Software internationalization is the process of designing products and services so that they can be adapted easily to a variety of different local languages and cultures. Internationalization within EntireX means internationalization of messages: the incoming and outgoing messages are converted to the desired codepage of the platform in use. This document explains in detail how to configure the broker for character conversion. It covers the following topics:
See also Internationalization with EntireX.
To configure ICU conversion
In the Broker attribute file, set the service-specific attribute CONVERSION
.
Examples:
ICU Conversion with SAGTCHA for ACI-based Programming:
CONVERSION=(SAGTCHA,OPTION=SUBSTITUTE)
ICU Conversion with SAGTRPC for RPC-based Components and Reliable RPC:
CONVERSION=(SAGTRPC,OPTION=STOP)
Optionally configure a CONVERSION OPTION
to tune
error behavior to meet your requirements; see OPTION
Values for Conversion.
For the Broker attribute, check if ICU conversion is possible, that is, the attribute
ICU-CONVERSION
is either
not defined, its default is YES
set to YES
To configure locale string defaults (optional)
If the broker's locale string defaults do not match your requirements (see Broker's Locale String Defaults), we recommend you assign suitable locale string defaults for your country and region, see the respective attribute in Codepage-specific Attributes for how to customize the broker's locale string defaults.
To customize mapping of locale strings (optional)
If the built-in locale string mapping mechanism does not match your requirements,
you can assign specific codepages to locale strings.
See Broker's Built-in Locale String Mapping and locale-string
for information on customizing the
mapping of locale strings to codepages.
User-written ICU custom-converters can be used for ACI-based Programming, RPC-based Components, and Reliable RPC. This section covers the following topics:
ICU uses algorithmic conversion, non-algorithmic conversion and combinations of both. See ICU Conversion. Non-algorithmic converters defined by the UCM format are the easiest way to define user-written ICU converters. See UCM Format.
To write a (non-algorithmic) user-written ICU converter
Define the ICU converter file in UCM format using a text editor to meet your requirements.
Note:
For further explanation of the UCM file format, see ICU Resources.
Writing algorithmic and partially algorithmic converters can be complex. However, they can be installed into EntireX in the same way as the table-driven, non-algorithmic ones. A description of how to write algorithmic and partially algorithmic converters is beyond the scope of this documentation; please see the ICU documentation and other sources specified under ICU Resources.
To compile the user-written ICU converter
Extract the ICU tool makeconv
and ICU shared libraries as described under Installing the EntireX ICU Custom Converter Build Environment under z/OS UNIX.
Compile the converter source files (extension .ucm)
into binary converter files (extension ".cnv") using
the ICU tool makeconv
. Example:
makeconv -v myebcdic.ucm
This produces a binary converter file named myebcdic.cnv.
Caution:
The binary format "cnv"
depends on the endianness (big/little-endian) and character set family
(ASCII/EBCDIC) of the computer where it is produced. For example, a binary
converter file produced on a machine with big endianes cannot be executed on a
machine with little-endian (and vice versa) or character set family
EBCDIC cannot be executed on a machine with character set family
ASCII (and vice versa). It is highly recommended to compile the
converter source file(s) on the same target platform where the broker runs -
otherwise unpredictable result may occur.
To install the user-written ICU converter
Define the broker attribute ICU-DATA-DIRECTORY
. See Broker-specific Attributes.
Example:
ICU DATA DIRECTORY="/home/sag/EntireX/config/etb"
Define the subdirectory icudt<icu-version><endianness> within the ICU-DATA-DIRECTORY
where | <icu-version> | is the ICU version used, for example 54, and |
<endianness> | is "e" EBCDIC (big-endian) |
Example:
/home/sag/EntireX/config/etb/icudt54e
Notes:
Copy the user-written ICU converter binary file (extension "cnv") to the referenced by
ICU-DATA-DIRECTORY
and its subdirectory defined under steps 1 and 2 above. Examples:
/home/sag/EntireX/config/etb/icudt54e/myebcdic.cnv /home/sag/EntireX/config/etb/icudt54e/myascii.cnv
If the converter name is not sent as the locale string by your
application, customize the mapping of locale strings by assigning the
user-written ICU converter (codepage) to locale strings in the Broker attribute
file, see locale-string
for how to customize the mapping of
locale strings to codepages. Example:
DEFAULTS=CODEPAGE /* Customer-written ICU converter */ CP1140=myebcdic CP0819=myascii
For the Broker attribute, check whether ICU conversion is possible, that
is, the attribute ICU-CONVERSION
is not defined (default=YES
) or set to YES
.
For the Broker attribute, check whether use of ICU custom converters is
possible, that is, the attribute ICU-SET-DATA-DIRECTORY
is not defined (default=YES
) or set to YES
.
This section covers the following topics:
EntireX Broker provides an interface to enable user-written translation routines in the programming language Assembler. It contains three parameters:
The address of the TRAP control block (TRAP = Translation Routine / Area for Parameters).
The address of a temporary work area. It is aligned to fullword / long integer boundary (divisible by 4). The work area can only be used for temporary needs and is cleared after return.
A fullword (long integer) that contains the length of the work area.
Note:
Names for user-written translation routines starting with "SAG" are
reserved for Software AG usage and must not be used, e.g. "SAGTCHA" and
"SAGTRPC".
