned, 2 bytes, Little-Endian	An unsigned two-byte integer in little endian format, i.e.'65000' is 0xE8FD.
Integer: Unsigned, 4 bytes, Little-Endian	An unsigned four-byte integer in little endian format, i.e. '65000' is 0xE8FD0000.
Integer: Unsigned, 8 bytes, Little-Endian	A unsigned eight-byte integer in little endian format, i.e. '65000' is 0xE8FD000000000000.
FloatingPoint: 4 bytes, Big-Endian	A four byte big endian floating point number that conforms to the IEEE Standard 754.
FloatingPoint, 4 bytes, Little-Endian	A four byte little endian floating point number that conforms to the IEEE Standard 754.
FloatingPoint: 8 bytes, Big-Endian	A eight byte big endian floating point number that conforms to the IEEE Standard 754.
FloatingPoint: 8 bytes, Little-Endian	A eight byte little endian floating point number that conforms to the IEEE Standard 754.
Date: YYYYMMDD	An eight byte numeric string of the format YYYYMMDD. A base data of String or EBCDIC may be specified to indicate the character encoding.
DateTime: YYYYMMDDhhmmss	A fourteen byte numeric string of the format YYYYMMDDHHMISS. A Base data type may be specified.
Date: MMDDYY	A six digit numeric string defining a date, i.e. 012200.
Date: MMDDYYYY	An eight digit numeric string defining a date, i.e. 01222000.
DateTime: MMDDYYhhmm	A string of numeric digits defining a date and time, i.e. 0122001224.
DateTime: MMDDYYhhmmss	A string of numeric digits defining a date and time, i.e. 012200122400.
Date: MM/DD/YY	A string defining a date, i.e. 01/22/00.
Date: MM/DD/YYYY	A string defining a date, i.e. 01/22/2000.
DateTime: MM/DD/YY hh:mm	A string defining a date and time, i.e. 01/22/00 12:24.
DateTime: MM/DD/YY hh:mi AM	A string defining a date and time, i.e. 01/22/00 12:24 AM.
DateTime: MM/DD/YY hh:mm:ss	A string defining a date and time, i.e. 01/22/00 12:24:00.
DateTime: MM/DD/YY hh:mm:ss AM	A string defining a date and time, i.e. 01/22/00 12:24:00 AM.
Date: DDMMMYY	A string defining a date, i.e. 22JAN00.
Date: DDMMMYYYY	A string defining a date, i.e. 22JAN2000.
Date: DD/MM/YY	A string defining a date, i.e. 22/01/00.
Date: DD/MM/YYYY	A string defining a date, i.e. 22/01/2000.
DateTime: DD/MM/YY hh:mm	A string defining a date and time, i.e. 22/01/00 12:24.
DateTime: DD/MM/YY hh:mm AM	A string defining a date and time, i.e. 22/01/00 12:24 AM.
DateTime: DD/MM/YY hh:mm:ss	A string defining a date and time, i.e. 22/01/00 12:24:00.
DateTime: DD/MM/YY hh:mm:ss AM	A string defining a date and time, i.e. 22/01/00 12:24:00 AM.
Date: DD-MMM-YY	A string defining a date, i.e. 22-JAN-00.
Date: DD-MMM-YYYY	A string defining a date, i.e. 22-JAN-2000.
Date: MMM-YY	A string defining a date, i.e. JAN-00.
Date: MMM-YYYY	A string defining a date, i.e. JAN-2000.
Date: MMMYY	A string defining a date, i.e. JAN00.
Date: MMMYYYY	A string defining a date, i.e. JAN2000.
Date: MMMDDYYYY	A string defining a date, i.e. JAN222000.
Time: hhmmss	A string defining a time, i.e. 122400.
Time: hh:mm AM	A string defining a time, i.e. 12:24 AM.
Time: hh:mm	A string defining a time, i.e. 12:24.
Time: hh:mm:ss AM	A string defining a time, i.e. 12:24:00 AM.
Time: hh:mm:ss	A string defining a time, i.e. 12:24:00.
Date: Wed Nov 15 10:55:37 CST 2000	The default date format of the Java platform, i.e. 'WED NOV 15 10:55:37 CST 2000'
Literal	A literal value determined by the contents of the value attribute. When binary data is translated to XML, the presence of the specified literal in the binary data is verified by WLXT. The literal is read, but is not translated to the XML data. When XML data is translated to a binary format, and a literal is defined as part of the binary format, WLXT writes the literal in the resulting binary byte stream.
Filler	A sequence of bytes that is not translated to XML. This field of data is skipped over when translating binary data to XML. When translating XML to binary data, this field is written to the binary output stream as a sequence of spaces.

