binary to ascii


 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Top Forums Shell Programming and Scripting binary to ascii
# 1  
Old 10-14-2008
binary to ascii

Hi,

Is there a way to convert the binary file to ascii . the binary file is pipe delimited.

from source the file(pipe delimited) is ftped to mainframe and from mainframe it is ftped to the unix box using binary format. Is there a way to change it back to ascii and view it?

Thanks!
# 2  
Old 10-14-2008
The only difference between a binary file and an ASCII file is that the binary file may contain some unprintable characters. You can strip those out using the strings command, but you may lose some of the integrity of your data.
# 3  
Old 10-14-2008
you mean to say, eve if it is ftped in binary mode, it will be readable?
# 4  
Old 10-14-2008
It's not guaranteed... it depends what kind of data it contains. If it contains ASCII strings interspersed with unprintable characters then strings will do the job. If it's encrypted or in a different encoding (EBCDIC) then more work will be required... the question is too open ended without more information, i.e. what type of main frame, what type of file it is, etc.
Login or Register to Ask a Question

Previous Thread | Next Thread

10 More Discussions You Might Find Interesting

1. Solaris

ASN Binary to ASCII

Dears, I need help to convert the binary file into ASCII format. Actually we have CDRs which is generated by telecom switch at this is in ASN1 format or binary format, I need to convert those binary formatted file into ASCII format using Perl, or shell scripting. Is there any way to solve... (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: PRINCESS_RORO
3 Replies

2. Solaris

Convert files from binary to ASCII

I have a huge files in binary format thanks to help me in finding a way to convert these files from Binary format to ASCII format. (0 Replies)
Discussion started by: PRINCESS_RORO
0 Replies

3. Shell Programming and Scripting

Difference between ascii and binary file -

what is the diff between ascii and binary file. my understand is that.. ascii file - has only line feed - \n in it where as binary file - has both line feed and carriage return in it- \r\n is that correct. also,what is the ksh command to identify whether it is a binary or ascii... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: billpeter3010
1 Replies

4. Shell Programming and Scripting

binary to ascii conversion

Hi, I have got a library file, created by compiling C code. The file information with "file" command, gives it a "application/x-archive" type file. I want to extract the release string of my software from this file, so that i can know which version of C files were used to create the lib. Can... (3 Replies)
Discussion started by: atulmt
3 Replies

5. Shell Programming and Scripting

Binary to ASCII(TEXT converion)

Hi all, I have been trying to convert a binary file to TEXT/ASCII file in linux/solaries.and commands like string are no good.Also i am not sure how the how output of the file looks like... I am attaching the binary file as zip since i couldnt load it in its original form in the post incase... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: pistachio
1 Replies

6. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Ascii or Binary?

Hello all, I am working with ftp servers in unix, and always I have to get and put files but I don't know exactly if I have to get or put them as an ascii or binary. Some files that I use are: .txt, .sav, .fmb, .pct, .sh, .ksh, .dat, .log. Somebody can tell me what is the difference between... (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: Geller
2 Replies

7. Shell Programming and Scripting

Binary or ascii file

I want to verify the file is Binary or ascii file and accordingly I want to switch the program with ret code ie 0 or success and 1 for failure Can any one help me is this a correct syntex...i am getting error #!/bin/ksh $file filename if echo "ascii fie Found" else echo " binary... (6 Replies)
Discussion started by: u263066
6 Replies

8. SCO

ascii to binary conversion in sco 5.0.5

Here is what I did . . . . I FTP'd several *.dbf zipped files from a SCO 5.0.5 server to winXP machine, and did not set the transfer mode to BIN, now when i was uncompressing these files in SCO 5.0.5 , it was giving "Bad Decode Table error. Is there a way to convert the *.dbf.Z files to Binary so... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: sameek1211
1 Replies

9. UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users

Converting ASCII to Binary mode

Dear All, Business Users are transfering ( FTP ) a CSV file into the IBM AIX box with transfer mode as ASCII. But I want to convert the CSV file from ASCII mode into binary mode, as my script expects file in binary mode. Is it possible to do through Unix commands? Thanks in Advance, RK (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: srajeshmca
1 Replies

10. UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users

Convert ASCII to BINARY

Here is what I did . . . . I FTP'd several *.pdf files from a web site to a UNIX server, and did not set the transfer mode to BIN, now Adobe thinks that the documents are corrupted. Is there a way to convert the *.pdf files to Binary so that Adobe can open them again. I would just re-download... (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: pc9456
2 Replies
Login or Register to Ask a Question