View the EBCDIC File

When the Data File Editor is open, the Classic Data File Tools IDE shows an extra toolbar that includes a drop-down list you can use to switch the Data File Editor window between ANSI and EBCDIC. To display the EBCDIC file you just created:

1. Click File > Open.
2. Select ebcvseq.dat; then click Open.

   Garbage is displayed because Data File Editor is expecting ANSI.

3. On the toolbar, use the drop-down list to change the character set from ANSI to EBCDIC.

   The file is displayed correctly.

   This field on the toolbar affects only the current display in the Data File Editor window.

   To look at the file in formatted view, you can use the record layout file you created earlier as the condition field value used to determine the record type is converted as required.

4. To create an EBCDIC record layout file from the ANSI character set program you need to change Data Tools default character set to EBCDIC.
5. Click Options > Data Tools; then click the General tab.
6. Using the drop-down list, change the Character Set field to EBCDIC; then click OK.

   This makes the Data File Editor read and write all files in EBCDIC. You can now create and use a new record layout file, in the same way as you did in the previous topics of this tutorial.

7. When finished, close the Data File Editor window.
8. If you generally use the ANSI character set, click Options > Data Tools and change the character set back to ANSI; then click OK.