I would guess that dkb is correct and adding dlm='09'x to your infile statement will correct the problem. Your log showed: CHAR 0.225.3.4.0.00293251.1 22 ZONE 3233303030323333333303 NUMR 0E225939490E0029325191 The combination of zone and number represent the hexadecimal equivalents of your characters. Reading across the line: 30 represents the char 0 2E represents a decimal point 32 represents the char 2 32 represents the char 2 35 represents the char 5 09 represents a tab character ... View more