When using QSAM, the same application used to process VS/VBS tape files can be used to process DS/DBS tape files. However, you must ensure that ISO/ANSI requirements such as block size limitation, tape device, and restriction to EBCDIC characters that correspond to the 128, seven-bit ASCII characters are met. The SCW/SDW conversion and buffer positioning is handled by the GET/PUT routines.

ISO/ANSI Version 4 tapes also permits special characters !*"%&'()+,-./:;<=>?_ and numeric characters 0 - 9.