Convert::IBM390p -- functions for manipulating mainframe data

Convert::IBM390p is a Perl module.  It supplies various functions that
you may find useful when messing with IBM System/3[679]0 data.  See the
POD documentation in the module, or "man IBM390p" after you have
installed it.

How to Install
==============

The usual:

    perl Makefile.PL
    make
    make test
    make install

One More Note
=============

*** IF YOU CAN USE IBM390 RATHER THAN IBM390p, YOU SHOULD. ***

As of this release, IBM390 and IBM390p have diverged.  This module
was originally a Perl-only version of Convert::IBM390.  Now, however,
IBM390 contains the functions packeb and unpackeb, which are strongly
reminiscent of Perl's built-in pack and unpack; these would be slow and
difficult to implement in Perl.  Thus, this module provides separate
functions for converting packed and zoned numbers but no packeb or
unpackeb.

I recommend that you install IBM390 if possible.  It is written in 
a combination of Perl and C; in my testing, the IBM390 versions of
the conversions ran 5-6 times as fast as the pure Perl versions.


Geoffrey Rommel
Technical Consultant
Sears, Roebuck and Co.
grommel@sears.com

July 1999
