Version 4.2.6

Unicode and Code Page Support

This documentation describes how Natural supports Unicode and code pages on Windows, UNIX, OpenVMS and mainframe platforms. It also describes how Natural supports bidirectional languages and double-byte characters.

This documentation is organized under the following headings:

Introduction General information on code pages and the Unicode Standard, and on how Unicode and code pages are supported in Natural.

Unicode and Code Page Support in the Natural Programming Language Information on the U format and on statements, logical condition criteria, system variables, large and dynamic variables, and session parameters which provide Unicode and code page support.

Configuration and Administration of the Unicode/Code Page Environment Information on the ICU library, on profile parameters which provide Unicode and code page support, and on the encoding of code page data.

Development Environment How to customize your environment and how Unicode is handled by the Natural editors. Information on code page support for Natural sources on the mainframe (editors, system commands and utilities).

Unicode Input/Output Handling in Natural Applications How to display and enter Unicode data. Information on the Natural Web I/O Interface client which is used in SPoD and runtime environments.

Unicode Data Storage Information on database access, and on the work file types and print files which provide Unicode and code page support.

Platform Differences Handling differences on Windows, UNIX, OpenVMS and mainframe platforms.

Migrating Existing Applications About the impact of Unicode on existing applications. How to migrate existing objects, add Unicode support to existing applications, and how to migrate Natural remote procedure calls (RPC).

Special Considerations and Limitations Important information and restrictions on the different platforms.

Bidirectional Language Support How Natural supports bidirectional languages.

Double-Byte Character Support How Natural supports double-byte characters.

Frequently Asked Questions Answers to frequently asked questions.

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