Hebrew.EBCDIC-Unicode.Converter 1.1.0

Hebrew.EBCDIC-Unicode.Converter

A production-ready .NET library for converting between EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code) and UTF-8 encodings, with specialized support for Hebrew text processing.

🚀 Features

• 🔄 Unified API: Single public method with clean interface
• 🌍 Multi-Codepage Support: Hebrew Custom, IBM500, IBM037, IBM424
• 📈 Production Ready: Comprehensive error handling and validation
• ⚡ High Performance: Optimized for large-scale text processing
• 🔧 .NET 8: Built on the latest LTS framework
• 📚 Well Documented: Complete XML documentation included

📦 Installation

Package Manager Console

Install-Package Hebrew.EBCDIC-Unicode.Converter

.NET CLI

dotnet add package Hebrew.EBCDIC-Unicode.Converter

PackageReference

<PackageReference Include="Hebrew.EBCDIC-Unicode.Converter" Version="1.1.0" />

🔧 Quick Start

using HebrewEBCDIC3Unicode.Converter;

// Create converter instance
var converter = new HebrewEbcdicConverter();

// Convert EBCDIC hex string to UTF-8 (default Hebrew mapping)
string result = converter.ConvertEbcdicToUtf8("D7E9F0F1F2");
// Output: "שם012"

// Convert with specific codepage
string ibmResult = converter.ConvertEbcdicToUtf8("C8859393969540E6969993848", EbcdicCodepage.IBM500);
// Output: "Hello World"

📖 Supported Codepages

🌟 Advanced Usage

Error Handling

try 
{
    var result = converter.ConvertEbcdicToUtf8("invalidhex");
}
catch (ArgumentException ex)
{
    // Handle invalid hex string
    Console.WriteLine($"Invalid input: {ex.Message}");
}

Batch Processing

var ebcdicStrings = new[] { "D7E9F0F1F2", "C8859393969540E6969993848" };
var results = ebcdicStrings.Select(s => converter.ConvertEbcdicToUtf8(s)).ToList();

IBM-424 Handling

// IBM-424 has .NET limitations - graceful handling
var result = converter.ConvertEbcdicToUtf8("D7E9", EbcdicCodepage.IBM424);
// Returns: "[Codepage 424 not supported by Microsoft .NET - consider using HebrewCustom mapping]"

🔍 Character Mapping Details

Hebrew Characters (HebrewCustom)

• Hebrew Letters (א-ת): Optimized mapping for modern Hebrew text
• Niqqud Support: Vowel points and diacritical marks
• Special Characters: Hebrew-specific punctuation and symbols

English & Numbers

• English Letters: Standard EBCDIC uppercase/lowercase mapping
• Numbers (0-9): Standard EBCDIC numeric mapping (0xF0-0xF9)
• Special Characters: Spaces, periods, apostrophes, and common symbols

🏗️ Technical Implementation

Why Not System.Text.Encoding?

This library provides custom Hebrew EBCDIC mapping because:

1. Microsoft .NET Limitations: Limited EBCDIC codepage support
2. Hebrew Optimization: Custom mapping optimized for Hebrew text
3. Legacy System Support: Compatibility with mainframe Hebrew data
4. Production Reliability: Handles edge cases and invalid input gracefully

Performance Characteristics

• Memory Efficient: Minimal allocations during conversion
• Thread Safe: Converter instances can be used concurrently
• Validation: Input validation prevents runtime errors

🧪 Testing & Quality

This library includes comprehensive testing:

• ✅ Round-trip Testing: Ensures conversion accuracy
• ✅ Error Handling: Invalid input validation
• ✅ Performance Testing: Large-scale processing verification
• ✅ Multi-codepage Testing: All supported codepages verified

🌐 Real-World Applications

• Mainframe Data Migration: Converting legacy Hebrew EBCDIC data
• Banking Systems: Processing Hebrew transaction data from IBM systems
• Government Systems: Converting Hebrew administrative data
• Database Integration: ETL processes with Hebrew EBCDIC sources

📋 Requirements

• .NET 8.0 or later
• System.Text.Encoding.CodePages (automatically included)

🤝 Contributing

This project welcomes contributions! Areas of interest:

• Additional EBCDIC codepage support
• Performance optimizations
• Enhanced Hebrew text processing
• Documentation improvements

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🔗 Related Projects

• HebrewEBCDIC3Unicode: Complete solution with DB2 integration
• Unified API Example: Comprehensive usage guide

📞 Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Documentation: Project README
• Examples: API Documentation

Made with ❤️ for the Hebrew text processing community