Double-byte character set support

 

This section contains information that you need if you use double-byte characters.

DBCS printer and spooling support information can be found in Printing.

• Double-byte character set fundamentals
  Some languages, such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, have a writing scheme that uses many different characters that cannot be represented with single-byte codes. To create coded character sets for such languages, the system uses 2 bytes to represent each character. Characters that are encoded in 2-byte code are called double-byte characters.

• Process of double-byte characters
  Due to the large number of double-byte characters, the system needs more information to identify each double-byte character than is needed to identify each alphanumeric character.

• DBCS device file support
  This section describes DBCS-capable device files and special considerations for working with DBCS-capable device files.

• DBCS display support
  This section provides information about displaying double-byte characters.

• Copy operation of DBCS files
  You can copy both spooled and nonspooled DBCS files.

• Application program considerations for DBCS
  This section describes considerations for writing applications that process double-byte data.

• DBCS font tables
  DBCS font tables contain the images of the double-byte extended characters used on the system. The system uses these images to display and print extended characters.

• DBCS font files
  In addition to the system-supplied DBCS font tables, the system also provides DBCS font files. These DBCS font files are physical files that contain frequently used double-byte characters.

• DBCS sort tables
  DBCS sort tables contain the sort information and collating sequences of all the double-byte characters used on the system. The system uses these tables to sort double-byte characters using the sort utility.

• DBCS conversion dictionaries
  The DBCS conversion dictionary is a collection of alphanumeric entries and their related DBCS words. The system refers to the dictionary when performing DBCS conversion.

• DBCS conversion (for Japanese use only)
  When you use DBCS display stations to enter double-byte data, you can use the various data entry methods supported on the display station, or you can choose to use the i5/OS^® DBCS conversion support.

 

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