  ASCII and EBCDIC, magtape conversion? 
 The Question is:
 
Is there an OpenVMS Alpha utility available that would copy information on a
tape in ASCII format to another tape in IBCDIC format?  Or, perhaps an ASCII
to IBCDIC converter?
 
 
 The Answer is :
 
  ASCII and EBCDIC conversion tools are available from various sources,
  including the Encompass -- formerly known as DECUS -- organization
  and that organization's libraries.
 
  Various EBCDIC-native computing systems can also typically create and
  use ANSI-labeled ASCII tapes -- native ANSI-format tapes are often the
  best and most interchangeable solution.
 
  Examples include the ETAPE tool and certain versions of the TAPECOPY
  tool.  (In the latter case, versions of TAPECOPY with calls to the
  Wang TRANSL  utility or other equivalent related EBCDIC conversion
  routines are necessary.)
 
  Routines exist in the OpenVMS run-time library for conversions between
  ASCII and EBCDIC text data, as well.  Also see the Natural Language
  (AskQ) article "Example-MACRO Translating Files From ASCII To EBCDIC",
  among others.  (The OpenVMS FAQ has pointers to AskQ.)
 
 Answer written or last revised on  19-MAY-2003 
