Base 36 Conversions

Another conversion to GnuCOBOL of a set of functions I originally wrote in BASIC for an application where I had a lot of alternate keys being managed for a central dataset.  I needed to compact some large numbers into as small a storage unit as possible for inclusion in key fields.  The original was designed using Base 25, but everything has just gotten larger as time has passed, so I used the opportunity of this conversion to move up to Base 36.  Not a complex solution, but if it is of use to even one more individual, worth the effort to upload here.  I include a simple program to verify the routines are functioning correctly and to illustrate their use.

To install the source programs, and compile them, execute the bash script:  Base36setup [md5: 070fe8d77bd4831a867f11b76a3bb0af].  Right click and save the script in the location where you want the source program to reside, then execute it.  It will create two files containing the source programs, then execute the GnuCOBOL compiler to compile them into the run unit for the test program.  The GnuCOBOL compiler must be installed prior to executing the bash script.  

Output from the test/verification program:

jay@Phoenix $ ./t_base36 Test Value >Base36 RC(1) >Base10 RC(2) 0000000020 00000K +0000 0000000020 +0000 0000000200 00005K +0000 0000000200 +0000 0000000300 00008C +0000 0000000300 +0000 0000003000 0002BC +0000 0000003000 +0000 0000040000 000UV4 +0000 0000040000 +0000 0000050000 0012KW +0000 0000050000 +0000 0000602350 00CWRY +0000 0000602350 +0000 2176782335 ZZZZZZ +0000 2176782335 +0000 2176782336 000000 +0008 5120000001 000000 +0008

If you want to be able to dynamically call the subprograms, separate the two programs contained in base36.cbl into their own file (toBase36.cbl and fromBase36.cbl), compile them into separate object modules (cobc -m toBase36.cbl fromBase36.cbl), and move the object modules (toBase36.so and fromBase36.so) to a location included in your COB_LIBRARY_PATH.

This page was last updated on May 24, 2016.