Unformatted ASCII Files

Unformatted ASCII files consist of ASCII data with no formatting controls (escape sequences) in the data.

The technique of mapping the unformatted ASCII data to locations on the output pages is known as field processing or record processing and is available through use of page-definition controls. Field processing is explained in detail in Processing Fields.

Unformatted ASCII data differs from unformatted EBCDIC data in that ASCII data is what is generally created on a personal computer or workstation, while EBCDIC data is what is generally created on a mainframe host, such as z/OS.