COBOL Copybook Importer Data Types

Table lists the COBOL data types and the support provided by the Importer.

Table 4-1 COBOL Data Types

COBOL Type
Support

BLANK WHEN ZERO (zoned)

supported

COMP-1, COMP-2 (float)

supported

COMP-3, PACKED-DECIMAL

supported

COMP, COMP-4, BINARY (integer)

supported

COMP, COMP-4, BINARY (fixed)

supported

COMP-5, COMP-X

supported

DISPLAY (alphanumeric)

supported

DISPLAY numeric (zoned)

supported

edited alphanumeric

supported

edited float numeric

supported

edited numeric

supported

group record

supported

INDEX

supported

JUSTIFIED RIGHT

ignored

OCCURS (fixed array)

supported

OCCURS DEPENDING (variable-length)

supported

OCCURS INDEXED BY

ignored

OCCURS KEY IS

ignored

POINTER

supported

PROCEDURE-POINTER

supported

REDEFINES

supported

SIGN IS LEADING SEPARATE (zoned)

supported

SIGN IS TRAILING (zoned)

supported

SIGN IS TRAILING SEPARATE (zoned)

supported

SIGN IS LEADING (zoned)

supported

SYNCHRONIZED

ignored

66 RENAMES

ignored

66 RENAMES THRU

ignored

77 level

supported

88 level (condition)

ignored

COBOL Type	Support
BLANK WHEN ZERO (zoned)	supported
COMP-1, COMP-2 (float)	supported
COMP-3, PACKED-DECIMAL	supported
COMP, COMP-4, BINARY (integer)	supported
COMP, COMP-4, BINARY (fixed)	supported
COMP-5, COMP-X	supported
DISPLAY (alphanumeric)	supported
DISPLAY numeric (zoned)	supported
edited alphanumeric	supported
edited float numeric	supported
edited numeric	supported
group record	supported
INDEX	supported
JUSTIFIED RIGHT	ignored
OCCURS (fixed array)	supported
OCCURS DEPENDING (variable-length)	supported
OCCURS INDEXED BY	ignored
OCCURS KEY IS	ignored
POINTER	supported
PROCEDURE-POINTER	supported
REDEFINES	supported
SIGN IS LEADING SEPARATE (zoned)	supported
SIGN IS TRAILING (zoned)	supported
SIGN IS TRAILING SEPARATE (zoned)	supported
SIGN IS LEADING (zoned)	supported
SYNCHRONIZED	ignored
66 RENAMES	ignored
66 RENAMES THRU	ignored
77 level	supported
88 level (condition)	ignored

Support for these data types is limited. The following formats:

05 pic 9(5) comp-5

05 pic 9(5) comp-x

will be converted to an unsigned 4 byte integer type, while the following will generate errors:

05 pic X(5) comp-5

05 pic X(5) comp-x

In these samples, pic9(5) could be substituted for pic x(5).

The following values are defined as follows:

Supported - the data type will be correctly parsed by the importer and converted to a message format field or group.
Unsupported - this data type is not supported and the importer reports an error when the copybook is imported.
Ignored - the data type is parsed and a comment is added to the message format. No corresponding field or group is created.

Some vendor-specific extensions are not recognized by the importer, however, any copybook statement that conforms to ANSI standard COBOL will be parsed correctly by the Importer. The Importer's default data model, which is based on the IBM mainframe model, can be changed in Format Builder to compensate for character set and data "endianness".

When importing copybooks, the importer may identify fields generically that, upon visual inspection, could easily be identified by a more specific data type. For this reason, the copybook importer creates comments for each field found in the copybook. This information is useful in assisting you in editing the MFL data to better represent the original Copybook. For example:

original copybook entry:

05 birth-date    picxx/xx/xx

results in:

A field of type EBCDIC with a length of 8

Closer inspection indicates that this is intended to be a date format and could be defined as

A field of type Date: MM/DD/YY

A field of type Data: DD/MM/YY