Mark and others,
 
I used the following file equation:
 
 FILE USERLIST,NEW;DEV=DISC;REC=-80,16,F,ASCII;DISC=10000;NOCCTL;SAVE
 
and did not get any nulls in my record as you can see from the output
from the following FCOPY:
 
 
HP31900A.05.02 FILE COPIER (C) HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. 1990
 
 
 
 
USERLIST RECORD 0 (%0, #0)
 
0000: 4141 3130 3134 2E53 5441 5220 2020 2020 AA1014.STAR
0008: SAME: TO 0028-1
1 RECORD PROCESSED *** 0 ERRORS
 
 
END OF SUBSYSTEM
 
I have used output of various commands a la this LISTUSER routine and never had
a problem of NULLS.  Are you sure you have a correct file equation?
 
Leonard Berkowitz,
Warren, Gorham & Lamont
(617) 292-8349 (E.D.T.!)
 
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Frustrating NULL at beginning of each record in a file.....h
Author:  mark landin <[log in to unmask]> at internet
Date:    06/03/96 4:17 PM
 
<lots of snipping>
 
 
The first ALTUSER iterations fails with the error "First character in
user name not alphabetic. (CIERR 590)". After a little close looking, I
find that there is a binary 0 (NULL) at the beginning of every record
in the USERLIST file, which is getting passed to ALTUSER and thus confusing
it.
 
So how do I get rid of these leading binary 0's? I've tried all varieties
of trying to override the default characteristics of the USERLIST file
that LISTUSER builds, various tricks w/FCOPY to copy the USERLIST file
to something without CCTL, etc. No luck.
 
 
 
So does anyone have any suggestions?
--
Mark Landin
System Manager
Superstar Satellite Entertainment
[log in to unmask]