Enabling Text Conversion (EBCDIC to ASCII) for All Integrated File System Files Using System i Navigator, Navigator for i, and IBM i NetServer

Resolving The Problem

Question: How can automatic text conversion (EBCDIC to ASCII) for all Integrated File System files accessed using System iNavigator and IBM i NetServer mapped network drives (even files that do not include a file extension as part of the file name) be accomplished?

Answer: To do automatic text conversion (EBCDIC to ASCII) it might be necessary to configure the text conversion option in two different properties screens. Both of these properties screens must be configured in System i Navigator.

You should take the following steps to make the Edit option available when right-clicking on the file name in System i Navigator's File Systems > Integrated File System > Root > Directory > File Name.


Using System i Navigator:

1	Expand My Connections.
2	Expand your connection name.
3	Expand File Systems.
4	Right-click on Integrated File System.
5	Select Properties.
6	Type an * (asterisk) in the File extension: input area and click on the Add button.
7	In Enable edit menu option for:, select Text files or All files, as desired.
8	Click on the OK button to save the changes.

The steps above will not automatically translate a file from EBCDIC to ASCII when accessed via an IBM i NetServer mapped drive. You should take the following steps in System i Navigator or IBM Navigator for i to automatically convert a file when accessed using the IBM i NetServer drive:

1	Expand My Connections in System i Navigator.
2	Expand your connection name
3	Expand File Systems.
4	Select File Shares.
5	On the right side of the screen, right-click on the file share that will be converted.
6	Select Properties.
7	Select the Text Conversion tab.
8	Select the option Allow file text conversion.
9	Type * (an asterisk) in the File extensions for automatic EBCDIC/ASCII text conversion: input area and click on the Add button.
10	Click on the OK button to save the changes.

When both of the options above have been set, automatic EBCDIC to ASCII conversion will be done in both System i Navigator and when accessing the Integrated File System via a NetServer mapped drive. Using the asterisk wild card (*) is the only way to allow conversion of files that have no file extension. As an alternative, file extensions can be configured rather than using the asterisk (*) when there is no need to automatically convert files that do not have a file extension.

Using IBM Navigator for i:

Navigator for i does not have the capability to do EBCDIC to ASCII text conversion on the download.

Important Considerations: Text conversion really only makes sense to use if the data originates on either the IBM i side or on the Windows side and needs to be used by the other side. For example, if a text file is created on the IBM i and there is a need to be able to download that file to a PC and use it on the PC. Or, the reverse, the file is created on the PC and there is a need to be able to upload that file to the IBM i IFS and use it there.

If the NetServer is being used as a file server for sharing Windows files to other Windows machines, or for backing up data that will only be used on the PC, or just for storage, then text converting adds extra processing that will slow things down, so it is not recommended in this case.

Also, text conversion should only be done on text file formats. Binary formats like zip files and xml files can suffer from data loss or corruption (in the form of substitution characters) due to failed round-tripping of the data fed through the text conversion process.

The basic rule is that text conversion is not needed at all if the IBM i is just a simple file server for the Windows machines. In addition, users need to be aware of whether the extensions specified for text conversion are really text formats. The 'Text Conversion' option should never be used for converting all files (*) when there is any chance the files will be something other than text (such as .zip, .xml, .xls, etc.)