RECFM=U usually means that the file format is unknown or undefined.

 

However, I have seen files labeled as RECFM=U  which are very similar to RECFM=V files - the only difference being that they have a 2 byte descriptor length instead of a 4 byte descriptor length.

 

V too will refer to these files as RECFM=U.

 

If you have a file that is in this format (that is, each record in the file consists of a 2 byte length followed by the record data), just set RECFM to U and the file should be displayed correctly.

 

V may not automatically recognize RECFM=U files. If this is the case, you will have to manually set the format to RECFM=U - which can be done in one of 2 ways:

 

1. If V incorrectly displays the file as an EBCDIC Carriage Return Delimited file

In this case, you will be able to see most of the data, but the lines will not line up correctly. To display as RECFM=U:

 

•Select EBCDIC Options from the View menu (or click on EBC on the status bar)

•Disable the No Formatting option

•Select RECFM=U

 

2. If the file is displayed as ASCII text or hex

In this case, the data will be unrecognizable.

 

To display as RECFM=U, you will first need to enable EBCDIC mode by selecting EBCDIC from the View menu (or pressing Alt+B). Then perform the operations above.

 

 

Note:        V will display an error message if it does not recognize the file as RECFM=U.