IBM Z Software


This portal is to open public enhancement requests against IBM Z Software products. To view all of your ideas submitted to IBM, create and manage groups of Ideas, or create an idea explicitly set to be either visible by all (public) or visible only to you and IBM (private), use the IBM Unified Ideas Portal (https://ideas.ibm.com).


Shape the future of IBM!

We invite you to shape the future of IBM, including product roadmaps, by submitting ideas that matter to you the most. Here's how it works:

Search existing ideas

Start by searching and reviewing ideas and requests to enhance a product or service. Take a look at ideas others have posted, and add a comment, vote, or subscribe to updates on them if they matter to you. If you can't find what you are looking for,

Post your ideas

  1. Post an idea.

  2. Get feedback from the IBM team and other customers to refine your idea.

  3. Follow the idea through the IBM Ideas process.


Specific links you will want to bookmark for future use

Welcome to the IBM Ideas Portal (https://www.ibm.com/ideas) - Use this site to find out additional information and details about the IBM Ideas process and statuses.

IBM Unified Ideas Portal (https://ideas.ibm.com) - Use this site to view all of your ideas, create new ideas for any IBM product, or search for ideas across all of IBM.

ideasibm@us.ibm.com - Use this email to suggest enhancements to the Ideas process or request help from IBM for submitting your Ideas.

Add a new idea Subscribe
Status Not under consideration
Workspace COBOL Compilers
Categories z/OS
Created by Guest
Created on Mar 9, 2023

RELATED IDEAS

PARSE support for CSV files

Some of our systems are required to ingest CSV (Comma Separated Variable) files from other platforms.  Presently we use SORT or other utility to convert the file to fixed format before passing it to COBOL for processing.  In a few cases the COBOL program does its own parsing using hand coded logic. 

It occurs to me that if XML and JSON format files can be processed via PARSE, then CSV would be a logical candidate to get similar treatment.   CSV seems like low hanging fruit compared to the other two.  On the other hand, I do not know if there is a Standard for CSV files that could be followed.  Maybe IBM could establish one by introducing PARSE CSV.  

Idea priority Low
  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Jan 13, 2024

    Hi,

    UNSTRING will not deal with all formating rules of csv file :

    • escaping control chatacters, (delimiters and separators)

    • string demimiters

    • leading spaces

    • …

  • Admin
    Basil Kanneth
    Reply
    |     Mar 16, 2023

    Hi Don,

    The recommendation is to use UNSTRING for this idea:
    https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/cobol-zos/6.4?topic=statements-unstring-statement

    For CSV files we are missing names for the receivers. Both XML and JSON have names associated with the values, CSV files do not.

By clicking the "Post Comment" or "Submit Idea" button, you are agreeing to the IBM Ideas Portal Terms of Use.
Do not place IBM confidential, company confidential, or personal information into any field.