Converting between EBCDIC and ASCII (basic mode)

This section applies to IP PrintWay™ basic mode. If you run IP PrintWay extended mode, see Converting between EBCDIC and ASCII (extended mode).

IP PrintWay basic mode can convert line and text data from EBCDIC to ASCII or from ASCII to EBCDIC before transmitting a data set to the remote printer. You specify in the printer definition whether you want IP PrintWay basic mode to convert data and also the conversion method you want IP PrintWay basic mode to use.

IP PrintWay basic mode can use one of these methods to convert data between EBCDIC and ASCII:

• iconv utility (default method)

  The iconv utility converts data from one code page to another, from the code page used to create the document to the code page used by the printer. For more information about the iconv utility, see z/OS XL C/C++ Programming Guide. Print Interface and NetSpool also uses iconv to convert data from EBCDIC to ASCII. IBM®suggests using iconv because you can specify attributes in the printer definition that are suitable for both Print Interface and IP PrintWay. By default, IP PrintWay uses this method.

• TCP/IP translation tables

  For compatibility with previous releases, you can request that IP PrintWay use either the standard TCP/IP translation table supplied by IBM or a customized TCP/IP translate table created using the CONVXLAT program. For information about using translation tables and the CONVXLAT program, see z/OS Communications Server: IP Configuration Reference.

  Notes:

  1. IBM suggests that you do not use TCP/IP translation tables because if you specify the attributes required for IP PrintWay to use the TCP/IP translation tables, you must create a separate printer definition if you want to use Print Interface to print on the same printer.
  2. When you select the VTAM® protocol, do not use the standard TCP/IP translation table because the standard translation table converts data from EBCDIC to ASCII.
  3. When you select the VTAM protocol, IP PrintWay does not support DBCS translation tables.