Double-Byte Character Set (DBCS) Strings › Overview

Overview

You can define data to handle double-byte character set (DBCS) strings in the dictionary, provided that your terminal has DBCS hardware installed. A double-byte character set uses two bytes to express a single character. This means that you can work with nonroman (non-EBCDIC) alphabets, such as the Kanji alphabet used in Japan or Chinese characters, used in Taiwan.

With DBCS support, you can:

• Use DBCS characters in user-supplied variables
• Assign a special type of DBCS string, called a graphic (G-) literal, to values that initialize an element or are used in conditional expressions
• Assign graphic external pictures to RECORD ELEMENT and COBOL substatements
• Define DBCS data-editing criteria in code and edit tables

Variables for Which You Can Use DBCS: You can code a DBCS character string for most variables in the DDDL syntax that require the use of quotation marks. The variables listed below can accommodate DBCS strings:

• comment-key
• comment-text
• condition-value
• decode-value
• description-text
• encode-value
• end-value
• initial-value
• inverse-relational-key
• numeric-literal in WHERE clause expressions that do not specify the CONTAINS or MATCHES options
• message-text
• password
• start-value
• user-text
• value

You cannot use a DBCS character string for the user ID, dictionary name, node name, or database name.

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