Editing ASCII files on z/OS

XML and Java™ properties files are normally stored in the HFS (UNIX) file system in code page ISO8859-1 (ASCII). Here are several approaches for editing ASCII files on z/OS®.

  • Convert the file from ASCII to EBCDIC before you edit it, then convert it back again when done. For example:
    iconv -f ISO8859-1 -t IBM-1047 myfile.properties > 
    myfile.properties.a
    vi myfile.properties.a (or oedit if under a 3270 OMVS shell) 
    iconv -f IBM-1047 -t ISO8859-1 myfile.properties.a > 
    myfile.properties
    Use the oedit program instead of vi if you are using a 3270 OMVS shell.

    The atools package, which is available from the IBM® UNIX Tools and Toys download site, provides small shell scripts that automate this process.

  • Tag the file as ASCII text then enable automatic conversion.
    chtag -tc ISO8859-1 myfile.properties
    export _BPXK_AUTOCVT=ON
    vi myfile.properties
    You only have to tag the file once. The _BPXK_AUTOCVT=ON environment variable enables automatic conversion.

    Be careful to not set _BPXK_AUTOCVT=ON in your Java VM process because the VM does not expect automatic conversion of properties and XML files.

    For more information, see z/OS enhanced ASCII Functionality.

  • Edit the file in an IDE, such as Eclipse, then deploy it to z/OS by using an Ant script and the Ant FTP task.

    For more information about the Ant FTP task, see http://ant.apache.org/manual/Tasks/ftp.html.

    The JZOS Cookbook, available on developerWorks®, includes an example Eclipse project and guided instructions on using Eclipse as an IDE with z/OS Java: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/groups/service/.

  • ISPF supports ASCII editing of HFS or zFS files.