I have a DB2 table column of type BLOB.
XML files are stored in this column.

I want to select this BLOB column in Enterprise Cobol (z/os) using a select statement.
I have declared the working-storage variable as follows:

01 MY-BLOB USAGE IS SQL TYPE IS BLOB(2M).

When I select the Blob column into MY-BLOB and display the data,
it displays non-readable characters.

How do I convert this BLOB into Charater data?

If this topic has already been discussed, please indiacate the corresponding thread.

Thank you for your help!

You should define it as a CLOB, not a BLOB. A BLOB is for binary data and a CLOB is for character data.

We cannot change it now as it is already in PROD.

I have a to find a way to convert BLOB to CLOB or other string type.

I appreciate any ideas from other members.

Thank you.

You could rename the table and add a view in its place that does the conversion. However, you'd need to write a UDF that takes the BLOB and copies the data to return it as CLOB. This is bound to be slow.

Another approach would be to adjust your application to accept the binary data and interpret it as string data. After all, its just a bunch of bytes.

You could rename the table and add a view in its place that does the conversion. However, you'd need to write a UDF that takes the BLOB and copies the data to return it as CLOB. This is bound to be slow.

Another approach would be to adjust your application to accept the binary data and interpret it as string data. After all, its just a bunch of bytes.

Stolze,

Thanks for your reply. Based on your suggestion, I converted the binary data into EBCDIC from in the cobol program.

IBM - How to convert EBCDIC to ASCII or ASCII to EBCDIC in a COBOL Program?

How to convert EBCDIC to ASCII or ASCII to EBCDIC in a COBOL Program?

Question
Within an Enterprise COBOL for z/OS program, how do I convert an item described as PICTURE X, which is EBCDIC on the mainframe, to ASCII?

Cause
Use the FUNCTION NATIONAL-OF and FUNCTION DISPLAY-OF. It is necessary to first convert it to Unicode. In the following example, WS-CCSID must match the code page of the data.

Answer
This example is for Enterprise COBOL on z/OS, not for COBOL on AIX.
CBL DBCS,NSYMBOL(NATIONAL)
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. MAIN1.
ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.
DATA DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01 WS-AREA PICTURE N(50).
01 WS-CCSID PICTURE 9(5).
01 WS-ASCII PICTURE X(50).
01 WS-EBCDIC PICTURE X(50).
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
MOVE "ABCDE"
TO WS-EBCDIC.
DISPLAY " WS-EBCDIC = " WS-EBCDIC.
MOVE FUNCTION NATIONAL-OF(WS-EBCDIC)
TO WS-AREA.
DISPLAY " WS-AREA = " WS-AREA.
MOVE 819 TO WS-CCSID.
MOVE FUNCTION DISPLAY-OF(WS-AREA, WS-CCSID)
TO WS-ASCII.
DISPLAY " WS-ASCII = " WS-ASCII.
DISPLAY "Now let's convert that WS-ASCII back to EBCDIC".
MOVE FUNCTION NATIONAL-OF(WS-ASCII,819 )
TO WS-AREA.
DISPLAY " WS-AREA = " WS-AREA.
MOVE 1140 TO WS-CCSID.
MOVE FUNCTION DISPLAY-OF(WS-AREA, WS-CCSID)
TO WS-EBCDIC.
DISPLAY " WS-EBCDIC = " WS-EBCDIC.
STOP RUN.

The EBCDIC letters ABCDE are hex C1C2C3C4C5. They will be converted to hex 4142434445. Then the 4142434445 will be converted back to C1C2C3C4C5.

Thanks.