Modify Records After a COBOL Copybook Conversion

About this task

For each record on the positional side of your map created using a COBOL copybook, you need to set the record tags for each record on the Positional Record Properties dialog box, delete the accompanying field (containing the original tag), and Auto Position the fields in each record.

Note: You must either specify the start position of each field or use the Auto Position function; otherwise, the translator will not be able to read or write the record correctly.

To complete the tasks necessary on each record on the positional side of your map:

Procedure

Right-click the first positional record. From the shortcut menu, select Edit Fields.
The Positional Field Editor dialog box opens.
Note the name, start position (Start), and length (Len) of the field in this record that currently contains the record tag, and click OK.
Right-click the first positional record again. From the shortcut menu, select Properties.
The Positional Record dialog box opens.
Select the Tag tab to access the tag options.
In the Tag box, type the record tag (for example, __ABC). This is the name of original field that you noted in step 2.
In the Position box, type the start position of the record tag. This is the start position that you noted in step 2.
In the Length box, type the length of the record tag. This is the length that you noted in step 2.
Click OK to close the Positional Record Properties dialog box.
Right-click the first positional record again, and from the shortcut menu select Edit Fields.
The Positional Field Editor dialog box opens.
Click Auto Position.
Auto Position automatically calculates the start position in the record of each field, using the criteria that each field is positioned directly after the previous field and is of the length specified in the Max Length box. Click Yes to acknowledge the warning message that fields are sequenced in order.

Note: It is only valid to use the Auto Position function if you define each field in the record in the sequence in which the field will occur in the data. It is generally recommended that you run Auto Position, but there are circumstances in which it is not recommended. For example, if you have a record that starts at position 155 and contains 5 fields of 5 characters each, if you run Auto Position on this record it will reset the starting position of the first field from 155 to 1.
Click OK to close the Positional Field Editor dialog box.
Repeat steps 1 through 11 for each record on the positional side of your map.