The CONVERT parameter is used in conjunction with the OUTREC parameter to convert variable-length records to fixed-length records.
The records do not require an RDW and will be written to the output file(s) with a RECFM of F or FB. When using CONVERT, you no longer need to apply the rules for “Specifying the FIELDS parameter for Variable-Length Records” found in the description of the OUTREC control statement.
You cannot specify the variable portion of the input records (position without length) when using CONVERT. All other p,l data fields that are not present will be filled with blanks by default. The OUTFIL VLFILL parameter can be used to specify a different fill byte for any missing fields (see above description).
An E35 exit may process converted fixed-length records by using CONVERT on the OUTREC statement rather than on the OUTFIL statement.