record_format

The Application Programming Interface › How to Use API Member Names › record_format

record_format

Specifies the record format of a data set created on an IBM mainframe. This corresponds to the JCL RECFM subparameter.

The range of values is listed in the following table.

Value	Description	Record Length	Comment
F	Fixed unblocked	The same length as the data set
FA	Fixed unblocked ANSI	The same length as the data set	Contains ISO/ANSI/FIPS control characters
FB	Fixed blocked	Fixed	Fixed record length with multiple records per block
FBA	Fixed blocked ANSI	Fixed	Multiple records per block where these records contain ISO/ANSI/FIPS control characters
FBS	Fixed blocked spanned	Fixed	Multiple records per block written as standard blocks
FM	Fixed unblocked machine	The same length as the data set	Contains machine code control characters
FS	Fixed unblocked spanned	The same length as the data set	Written as standard blocks where these records do not contain any truncated blocks or unfilled tracks
U	Undefined	Undefined
V	Variable unblocked	Variable
VA	Variable unblocked ANSI	Variable	Contains ISO/ANSI/FIPS control characters
VB	Variable blocked	Variable	Multiple records per block
VBA	Variable blocked ANSI	Variable	Multiple records per block where these records contain ISO/ANSI/FIPS control characters
VBM	Variable blocked machine	Variable	Multiple records per block where these records contain machine code control characters
VBS	Variable blocked spanned	Variable	May have multiple records per block where these records can span more than one block
VM	Variable unblocked machine	Variable	Contains machine code control characters
VS	Variable unblocked spanned	Variable	A record can span more than one block

Default: VB

remote_charset

This parameter specifies the remote character set CA XCOM Data Transport uses for Unicode transfers (CODE_FLAG=UTF8 or CODE_FLAG=UTF16).

When the remote system is CA XCOM Data Transport for z/OS:

CCSID#nnnnn/tttttttt

nnnnnn - specifies the CCSID number that corresponds to the character set of the local file. Valid values are 1 - 65535.

tttttttt (optional) – specifies the technique search order IBM Unicode Services uses when performing conversion. From 1 to 8 characters are specified. Valid values to use are:

R - Roundtrip conversion

E - Enforced Subset conversion

C - Customized conversion

L - Language Environment Behavior conversion

M - Modified for special use conversion

B - Bidi transformation (Bi-directional) conversion

0-9 - User defined conversions

Note: If the technique search order is not specified, Unicode Services defaults to ‘RECLM’.

When the remote system is CA XCOM Data Transport for Windows or CA XCOM Data Transport for Linux/Unix:

CCSID#nnnnn

nnnnnn - specifies the CCSID number that corresponds to the character set. Valid values are 1 - 65535.

Alternatively, can be specified as an IANA character set name, or (ICU) acceptable alias name.

Range: 0 to 60 characters

Default: The DEFAULT_CHARSET parameter specifies the default in the CA XCOM Data Transport Default Options Table/Global Parameters on the remote system.

NOTE: Charset names are case sensitive.

remote_delim

This parameter specifies an optional encoding for which the specified REMOTE_CHARSET is based. The encoding can be either ASCII or EBCDIC. If specified, the encoding must be the first option in the list. If REMOTE_CHARSET is a UTF based charset, UTF rules will be applied disregarding the encoding specified in REMOTE_DELIM.

Used only for UNICODE transfers (CODE_FLAG=UTF8 or CODE_FLAG=UTF16).

When the remote system is CA XCOM Data Transport for z/OS:

Additionally it specifies the delimiter to use for USS-based output files when FILEDATA=TEXT.

Valid options:

EBCDIC – The specified character set is EBCDIC encoded.

NA – Not applicable, the system default delimiter is used.

NL – New line

CR – Carriage return

LF – Line feed

CRLF – Carriage return/Line feed

LFCR – Line feed/Carriage return

CRNL – Carriage return/New line

Note: The only valid encoding for CA XCOM Data Transport for z/OS is EBCDIC.

When the remote system is CA XCOM Data Transport for Windows or CA XCOM Data Transport for Linux/Unix:

Additionally, specifies a colon separated list of record delimiters that are used to mark and detect the end of a record.

EBCDIC Rules

Record Delimiter Option	Mutually exclusive with
CR	CRLF, CRNL
LF	LFCR
NL
CRLF	CR
LFCR	LF
CRNL	CR
FF
NA

NOTE: The NA option is only used by z/OS to indicate that the file format attribute should not be set.

ASCII Rules

Record Delimiter Option	Mutually exclusive with
CR	CRLF, CRNL
LF	LFCR
NL
CRLF	CR
LFCR	LF
CRNL	CR
VT
FF

UTF Rules

Record Delimiter Option	Mutually exclusive with
CR	CRLF, CRNL
LF	LFCR
NL
CRLF	CR
LFCR	LF
CRNL	CR
VT
FF
LS
PS

Range: 0 to 60 characters

Default: The DEFAULT_DELIM parameter specifies the default in the CA XCOM Data Transport Default Options Table/Global Parameters on the remote system.

The tables indicate valid record delimiters for various encodings. If a record delimiter is not applicable for encoding on which REMOTE_CHARSET is based, it should not be used.

Example: If REMOTE_CHARSET is not UTF based, PS and LS delimiters should not be used. Similarly if REMOTE_CHARSET is EBCDIC based, VT, PS, and LS delimiters should not be used.

In these cases, these delimiters will be treated as invalid and disregarded if used. If no valid delimiter is found in REMOTE_DELIM, delimiters will be derived as explained below.

If REMOTE_DELIM is not specified or doesn’t contain at least one valid delimiter, DEFAULT_DELIM parameter in the CA XCOM Data Transport Default Options Table/Global Parameters on the remote system is considered. If DEFAULT_DELIM is also not specified or doesn’t contain at least one valid delimiter, platform default values are used as shown below,

Default for ASCII: ‘CRLF,LF’
Default for EBCDIC: ‘NL’

Note: During Unicode conversion some of the delimiters may fail to convert to some code pages.

For example, In case of Send File transfer, when REMOTE_CHARSET set to ASCII based charset and REMOTE_DELIM set to NL/CRNL, then transfer may fail. The Unicode conversion fails as ASCII based code pages may not have mapping character for NL/CRNL.