# Load hex values of EBCDIC character set into a table

**URL:** <https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/load-hex-values-of-ebcdic-character-set-into-a-table/100175>\
**Category:** Forum\
**Tags:** Adabas-Natural, Natural, Natural-on-Mainframes\
**Created:** [April 17, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/load-hex-values-of-ebcdic-character-set-into-a-table/100175 "2012-04-17T21:12:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dan4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Dan4](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Dan4)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/load-hex-values-of-ebcdic-character-set-into-a-table/100175/1 "2012-04-17T21:12:36Z")

</div>

In [my last posted question](http://tech.forums.softwareag.com/techjforum/posts/list/25300.page), the suggestion was made to create a table of 256 characters and then to use the EXAMINE TRANSLATE statement where every alphanumeric character I’m searching would translate to itself and all others would translate to something else, like “#”.

I’m trying an exercise where I load the hex values of of the EBCDIC character set into a table.

Here’s what I have so far:

```auto

01 #TRANSLATE-TBL(A2/256)
01 #HEX-VALUE(A1/1:16) INIT <'0','1','2','3','4','5','6','7','8','9','A','B','C','D','E','F'>

01 #H1(A2)                                                           
01 #H2(A2)                                                           

FOR #A 1 16                                                         
  MOVE #HEX-VALUE(#A) TO SUBSTR(#H1,1,1)                            
  FOR #B 1 16                                                       
    MOVE #HEX-VALUE(#B) TO SUBSTR(#H1,2,1)                          
    IF #H1 = 'C1' THRU 'C9' OR /* IF ALPHANUMERIC, MOVE #H1 TO #H2
       #H1 = 'D1' THRU 'D9' OR                                      
       #H1 = 'E2' THRU 'E9' OR                                      
       #H1 = 'F0' THRU 'F9'                                         
      MOVE #H1 TO #H2                                               
    ELSE                                                            
      MOVE '7B' TO #H2 /* ELSE MOVE '#' TO #H2            
    END-IF                                                          
    ADD 1 TO #TBL-CTR                                               
** here's where I'm stuck -- 
** instead of moving a constant (e.g., H'007B') to #TRANSLATE-TBL(#TBL-CTR), can I move the hex representation of a variable?
**
  END-FOR                                                           
END-FOR

and then later I would use

  EXAMINE #NAME TRANSLATE USING #TRANSLATE-TBL(*)
  EXAMINE #NAME FOR '#' DELETE                
```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/original/3X/c/d/cd19967bb605d28a72d77eb83a1cae22f3df2eb8.svg) [@system](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/load-hex-values-of-ebcdic-character-set-into-a-table/100175/2 "2012-04-17T23:15:06Z")

</div>

To get “the hex representation of a variable” you would need to redefine it, as in

```auto
01 #H2 (A2)
01 REDEFINE #H2
  02 #H2HEX (B2)
```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ralph\_Zbrog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/user_avatar/techcommunity.softwareag.com/ralph_zbrog/32/78_2.png) [@Ralph\_Zbrog](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Ralph_Zbrog)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/load-hex-values-of-ebcdic-character-set-into-a-table/100175/3 "2012-04-18T00:08:38Z")

</div>

What I’ve always taught is

> [@](#):
>
> If you can initialize it at compile time, then don’t initialize it at run time.

