Thanks for all the information.
Your suggestion (and the suggestion of some others) about
editing the txt file after I create it is not a good
solution due to the fact I want to fully automate sending
this file to our vendor daily without user intervention
(Sorry I left that out of my original email)
I was hoping that I was missing something that I could use
when copying the file to the txt file.
I may have to write a program that writes directly to the
IFS file and put my own 0D0A in all records but the last
one.
Sure would be easier if CPYTOSTMF had a few more options
(one which would control what was appended to the last
record)
John
-----Original Message-----
From: lloen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:lloen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2009 1:47 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Cc: jallen@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: Using CPYTOSTMF to TXT file PC sees extra
record
From: John Allen
I am using CPYTOSTMF to copy a file to the IFS
When I look in the file using WRKLNK there are no blank
records
When I open the file using Note Pad on the PC it has a
blank
record at the end of the file.
Well, "sort of". First off, I don't use Notepad for
_anything_
critical. I use Wordpad.
What you're seeing with the "blank line" is the way NotePad
deals with
files whose last line ends on 0D0A. Whether this is really
a "blank
line" is kind of an interpretation, really. Most editors
will show it
this way.
I thought this might be a Note Pad issue, sent the file to
be processed (to a 3rd party company)
They rejected the file because it has a blank record at the
end
Unusual behavior, but hardly unprecedented. This isn't a
data base file
we're dealing with. It's a bucket of bytes. Each
application makes up
its own rules.
I asked if they could just ignore it or delete it
Nope their software cannot process blank records, I have to
fix my file.
[snip]
Using WRKLNK Display Hex I do see a 0D0A at the end of each
record.
I do not have a 0D0A in my from file on the CPYTOSTMF
So CPYTOSTMF must add it,
If you specified "PC Text file" kinds of options, especially
with *CRLF,
then that's exactly what was asked for.
Would the 0D0A on the last record
cause the blank line on PC applications?
Sort of. As I've noted, the line almost certainly isn't
really "blank"
as such. There are no official record boundaries here.
It's just the
scheme Notepad (and other editors) use to tell you that the
last line
does end in 0D0A.
Is there a way to remove it only from the last record
Of course I get this problem 6:30PM the night before I fly
out to Common
Yes, there is a way to remove it. I assume the file is
available in
ASCII on your PC?
First bring up Wordpad (from the Windows Command Line
Wordpad is called
WRITE).
Then use Write/Wordpad to open your file.
Then, very carefully, go to the "blank line" at the end,
using your
mouse to put the cursor at the beginning of the last "line"
(this
supposed extra line we've been discussing). Carefully
backspace so that
the cursor is at the very end of the "real last line."
Save the file.
A simple test example of mine, dumped in hex, IBM style, to
show the
before-and-after:
Before, with the CR/LF at the end of every line:
61736466 0D0A6173 64660D0A 61736466 *asdf..asdf..asdf*
20616464 63726C66 0D0A * addcrlf..*
After, with the last line not ending in CR/LF:
61736466 0D0A6173 64660D0A 61736466 *asdf..asdf..asdf*
206E6F63 726C66 * nocrlf*
As you can see, the editor removes the trailing *CRLF when
you edit it
that way under Wordpad.
The actual file looks like this, visually, in the "after"
version:
asdf
asdf
asdf nocrlf<cursor here>
See if your vendor can handle the resulting file.
The only other thing that could somehow be happening is that
some old
fashioned bit of code is inserting a Ctl-Z (hex 1A) at the
very, very
end of the file. That's a rare DOS relic. Maybe you are
doing a
Windows FTP through some old utility? That is now very rare
and
unlikely, but I thought I would mention it if my suggestion
above fails.
It causes trouble when it happens (the symptoms are just
about the
same) and sometimes the Ctl-Z is not visible in editors when
it is
present. But, the backspace trick probably works for that,
too.
Larry Loen
Application Performance Group
midrange.com
