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Q: How to handle packed decimal data?
Answer:
Packed decimal (COMP-3) stores 2 digits per byte, sign in low nibble. PIC S9(5) COMP-3 uses 3 bytes. For I/O, often must convert to display. Use MOVE to display field or NUMVAL function. Handle sign separately if needed.
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Q: What is encoding scheme?
Answer:
Encoding defines character representation. EBCDIC for mainframe. ASCII for open systems. Unicode for international. CCSID specifies exact encoding. Mixed encoding needs careful handling. TRANSLATE for conversion.
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Q: What is XML support in DB2?
Answer:
DB2 stores XML natively. XMLTYPE column. XMLPARSE, XMLSERIALIZE for conversion. XQuery for querying. XMLTABLE extracts relational from XML. XML indexes for performance. Powerful for document storage.
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Q: How to handle EBCDIC/ASCII conversion?
Answer:
COBOL on mainframe uses EBCDIC natively. For ASCII conversion: use INSPECT CONVERTING, or file translation (JCL), or LE functions. NATIONAL-OF and DISPLAY-OF for Unicode. Different collating sequences affect SORT and comparisons.
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Q: How to handle OCCURS INDEXED tables?
Answer:
Indexed tables use INDEXED BY: 05 TBL OCCURS 10 INDEXED BY IDX. SET IDX TO 1 initializes. SET IDX UP BY 1 increments. SEARCH uses index implicitly. More efficient than subscript-index conversion.
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Q: Explain DE-EDIT function
Answer:
FUNCTION DE-EDIT converts edited numeric back to numeric. Original: '1,234.56-'. DE-EDIT result: -1234.56. Removes edit characters, preserves numeric value and sign. Useful when receiving edited display data needing calculation.
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Q: How to use SET statement?
Answer:
SET symbol=value assigns value. SET DATE=&LYYMMDD (system symbol). Multiple: SET A=1,B=2. Scope: job/proc. Override on EXEC. SET can reference other symbols. Evaluated at conversion time. Enables parameter files.
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Q: How to handle SMS conversion?
Answer:
SMS manages storage automatically. Migrate VSAM to SMS: DATACLAS, STORCLAS, MGMTCLAS. ACS routines for assignment. Remove explicit VOL/UNIT. Benefits: automation, management.
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Q: What is REPRO utility?
Answer:
REPRO copies VSAM files. IDCAMS REPRO INFILE(in) OUTFILE(out). Can REPRO between VSAM and sequential. Options: FROMKEY/TOKEY, SKIP/COUNT, REPLACE. Used for backup, conversion, extraction.
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Q: How to use INCLUDE statement?
Answer:
INCLUDE MEMBER=name inserts JCL from JCLLIB member. Processed at conversion time. Can contain any JCL statements. Modular JCL design. INCLUDE can contain INCLUDE. SET statements affect included members.
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Q: What is BDAM conversion to VSAM?
Answer:
BDAM is block-oriented, VSAM is record-oriented. Convert: analyze BDAM access, choose KSDS/RRDS/ESDS. REPRO or IDCAMS copy. Program changes for VSAM access. Test thoroughly.