Here are three examples of how to initialize your table at compile time.

```auto
DEFINE DATA LOCAL
1 #HEX1 (A512) CONST 
  <H'00000100020003000400050006000700' /* ........ */
 - H'080009000A000B000C000D000E000F00' /* ........ */
 - H'10001100120013001400150016001700' /* ........ */
 - H'180019001A001B001C001D001E001F00' /* ........ */
 - H'20002100220023002400250026002700' /* ........ */
 - H'280029002A002B002C002D002E002F00' /* ........ */
 - H'30003100320033003400350036003700' /* ........ */
 - H'380039003A003B003C003D003E003F00' /* ........ */
 - H'40404100420043004400450046004700' /* ....... */
 - H'480049004A4A4B4B4C4C4D4D4E4E4F4F' /* .. .<(+| */
 - H'50005100520053005400550056005700' /* ........ */
 - H'580059005A5A5B5B5C5C5D5D5E5E5F5F' /* ..!$*); */
 - H'60606161626263636464656566666767' /* -/...... */
 - H'680069006A6A6B6B6C6C6D6D6E6E6F6F' /* .. ,%_>? */
 - H'70007100720073007400750076007700' /* ........ */
 - H'780079797A7A7B7B7C7C7D7D7E7E7F7F' /* .`:#@'=" */
 - H'80008181828283838484858586868787' /* .abcdefg */
 - H'888889898A008B008C008D008E008F00' /* hi...... */
 - H'90009191929293939494959596969797' /* .jklmnop */
 - H'989899999A009B009C009D009E009F00' /* qr...... */
 - H'A000A1A1A2A2A3A3A4A4A5A5A6A6A7A7' /* .~stuvwx */
 - H'A8A8A9A9AA00AB00AC00AD00AE00AF00' /* yz...... */
 - H'B000B100B200B300B400B500B600B700' /* ........ */
 - H'B800B900BA00BB00BC00BD00BE00BF00' /* ........ */
 - H'C0C0C12EC22EC32EC42EC52EC62EC72E' /* {ABCDEFG */
 - H'C8C8C9C9CA00CB00CC00CD00CE00CF00' /* HI...... */
 - H'D0D0D1D1D2D2D3D3D4D4D5D5D6D6D7D7' /* }JKLMNOP */
 - H'D8D8D9D9DA00DB00DC00DD00DE00DF00' /* QR...... */
 - H'E0E0E100E2E2E3E3E4E4E5E5E6E6E7E7' /* \.STUVWX */
 - H'E8E8E9E9EA00EB00EC00ED00EE00EF00' /* YZ...... */
 - H'F0F0F1F1F2F2F3F3F4F4F5F5F6F6F7F7' /* 01234567 */
 - H'F8F8F9F9FA00FB00FC00FD00FE00FF00'> /* 89...... */
                   1 REDEFINE #HEX1
  2 #TRT1 (A2/256)
*
1 #TRT2 (A2/256) CONST <H'00' - H'00'
                       ,H'01' - H'00'
* , ...
                       ,H'40' - H'40'
* , ...
                       ,H'80' - H'00'
                       ,'a' - 'A' /* force uppercase?
                       ,'b' - 'B'
* , ...
                       ,H'C0' - H'00'
                       ,'A' - 'A'
                       ,'B' - 'B'
* , ...
                       ,H'F0' - '0'
                       ,H'F1' - '1'
* , ...
                       ,H'FE' - H'00'
                       ,H'FF' - H'00'
                       >
1 #TRT3 (A2/256) CONST <
  H'00'-'#', H'01'-'#', H'02'-'#', H'03'-'#',
  H'04'-'#', H'05'-'#', H'06'-'#', H'07'-'#',
  H'08'-'#', H'09'-'#', H'0A'-'#', H'0B'-'#',
                                              /*
  H'40'-' ', H'41'-'#', H'42'-'#', H'43'-'#',
                                              /*
  H'80'-' ', H'81'-'a', H'82'-'b', H'83'-'c',
    'd'-'d', 'e'-'e', 'f'-'f', 'g'-'g',
                                              /*
  H'C0'-'#', H'C1'-'A', H'C2'-'B', H'C3'-'C',
    'D'-'D', 'E'-'E', 'F'-'F', 'G'-'G',
                                              /*
  H'FC'-'#', H'FD'-'#', H'FE'-'#', H'FF'-'#'
                     >
END-DEFINE
END
```

Decide for yourself between brevity and legibility. I use the #HEX1/#TRT1 method in my own code.

Also note that these samples accept all printable characters - adjust as necessary. The first two tables convert unwanted characters to H’00’ while the third uses ‘#’.

