Apologies, the Z literal constant was indeed what I mis-remembered as a PICTURE type. The Z picture type is for zero-suppression of a numeric field and has no relation to the Z literal constant.
Sorry for my confusion. Peter -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Alan Young Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2017 11:49 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: PIC Z is for zero suppression was Re: A slight regression Clark Morris wrote: > [Default] On 30 May 2017 12:35:46 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main > [email protected] (Farley, Peter x23353) wrote: >> >> COBOL does have PICTURE usage type "Z" for zero-terminated strings, so you >> don't have to use the STRING verb to construct constant strings with a >> zero-byte terminator to call C modules. I haven't experimented with moving >> "normal" COBOL strings (PIC X) to a PIC Z variable, so I do not know if that >> would work properly. >> > Picture type Z is for zero suppression so in a PIC ZZZZZ, if 00000 is > moved to it the result is 5 blanks, if 01234 is moved the result is > blank1234 and if 12345 is moved the result is 12345. I don't know oof > anyway to specify a zero terminated field. I believe the reference is to the Z literal constant specification. I think it may be an IBM extension. MOVE Z'NULL TERMED STRING' TO WS-STRING Moves "NULL TERMED STRING*" (where * is a x'00' byte) to WS-STRING. 05 ANOTHER-NULL-TERM-STRING PIC X(05) VALUE Z'NULL'. Sets the storage to "NULL*'. Alan -- This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
