I worked at Pru in the early 70's. From the last I heard in the mid-80's, I believe Pru-Cobol is long since defunct.
-----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of Billy Ashton Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 11:22 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Here we go again; [CAUTION: This Email is from outside the Organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you trust the sender.] I also remember some years ago that Prudential had their own version of COBOL that allowed them to pack character (maybe just alpha?) fields, so they could probably add an alpha to the SSN numbering scheme without issue. I don't know if they still use it, and really hurt my brain trying to figure out how to pack alpha values. Billy ------ Original Message ------ From: "Phil Smith III" <li...@akphs.com> To: IBM-MAIN@listserv.ua.edu Sent: 4/22/2020 12:11:41 PM Subject: Re: Here we go again; >As others have suggested, many companies do still have SSNs stored as packed >decimal. So sure, a namespace expansion is possible, but it's a bigger change >than one might think, however it's done. I've even seen at least one company >who stored them as binary! I sure hope someone got a big bonus for saving that >byte... > > > > > >Peter Farley wrote: > >>There are also many non-human entities like corporations that use the same >>SSN value space. > > > >>There are a LOT of those . . . and they spring up and fade away at a rate far >>higher than human births and deaths. > > > >They use the same namespace--that is, if your SSN is 123-45-6789, an >estate or business could also have that number. Since they're uses for >different things, it's more that they happened (!) to choose the same >format than that they're "the same". (And actually they're >theoretically formatted differently: an EIN is xx-xxxxxxx vs. the SSN >xxx-xx-xxxx, not that most folks store them with the hyphens.) > > > >...phsiii > > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send >email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ::DISCLAIMER:: ________________________________ The contents of this e-mail and any attachment(s) are confidential and intended for the named recipient(s) only. E-mail transmission is not guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or may contain viruses in transmission. The e mail and its contents (with or without referred errors) shall therefore not attach any liability on the originator or HCL or its affiliates. Views or opinions, if any, presented in this email are solely those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of HCL or its affiliates. Any form of reproduction, dissemination, copying, disclosure, modification, distribution and / or publication of this message without the prior written consent of authorized representative of HCL is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error please delete it and notify the sender immediately. Before opening any email and/or attachments, please check them for viruses and other defects. ________________________________ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