WARNING:  
I make no warranties as to the accuracy of these tables. My working code is for ASCII. I manually converted to EBCDIC for this thread, but have not tested every character pair.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ralph\_Zbrog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/user_avatar/techcommunity.softwareag.com/ralph_zbrog/32/78_2.png) [@Ralph\_Zbrog](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Ralph_Zbrog)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/load-hex-values-of-ebcdic-character-set-into-a-table/100175/4 "2012-04-18T00:37:25Z")

</div>

You won’t need this technique here, Dan, because you’re going to initialize your table at compile time 😃 , but you can “pack” a string into its hex equivalent with a MOVE EDITED into a Binary variable. You must ensure that the string contains only characters 0-9 and A-F.

```auto
DEFINE DATA LOCAL
1 #S (A2) INIT <'7B'>
1 #C (A1) 1 REDEFINE #C
 2 #B (B1)
END-DEFINE
MOVE EDITED #S TO #B (EM=HH)
DISPLAY #S #C #B
END
```

In this example, the character string ‘7B’ within #S is converted to a 1-byte H’7B’ in #B.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dan4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Dan4](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Dan4)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/load-hex-values-of-ebcdic-character-set-into-a-table/100175/5 "2012-04-18T02:12:43Z")

</div>

Thanks, Wolfgang and Ralph!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Nikolay\_Kuhta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/35a633/32.png) [@Nikolay\_Kuhta](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Nikolay_Kuhta)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/load-hex-values-of-ebcdic-character-set-into-a-table/100175/6 "2012-04-19T21:21:37Z")

</div>

I think it would be very easy to fill out that “translation table” in IBM ASSEMBLER (I used to program in that language in my “dark dust past” :-).

This is my attempt to simulate it in Natural; well, what I can say about it that it works, but Ralph`s approach is better - much shorter (although it is not very easy to build that table 🙂

