This document covers the following topics:
If you want to display or enter Unicode data, the following possibilities exist:
When working in the local development environment with Natural for Windows, all Unicode characters can be displayed and entered in the Natural output window.
When working in a remote development environment with Natural for Windows (SPoD), the Natural Web I/O Interface client (see below) is necessary for displaying and entering all Unicode characters.
When running applications with Natural for UNIX, Natural for OpenVMS, Natural for Mainframes or Natural for Windows, see Natural Web I/O Interface Client below.
Notes:
If you run Natural via a terminal emulation or a mainframe terminal like
3270/3279, the page will be converted to the default code page (value of the
system variable *CODEPAGE)
before displaying it, so that all characters which are not contained in the
default code page are replaced with the substitution character. Equally, input
is only possible in code page format and will be converted to Unicode format
before assigning it to a U format field. You have to regard that the
substitution character is defined by the ICU conversion tables. Depending on
this character, it is possible that garbage is displayed with a terminal
emulation. On UNIX and OpenVMS platforms, you can change this substitution
character by setting the profile parameter
SUBCHAR. However, it is
strongly recommended that you use the Natural Web I/O Interface when displaying
characters not contained in the default code page. When running a remote
Windows session, the Natural Web I/O Interface will be used in any case.
On code page oriented mainframe terminals, it is important to select the suitable code page. The default code page of Natural, the code page of the terminal and even the font used by the terminal determine the capability of displaying certain characters correctly.
The Natural Web I/O Interface client is used to display non-GUI information which contains Unicode characters. It can be used in the following environments:
The Natural Web I/O Interface client can be invoked when you use Natural for Windows and you are working with Natural Studio in a remote development environment (SPoD); see Natural Web I/O Interface Client in Remote Development Using SPoD which is part of the Natural for Windows documentation.
When the Natural Web I/O Interface client is used, the Web I/O windows appears instead of the terminal emulation window which is not Unicode-enabled in remote UNIX, OpenVMS or mainframe environments, or instead of the output window in remote Windows environments.
The following graphic shows the SPoD environment for Unicode applications with Natural Development Servers (NDV) on UNIX, OpenVMS and mainframes:
So that the Natural Web I/O Interface client can be invoked, the Natural Development Server has to be configured as follows:
UNIX and OpenVMS
If you want to use the Natural Web I/O Interface client in a remote
UNIX or OpenVMS environment, the profile parameter
WEBIO must be set to
ON on the NDV server. See
Configuration
Utility in the Natural for UNIX or Natural for OpenVMS
documentation.
Mainframe
If you want to use the Natural Web I/O Interface client in a remote
mainframe environment, the NDV configuration parameter
TERMINAL_EMULATION must be set to WEBIO on
the NDV server. See NDV Configuration Parameters in the
Natural Development Server documentation. Moreover, the Web I/O terminal
converter module NATWEB must be linked to the Natural nucleus. The
Natural profile parameter TMODEL can be used to determine the
user screen size.
Windows
In a remote Windows environment, the Natural Web I/O Interface client
is always used, regardless of the setting of the profile parameter
WEBIO.
The Natural Web I/O Interface client appears when running applications with Natural for UNIX, Natural for OpenVMS, Natural for Mainframes or Natural for Windows. It runs in a web/application server.
The following graphic shows the runtime environment for Unicode applications:
Natural recognizes automatically whether the session has been started from the Natural Web I/O Interface client or from the terminal emulation.
Prerequisites for using the Natural Web I/O Interface client:
Natural for UNIX and Natural for OpenVMS
It is required that the Natural Web I/O Interface server (which is
implemented as a daemon) has been installed and activated. See
Natural Web I/O
Interface in the Natural for UNIX and in the Natural for
OpenVMS documentation.
Natural for Mainframes
It is required that the Natural Web I/O Interface server has been
installed and configured. See Natural Web I/O Interface in the
Natural for Mainframes documentation. Moreover, the Web I/O terminal converter
module NATWEB must be linked to the Natural nucleus. The Natural
profile parameter TMODEL can be used to determine the
user screen size.
Natural for Windows
It is required that the Natural Web I/O Interface server (which is
implemented as a service) has been installed and activated. See
Natural Web I/O
Interface in the Natural for Windows documentation.
