VRECGEN is a mainframe utility. Use VRECGEN to create a copy of a variable-length mainframe file. That copy embeds record length information in the data records for download from the mainframe to the PC. Micro Focus provides the source code for the VRECGEN utility (vrecgen.cbl). However, you may need to modify the source code before use, to specify options not catered for by the supplied version vrecgen.cbl.
The file created by VRECGEN has a two-byte record length field preceding each of the variable length data records. The record length field contains a value which is the two-byte record length field plus the length of the variable length data record. This is necessary because most file transfer software (for example, IBM SEND/RECEIVE) works with logical records and strips off the "Record Descriptor Word" which contains the length for each record. Without this information, it is impossible to separate the records to rebuild the data set on the PC.
The file created by VRECGEN is in a special download format. You should use the standard Transfer utility to transfer this file to the PC in binary format. The file can then be processed through the Data File Converter.
The source code to VRECGEN (vrecgen.cbl) is provided by Micro Focus primarily as a model, rather than as a final utility that meets the needs of all sites without modification. You should edit your version of vrecgen.cbl so that it contains the specific values that meet your application or site requirements. A typical reason for editing vrecgen.cbl is to increase the maximum record length to be more than 32,000 bytes.