The OUTREC statement with the SQZ (squeeze) function is used to remove leading, trailing, or embedded blanks (spaces) from data fields, or to replace multiple consecutive blanks with a single blank. This is useful when we want to squeeze data by eliminating unnecessary spaces.

Syntax1 - Justify with LEAD and TRAIL.

//SYSIN    DD *
  SORT FIELDS=COPY
  OUTREC FIELDS=(...,
         starting_pos_of_field1,
         length_of_field1,
		 SQZ=(SHIFT=LEFT|RIGHT,
		   LEAD=charset,
		   TRAIL=charset),...)
/*

Syntax2 - Justify with PREBLANK, PAIR and MID.

//SYSIN    DD *
  SORT FIELDS=COPY
  OUTREC FIELDS=(...,
         starting_pos_of_field1,
         length_of_field1,
		 SQZ=(SHIFT=LEFT|RIGHT,
		   PAIR=QUOTE,
		   PREBLANK=charset,
		   MID=String),...)
/*

starting_pos_of_field1	Specifies field1 starting position in the input file.
length_of_field1	Specifies field1 length in input file.
SHIFT	Specifies the justification SHIFT=LEFT specifies the data should be left justified SHIFT=RIGHT specifies the data should be right justified
LEAD=charset	Specifies the leading characters added to data
TRAIL=Charset	Specifies the trailing characters added to data
PREBLANK=charset	Specifies the characters that replaced or blank out as leading and trailing to data
MID=String	specifies the string to replace removed blanks or PREBLANK characters as a character.
PAIR=QUOTE	used to "ignore" blanks and PREBLANK characters between pairs of quotes

Examples -

Scenario1 - Removing leading blanks and shifting left.

//SYSIN   DD  *
  SORT FIELDS=COPY
  OUTREC FIELDS=(1,10,11:11,20,SQZ=(SHIFT=LEFT))
/*

Removes leading blanks from the 20-byte field starting at position 11 and shifts the data to the left.

Scenario2 - Removing trailing blanks and shifting right.

//SYSIN   DD  *
  SORT FIELDS=COPY
  OUTREC FIELDS=(1,10,11:11,20,SQZ=(SHIFT=RIGHT))
/*

Removes trailing blanks from the 20-byte field starting at position 11 and shifts the data to the right.

Scenario3 - Squeezing multiple spaces in the middle.

//SYSIN   DD  *
  SORT FIELDS=COPY
  OUTREC FIELDS=(1,10,11:11,20,SQZ=(SHIFT=LEFT,MIDDLE=(X'40')))
/*

Removes leading blanks from the 20-byte field starting at position 11, shifts the data to the left, and replaces multiple consecutive blanks between words with a single blank (hexadecimal X'40').

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