<After Stephan after John>

A good rule of thumb to gage "space" requirements going between packed
decimal(hex) and decimal and vice versa is:

Where X is the "number of numeric positions".

packed decimal > decimal   (X * 2) -1
decimal > packed decimal   (X -1) / 2 rounded up to next integer if a
fraction

This was one of the first "formulae" I learned back in the days when "bubble
memory' was going to be the next great advance....some things never change..

                                    Eric Sand
                                    [log in to unmask]

> John -
>
> If you have to convert a packed field to zoned (a.k.a. decimal or, in your
> case, ASCII), you need two field definitions: one for the input packed
> field
> and the other for the output unpacked field.  Keep in mind that a packed
> field occupies only about half as many bytes as a zoned field.  Therefore,
> if you unpack any packed fields, your output record will be longer than
> the
> input record.
>
> Using your hex value '049484071C' (which occupies 5 bytes), if it is
> unpacked the receiving field must be at least 9 digits in length.  (The 9
> digit size is a combination of significant and decimal digits.  So a field
> definition of 9(5)V9(4) (5-significant + 4-decimal = 9 total digits) would
> work as well as 9(9).  To figure how large the receiving field has to be
> just count the number of digits you see in the packed field's hex value.)
> If the receiving field is less than 9 digits in total size you risk
> high-order truncation.
>
> For example:
>
>         01  INPUT-RECORD.
>                 03  INPUT-FIELD     PIC S9(9) COMP-3.
>
>         01  OUTPUT-RECORD.
>                 03  OUTPUT-FIELD  PIC S9(9).
>
>         MOVE INPUT-FIELD TO OUTPUT-FIELD.
>
> This will unpack the input field and put it into the output field.  A hex
> view of OUTPUT-FIELD after the move would show '3034393438343037A1'.  Note
> that the last byte is 'A1', not '31'.  This is because your receiving
> field
> is defined as being signed.  If you don't want the sign, your OUTPUT-FIELD
> definition should read PIC 9(9).  (See HP Data Types Conversion
> Programmer's
> Guide for further explanation of packed and zoned data fields.)
>
> Now, if what you want is the output to be edited (i.e., with commas,
> decimal
> point, etc.), your OUTPUT-FIELD definition might read PIC ZZ,ZZZ,ZZ9.99-.
>
> Anyway, hope this helps.
>
> Steve Douglass
> BFGoodrich Aerospace
>
        <Good stuff snipped>