The COBOL PIC, or picture, for a comp-3 packed field specifies the number of digitsafter unpacking. The actual number of bytes occupied in the file is about half that. To calculate the number of bytes from the PIC, add 1 (for the sign) to the total number of digits, divide by 2, ...
1. The COBOL PIC, or picture, for a comp-3 packed field specifies the number of digitsafter unpacking. The actual number of bytes occupied in the file is about half that. To calculate the number of bytes from the PIC, add 1 (for the sign) to the total number of digits, divide by ...
"comp-3" almost always means the definition given on this page, in all languages, and on all platforms, even PCs. "Packed", however, when used by other languages often means something different than (although similar to) the COBOL definition. For example, "packed" sometimes describes a BCD...