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This IDEA has been assessed by the team.
The recommended approach would be that the base 64 encoding and decoding in the COBOL or PL/I application is performed prior to sending the data (for API requester) or upon receipt of the data (for API Provider). Using the recommended approach the customer can decide in their applications which JSON strings require special treatment. This link provides great examples of how to handle Base64 encoded data in both COBOL and PL/I: https://github.com/cicsdev/base64.
There is also the ability to do this in JSONata by using the function
$base64encode(), as a workaround. More information on this can be found here: https://docs.jsonata.org/string-functions#base64encodeWhilst the solution available in the product today is slightly different to the approach suggested in this IDEA, it does enable you to convert an ASCII string to a base 64 representation. As such this IDEA is being closed. If you have any further requirements in addition to the capability that exists today, we would welcome another IDEA.
In addition, my customer is requesting API Provider to decode Base64-encoded data in the JSON payload prior to passing it to the SOR.