>I was afraid it was the case :(, the problem is to decode the number fields
>thanks
Well, I don't KNOW if this is the case, I am no expert in COBOL. But I seem to remember, from what little I have seen in COBOL, that it is in the program where the fields and records are defined.
As for the numbers... first you'll have to figure out what method was used to save the numbers. Two's complement is quite common for integers, but it may that the first bit just indicates the sign.
BCD (binary-coded decimal, two digits per byte) is another option. This keeps numerical accuracy when adding and subtracting decimal numbers.
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)