Have you tried PIC S9(4) COMP SYNC VALUE +0.
so that the whole halfword is usable? (Using the whole half/fullword in the PIC clause always worked for me back in ANSI COBOL days onwards.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mike Poil Java z/OS Level 3 Service IBM United Kingdom Limited, Hursley Park, Winchester SO21 2JN Internal: 246824 External: +44 (0)1962 816824 Java debugging: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/java/jdk/diagnosis/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html