+1 to Sandra. Also asking someone to be a "cardboard programmer" helps sometimes. 
I guess SCN works for that too, but usually I try to exhaust all other resources first.
FYI - in SE16 the conversion exits can be switched on and off. Go to the menu Settings -> User parameters -> Check conversion exits. When the checkbox is checked the conversion exits are switched on and instead of the "raw" DB data you see the converted data (e.g. leading zeroes removed). SE16 is not always WYSIWYG.
