Here are a couple of articles that might have some helpful information.
from the pen
perl discuss
This mod tests for a valid packed decimal. Might have some clues for you as well.
cpan mod
More information would definately help. Is it IBM-370 style? COBOL? BCD?
Or is it just the country code of Puerto rico...
Kerry
"Yet what are all such gaieties to me
Whose thoughts are full of indices and surds?"
quotes the Lama
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I have converted many files in the past. There are billions
and billions of ways to encode files. If you don't know how
it's encoded, you might want to try applying some decryption
techniques, but with the handful of bytes you've given, that's
a hopeless task.
Abigail | [reply] |
so is there anything I can do to try and find out the encoding used? Either by checking the details for the mainframe system being used, or something to do with the network system the text file has been paased to?
Or have I simply not got a chance in hell of being able to sort this out? :-}
elbow
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Check the documentation of whatever it is that's producing
those files? Talk to someone who knows? Ask your manager for
help?
Look, this is a Perl site. It's not about every computer related problem, where you might want to implement the
solution in Perl. As I said, the handful of characters you
gave might be an encoding about a baseball team from the
south. Or it's a list of NYC subway stations. Perhaps it's
the title of a song Elvis recorded last week (yes, he is
alive and he flips burgers in North Dakota - he's happy now). If you don't
know how it's encoded, and you don't have the means to find
out, all hope is lost.
Abigail
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