On page 6-35 of the HP3000 Cobol Reference Manual there is a reference to the "ASSIGN" phrase of a "SELECT" statement.  In the "ASSIGN" phrase you specify device specific information.  There are multiple parts of this phrase, but the 3rd parameter allows you to specify "recording mode".  

The manual reads:
  "It may be either ASCII or binary.  If the file is an ASCII file, recording mode must be A.  If the file is binary, the recording mode must be B.  If the recording mode parameter is omitted, ASCII is assigned by default."

If I recall correctly, this part of the COBOL standard is NOT fully defined and allows vendors to do hardware/software/vendor specific things.  Thus, this may not apply to all vendors/platforms.
Thanks Scott.
=======================================
Scott Petersen
phone : 801-924-5231
fax: 801-538-0228
e-mail: scottp at exegesys dot com 
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-----Original Message-----
From: Keven Miller 
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2003 2:42 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [HP3000-L] Cobol: can you create a new Fixed Binary file?


Can HPCOBOL create a fixed binary file?
How do you specify in the source?

Or is it "limited" to ascii files?
___________________________________________________________________
Keven Miller   mailto:[log in to unmask]   http://www.exegesys.com

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