Problem

Character padding issue after migration from version 2.7.1 to 3.1.3

The expected blank characters to pad the records are now binary zeros with 3.1.3

Resolution

Padding feature has been enhanced in version 3.1.3 allowing to choose the padding character and also, to manage defaults in regards of the data type.

In the reported issue, the CFTSEND was set as below:

...
FTYPE=T
FCODE=BINARY
FRECFM=F
...

Due to the FCODE=BINARY, with Transfer CFT 3.1.3, the default padding charactere is set to binary zeros.

The solution, to keep the flow feature unchanged is to set the CFTSEND as below:

...
FTYPE=T
FCODE=ASCII
NCODE=BINARY
FRECFM=F
...

The FCODE ASCII will default the padding character to spaces while the NCODE=BINARY ensure we continue to provide that value to the remote partner.

Note: Same rule apply to CFTRECV when padding is set at the receiver side.

Note2: When FPAD parameter is defined, it overrides the rules that determine the choice of the Padding character by default.