Best regards,  
Nikolay

0010 DEFINE DATA LOCAL  
0020 1 TRANS-TABLE (A2/0:255)  
0030 1 #BEG (B1)  
0040 1 #END (B1)  
0050 1 #I (I4)  
0060 1 #J (I4)  
0070 1 #FROMTO (A2)  
0080 1 REDEFINE #FROMTO  
0090 2 #FROM (B1)  
0100 2 #TO (B1)  
0110 1 #HEX (B1)  
0120 1 #BEG-INT (I2)  
0130 1 #END-INT (I2)  
0140 \*\*  
0150 1 #ALPHA(A2)  
0160 1 REDEFINE #ALPHA  
0170 2 #CHAR-1 (A1)  
0180 2 #CHAR-2 (A1)  
0190 1 #DEC (P3)  
0200 1 #INT (I4)  
0210 1 #STRING (A100)  
0220 END-DEFINE  
0230 #BEG := H’00’  
0240 #END := H’FF’  
0250 MOVE #BEG TO #HEX  
0260 PERFORM HEX-TO-DEC  
0270 #BEG-INT := #INT  
0280 MOVE #END TO #HEX  
0290 PERFORM HEX-TO-DEC  
0300 #END-INT := #INT  
0310 #J := #BEG-INT  
0320 /\* Initially EVERYTHING → ‘#’  
0330 FOR #I = #BEG-INT TO #END-INT  
0340 MOVE #J TO #FROM  
0350 MOVE ‘#’ TO #TO  
0360 MOVE #FROMTO TO TRANS-TABLE (#I)  
0370 ADD 1 TO #J  
0380 END-FOR  
0390 \*\* Now let`s consider only letters to be "legal"; every letter --> itself 0400 #BEG := H'C1' /* 'A' 0410 #END := H'C9' /* 'I' 0420 PERFORM FILLOUT-FROMBEG-TOEND 0430 **0440 #BEG := H'D1' /* 'J' 0450 #END := H'D9' /* 'R' 0460 PERFORM FILLOUT-FROMBEG-TOEND 0470** 0480 #BEG := H'E2' /* 'S' 0490 #END := H'E9' /* 'Z' 0500 PERFORM FILLOUT-FROMBEG-TOEND 0510 **0520 #BEG := H'81' /* 'a' 0530 #END := H'89' /* 'i' 0540 PERFORM FILLOUT-FROMBEG-TOEND 0550** 0560 #BEG := H'91' /* 'j' 0570 #END := H'99' /* 'r' 0580 PERFORM FILLOUT-FROMBEG-TOEND 0590 ** 0600 #BEG := H'A1' /* 's' 0610 #END := H'A9' /* 'z' 0620 PERFORM FILLOUT-FROMBEG-TOEND 0630 #BEG := H'40' /* ' ' let`s consider space legal as well  
0640 #END := H’40’ /\* ’ ’  
0650 PERFORM FILLOUT-FROMBEG-TOEND  
0660 /\* And finally the test  
0670 #STRING := ‘This is THE story of El Lute, a man who was born ’ -  
0680 ’ to be hunted like a wild animal’  
0690 EXAMINE #STRING TRANSLATE USING TRANS-TABLE(\*)  
0700 DISPLAY #STRING (AL=79)  
0710 \*\* ============================================ \*\*  
0720 DEFINE SUBROUTINE FILLOUT-FROMBEG-TOEND  
0730 \*\* ============================================ \*\*  
0740 MOVE #BEG TO #HEX  
0750 PERFORM HEX-TO-DEC  
0760 #BEG-INT := #INT  
0770 MOVE #END TO #HEX  
0780 PERFORM HEX-TO-DEC  
0790 #END-INT := #INT  
0800 #J := #BEG-INT  
0810 FOR #I = #BEG-INT TO #END-INT  
0820 MOVE #J TO #FROM  
0830 MOVE #J TO #TO  
0840 MOVE #FROMTO TO TRANS-TABLE (#I)  
0850 ADD 1 TO #J  
0860 END-FOR  
0870 END-SUBROUTINE  
0880 \*\* ============================================ \*\*  
0890 DEFINE SUBROUTINE HEX-TO-DEC  
0900 \*\* ============================================ \*\*  
0910 MOVE EDITED #HEX (EM=HH) TO #ALPHA  
0920 DECIDE ON FIRST VALUE OF #CHAR-1  
0930 VALUE ‘0’:‘9’  
0940 #DEC := VAL (#CHAR-1)  
0950 #INT := #DEC \* 16  
0960 VALUE ‘A’  
0970 #INT := 10 \* 16  
0980 VALUE ‘B’  
0990 #INT := 11 \* 16  
1000 VALUE ‘C’  
1010 #INT := 12 \* 16  
1020 VALUE ‘D’  
1030 #INT := 13 \* 16  
1040 VALUE ‘E’  
1050 #INT := 14 \* 16  
1060 VALUE ‘F’  
1070 #INT := 15 \* 16  
1080 NONE VALUE  
1090 TERMINATE 32  
1100 END-DECIDE  
1110 DECIDE ON FIRST VALUE OF #CHAR-2  
1120 VALUE ‘0’:‘9’  
1130 #DEC := VAL (#CHAR-2)  
1140 ADD #DEC TO #INT  
1150 VALUE ‘A’  
1160 ADD 10 TO #INT  
1170 VALUE ‘B’  
1180 ADD 11 TO #INT  
1190 VALUE ‘C’  
1200 ADD 12 TO #INT  
1210 VALUE ‘D’  
1220 ADD 13 TO #INT  
1230 VALUE ‘E’  
1240 ADD 14 TO #INT  
1250 VALUE ‘F’  
1260 ADD 15 TO #INT  
1270 NONE VALUE  
1280 TERMINATE 32  
1290 END-DECIDE  
1300 END-SUBROUTINE  
1310 END

---

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/original/3X/c/d/cd19967bb605d28a72d77eb83a1cae22f3df2eb8.svg) [@system](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/load-hex-values-of-ebcdic-character-set-into-a-table/100175/7 "2021-04-02T15:01:46Z")

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