Okay Bob,
This looks like duck soup. Here's my untested (even for syntax) example based on your layout:
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#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use Convert::EBCDIC;
use constant TYPEDEF => 'a4 a20 a2 a20 a60 a48';
# declare each field as binary data, 'a' format follwed by length
# note that we can treat the 4 12-byte BCD's as one field because we
# are not converting them
my $recsz = length(pack(TYPEDEF,()));
my $b;
my $n = read(STDIN,$b,$recsz);
while ($n == $recsz)
{
# unpack fields specified using TYPEDEF in array
my @a = unpack(TYPEDEF,$b);
# convert each EBCDIC string to ASCII $a[0] = 1st field, $a[1] = 2nd, ...
my $s1 = Convert::EBCDIC::ebcdic2ascii($a[1]);
my $s2 = Convert::EBCDIC::ebcdic2ascii($a[3]);
my $s3 = Convert::EBCDIC::ebcdic2ascii($a[4]);
# pack data using unchanged fields from array for binary and
# converted EBCDIC strings where appropriate
my $out = pack(TYPEDEF,$a[0],$s1,$a[2],$s2,$s3,$a[5]);
print $out;
$n = read(STDIN,$b,$recsz);
}
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Note that this script functions as a filter, so
convert.pl < oldfile > newfile
Again, you will need to download and install the Convert::EBCDIC module. Installing is easy. After downloading, gunzip it, untar it, and view the README file. It will guide you through the rest of the module install. Again, check this very carefully because I typed in 'on the fly' -- and I ain't exactly known for my good typing.
If it ain't broke, I can fix that.
