PADCHAR (PAD)

The PADCHAR parameter specifies the value to use for padding.

Specify this parameter only once per function. The PAD value initializes output areas when creating records using the MOVE parameter. The initialization is performed prior to the first record being read and only at that time.

Padding also occurs when:

• Record length decreases during EDIT or MOVE processing
• A record is copied to a larger fixed-length record
• Record length is updated and increased.

The syntax of the PADCHAR parameter is:

PADCHAR={C’c’ }
        {X’nn’}

C

The c may be any single character-data value.

X

The nn may be any valid two-digit hexadecimal-data value.

The default value for PADCHAR is X’00’.

Example:

Assuming the output data set’s record length is larger than that of the input dataset, this example pads the remainder of the output dataset records with asterisks.