z/OS V1R9.0 UNIX System Services Command ... - Christian Grothoff

Using the doublebyte character set (DBCS)
z/OS UNIX supports the doublebyte character set (DBCS). It also supports a DBCS
locale. The name of the IBM-supplied DBCS locale is Ja_JP. This locale uses the
IBM-939 coded-character set, which is a doublebyte character set.
This topic discusses the following:
v Requirements for using DBCS
v When you must use SBCS characters and not DBCS characters
v When you can use DBCS characters
v Byte sequences that are not permitted in DBCS strings
v Displaying DBCS characters
v Switching locales
v Problems with DBCS filenames containing DBCS characters
Requirements for using DBCS
If you plan to use DBCS interactively, you must work at a terminal that supports
DBCS, such as a PS/55, and follow the procedures for the terminal emulator being
used. It is not necessary, however, to be at a terminal that supports DBCS if you
just want to use files that contain DBCS data.
To use DBCS, you need to do the following:
1. Specify special logmodes to access TSO/E and VTAM ®
support for DBCS.
Typically, the system programmer has already set these up and provided you
with instructions.
2. Issue the TSO/E PROFILE PLANGUAGE(JPN) command, if required, to receive
TSO/E messages in the Japanese language.
3. On the OMVS command, use the null character conversion table (the default)
for character conversion. You do not need to specify the CONVERT operand on
the OCOPY, OGETX, OPUT, and OPUTX commands.
4. Access the shell using the OMVS command with the DBCS operand (which is
the default setting).
You can also access the shell by using the rlogin program. The default
conversion is from ISO8859-1 to IBM-1047; users can change their conversion
to use different code pages by using the chcp command.
5. Define singlebyte escape characters for typing escape sequences.
6. Enable the shell and utilities for the DBCS locale, including having all shell and
utility messages in Japanese, by entering the these commands:
export LC_ALL=Ja_JP
exec sh
To receive shell and utility messages in Japanese, but not put your terminal in
DBCS mode, enter the this command:
export LC_MESSAGES=Ja_JP
When you must use SBCS and not DBCS characters
You must use the singlebyte character set (SBCS) when specifying the following:
v User names.
v System, device, group, and terminal names.
v User names and passwords.
v Shell command-line options.
v Shell commands and their operands.
Chapter 1. Introduction to shell commands and DBCS 7