Packed Decimal Problem

I am currently working on a project where I am required to access legacy files
within the system/36 of our AS400.  The data fields in these files are not
externally defined, and I cannot change the files in any way.

Using jtopen 2.05, I am able to access character data with no problem.  I
defined the data fields within my java program, and have verified that I am able
to read the data.

The problem is with packed decimal fields.  When I try to read a packed decimal
field and convert it to a Big Decimal, the java program throws an exception.



java.lang.NumberFormatException: 52
at com.ibm.as400.access.AS400PackedDecimal.toObject(AS400PackedDecimal.j
ava:481)
at com.ibm.as400.access.Record.getField(Record.java:586)
at com.ibm.as400.access.Record.getField(Record.java:612)
at ListRecords.<init>(ListRecords.java:68)
at ListRecords.main(ListRecords.java:90)


I have been fighting with this for several days, and am desperate for a
solution.


The data itself is basically one long string in a flat text file.  However, I
have tried reading the fields as a string, and the program still blows up.


Can anybody offer assistance with this problem?


Thank you,
Amy Anuszewski
Weidenhammer Systems Corporation