IBM-Supplied Patterns

IBM supplies seven patterns:

Alphanumeric
Alphabetic
Zoned decimal
Packed decimal
Binary number
Collating sequence
Random number

You may choose a pattern when defining the contents of a field. All patterns, except the packed decimal, binary, zoned decimal, and random number patterns, repeat in a given field, provided that the defined field length is sufficient to permit repetition. For example, the alphabetic pattern is:

 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFG...

Table 1 shows the IBM-supplied patterns.

Table 1. IBM-supplied test data patterns
Type	Expressed in Hexadecimal	Expressed in Printable Characters
Alphanumeric	C1C2...E9, F0...F9	AB...Z, 0...9
Alphabetic	C1C2...E9	AB...Z
Zoned Decimal	F0F0...F9F9	00...99
Packed Decimal	0000...001C (Positive pattern) 0000...001D (Negative pattern)	Not applicable
Binary Number	00000001 (Positive pattern) FFFFFFFF (Negative pattern)	Not applicable
Collating Sequence	40...F9	␢¢.<(+\|&!$*);¬-/, %_>?:'=" A...Z 0...9
Random Number	Random hexadecimal digits	Not applicable

A 4-byte packed decimal, binary number, zoned decimal, or random number is right-aligned in the defined field. The remainder of the field will contain fill characters for random numbers, zeros (X'00') for packed decimal and binary, and zoned zeros (X'F0') for decimal patterns.

You can specify a starting character when defining an alphanumeric, alphabetic, or collating-sequence field. For example, a 10-byte alphabetic field for which "H" is specified as the starting character would appear as:

 HIJKLMNOPQ

The same 10-byte alphabetic field with no specified starting character would appear as:

 ABCDEFGHIJ

You can specify a mathematical sign when defining a packed decimal or binary field. If no sign is specified, the field is assumed to be positive.