Re: Question: end of record in .csv file

[Scott Klement <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Raymond,

The extra blanks come from the fact that you've told CPYTOIMPF that the 
file format is *FIXED.  Since the records in your flat file have a fixed 
length of 250 chars, when it's written to the IFS, the records will also 
have a fixed length of 252 chars (the 250 for the original record, plus 
the CRLF at the end).

The blanks are there because you told them to be.  A fixed-length 
database record is always the same length, every time.  If you don't 
fill up the entire 250 characters, it will fill the remainder with 
blanks.  CPYTOIMPF won't strip them off for you because you told it the 
file format is fixed-length, and therefore it wouldn't make sense to 
strip them off.

So how can you solve this?  Three different alternatives come to mind:

a) Instead of writing the CSV to a physical file, write it to a stream 
file. Stream files are not organized into fixed-length records, and 
therefore they won't be padded with blanks.

This is the way the file would've been generated on any other platform, 
as well.  But, in RPG, we avoid this because stream files didn't exist 
on the System/3, and we can't possibly ever learn anything new. 
Learning something that didn't exist 30 years ago is just evil.

b) Instead of using CPYTOIMPF, simply FTP the data directly from the 
physical file to the destination. Skip the (unnecessary, IMHO) copy to 
the IFS.  FTP has a facility for trimming trailing blanks from records.

c) Instead of manually building a CSV file and storing the data in a 
physical file, create an ordinary physical file with ordinary externally 
defined fields -- and use CPYTOIMPF to convert the PF to a delimited 
file.  That way, you don't have to add the fields together with commas 
in your program, the commas will be added by CPYTOIMPF.



Raymond Tenorio wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> Through rpg I create a .csv file using:
> field = %trim(field1) + ',' + %trim(field2) + ',' and so on... for 15 to 20 fields.  
>
> My file is one field and it's 250A.
>
> Then I have a CL that:  
> CPYTOIMPF  FROMFILE(QTEMP/&FILNAM1) TOSTMF(&FILNAM) +
>              MBROPT(*REPLACE) STMFCODPAG(*PCASCII) + 
>              RCDDLM(*CRLF) DTAFMT(*FIXED)
>
> I then ftp the file.  At the end of each record there's numerous spaces.
>
> My question: how do I eliminate the spaces at the end of each record?
>
> Thank you in advance.
>
> Ray
>
>
> This communication is not intended as an offer of purchase and is intended only for use by the addressee(s).