>>>>>>>Is there any way, I can access Data from Cobol Files,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>we have a very old FA Applications built in cobol....
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Is there any way I can open it in VFP/Excel..
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Any hints/ideas abt cobol file structure(s) will be very helpful...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Vinod,
>>>>>>Cobol is usually stored in fixed-length field files (SDF). There is a utility available in the 'files' section that converts SDF to DBF files.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Good luck
>>>>>
>>>>>Thanks for your reply...
>>>>>
>>>>>Can you pls give me in which section that utility is and what is the name of file as I'm not a premier member and unable to search in file section..
>>>>
>>>>Vinod,
>>>>Sorry it took so long to respond. I actually found SDF2DBF in Malcolm Pitcher's FoxPro I/O. However, if you know the names, field lengths, and field types of the Cobol file, you cand create a table in VFP, download the Cobol file, and do an "APPEND FROM TYPE SDF. I have used it myself several times and it works quite nicely.
>>>>
>>>>Good Luck,
>>>
>>>I just tried it with the memo fields and with the same field names type
>>>
>>>but It is showing me junk char. in the rec..
>>>
>>>Pls note I have tried it in a hex editor also and all it is showing me is junk char.. but when I run the cobol prog... the whole data is avl.
>>>
>>>Pls help..
>>>
>>>Can u mail me that utility.. I will try with that also...
>>
>>Could be EBCDIC charcacters instead of ASCII. The Numeric Fields could be Packed Binary Coded Decimal (BCD).
>
>Any ideas how to convert it to normal text file... Or any utilities available...
Vinod,
I don't know of any free utilities available. At work, I use NetManage Chameleon which provides connectivity to UNIX and mainframes. The only stipulation is you have to be using TCP/IP protocols. There are others available but I have no experience with those. NetManage does have an easy FTP program that allows you to select ASCII for file downloads.