Creating User Defined Conversion Tables

Data Converter supports ASCII, EBCDIC code, and Unicode character sets.  Modifications or additions to these character sets can be made through user-defined conversion tables.  Character code conversions can be performed using custom-designed or non-standard code sets by creating your own conversion tables.  If desired, all single byte code sets can be changed by defining 256 code conversion patterns in the user-defined conversion table.  Caution: If this is done, the user must specify the ASCI, EBCD, or UCS2 portion of the code system definition.

Format for User Defined Conversion Tables

User-defined conversion tables are text files that you create with any standard text file editor.

The conversion table consists of three types of lines:

Comment lines - these have a '*' in column 1
Code system definition lines - these have a ' #' in column 1
Code mapping lines - these have a space in column 1

Code system definition lines give the ID of the source and target code systems.  When you convert files you enter the Code ID to specify that a particular file is in the defined code.

Code mapping lines follow each code system definition line.  They give byte-to-byte (or double-byte to double-byte) mappings.

Format for Code System Definition Lines

Code system name 1
Code system name 2

- # is specified in column 1.
- Code system name can be ASCI, EBCD, or UCS2.
ASCI ASCII Code
EBCD EBCDIC Code
UCS2 UCS2 Code
- Code-system-name-1 is the code used in the input file.
Code system-name-2 is the code used in the output file.

Format for Code Mapping Lines

Character code 1
Character code 2

- Space is specified in column 1.

Character-code-1 and Character-code-2 are separated by a ":" (colon) with no spaces.
- Character-code is a 2 or 4 digit hexadecimal code (2 digits for single byte character sets, 4 digits for two byte character sets)
- Character-code-2 can have the value NO.  This means that no corresponding code is available.
- If there are multiple code mapping lines for the same character-code-1 value, the mapping defined in the last of these lines is used.

Example of a User Defined Conversion Table (SAMPLE.CNV)
* Conversion from EBCDIC to ASCII,
* Substitute two values to the standard mapping
# EBCD ASCI
 00:5F
 5B:NO
* Conversion from ASCII to in-house code set by substituting
*  all byte mappings in character set "EBCDIC"
# ASCI EBCD
 00:00
 ...
 20:40
 21:44
 ...
* (Defines mappings for all byte values)
àConversion Wizard Step 5