The Assembler dummy section TR$TRAP
covers the layout of the TRAP
control block:
TR$TRAP DSECT , TR$TYPE DS F TRAP type TR$TYP2 EQU 2 TRAP type ETB 121 TR$ILEN DS F Input buffer length TR$IBUF DS A Address of input buffer TR$OLEN DS F Output buffer length TR$OBUF DS A Address of output buffer TR$DLEN DS F Length of data returned: * Should be set to the minimum value of TR$ILEN * and TR$OLEN. TR$SHOST DS F Sender's host: * x'00000000' = little endian * x'00000001' = big endian TR$SCODE DS F Sender's character set: SEBCIBM EQU X'00000022' EBCDIC (IBM) SEBCSNI EQU X'00000042' EBCDIC (SNI) SA88591 EQU X'00000080' ASCII TR$RHOST DS F Receiver's host --> see TR$SHOST TR$RCODE DS F Receiver's char set --> see TR$SCODE TR$BHOST DS F BROKER host --> see TR$SHOST TR$BCODE DS F BROKER char set --> see TR$SCODE TR$SENVA DS F Sender's ENVIRONMENT field supplied: OFF EQU X'00000000' ENVIRONMENT field not set ON EQU X'00000001' ENVIRONMENT field set * TR$RENVA DS F Receiver's ENVIRONMENT field supplied: * --> see TR$SENVA TR$SENV DS CL32 Sender's ENVIRONMENT field TR$RENV DS CL32 Receiver's ENVIRONMENT field TR$LEN EQU *-TR$TRAP Length of TRAP
The TR$DLEN
must be supplied by the user-written translation routine.
It tells the Broker the length of the message of the translation. In our
example its value is set to the minimum length of the input and output
buffer.
All other TRAP fields are supplied by the Broker and must not be modified by the user-written translation routine.
The incoming message is located in a buffer pointed to by TR$IBUF
. The
length (not to be exceeded) is supplied in TR$ILEN
. The character set
information from the send buffer can be taken from TR$SCODE
.
The outgoing message must be written to the buffer pointed to by
TR$OBUF
. The length of the output buffer is given in the field TR$OLEN
. The
character set is specified in TR$RCODE
. If the addresses given in TR$IBUF
and
TR$OBUF
point to the same location, it is not necessary to copy the data from
the input buffer to the output buffer.
The environment fields TR$SENVA
and TR$RENVA
are provided to handle
site-dependent character set information. For the SEND
and/or RECEIVE
functions, you can specify data in the
ENVIRONMENT
field of the Broker ACI control block. This data is translated into
the codepage of the platform where EntireX Broker is running (see field
TR$BCODE
) and is available to the TR$SENV
or TR$RENV
field in the TRAP
control block. TR$SENVA
or TR$RENVA
are set to ON
if environmental data is
available. Any values given in the API field ENVIRONMENT
must correspond to the values handled in the translation routine.
To assemble and link the SAGTCHA user-written translation routine
Assemble and link your translation routine. You can give the resulting load module any name that does not begin with "SAG". Names starting with "SAG", such as "SAGTCHA", are reserved for Software AG.
To configure translation user exits
As a prerequisite, the user-written translation module must be accessible to the Broker worker threads.
Copy the user-written translation module into any library of the Broker's steplib concatenation.
In the Broker attribute file, set the service-specific attribute TRANSLATION
to the name of the
user-written translation routine. Example:
TRANSLATION=MYTRANS
This section covers the following topics:
EntireX Broker provides an interface to SAGTRPC user exit routines written in the programming language Assembler. The interface contains three parameters:
The address of the UE (user exit) control block.
The address of a temporary work area. It is aligned to a fullword / long-integer boundary (divisible by 4). The work area can only be used temporarily and is cleared after return.
A fullword (long integer) that contains the length of the work area.
Note:
Names for conversion routines starting with "SAG" are reserved for
Software AG usage and must not be used, e.g. "SAGTCHA" and "SAGTRPC".
The Assembler dummy section UE$CB
shows the layout of the user exit
control block.
UE$CB DSECT , ...... User Exit Control Block * *********************** * Direction * --------- UE$VERS DS F UECB version input UE$VER1 EQU 1 UECB version 1 UE$IBUF DS A Address of input buffer input UE$ILEN DS F Input buffer length input UE$OBUF DS A Address of output buffer input UE$OLEN DS F Output buffer length input UE$DLEN DS F Length of data returned output * UE$SHOST DS F Senders host: input * x'00000000' = little endian * x'00000001' = big endian * UE$SCODE DS F Senders character set: input SEBCIBM EQU X'00000022' EBCDIC (IBM) SEBCSNI EQU X'00000042' EBCDIC (SNI) SA88591 EQU X'00000080' ASCII * UE$RHOST DS F Receivers host --> see UE$SHOST input UE$RCODE DS F Receivers char set --> see UE$SCODE input UE$BHOST DS F BROKER host --> see UE$SHOST input UE$BCODE DS F BROKER char set --> see UE$SCODE input * UE$SCP DS F Sender Codepage number UE$RCP DS F Receiver Codepage number UE$BCP DS F Broker Codepage number * UE$FCT DS CL1 Function input FCTCONV EQU C'C' Function CONVERT FCTGLEN EQU C'L' Function GETLENGTH UE$DIR DS CL1 Direction input DIRS2B EQU C'1' Direction Sender to Broker DIRS2R EQU C'2' Direction Sender to Receiver DIRB2R EQU C'3' Direction Broker to Receiver UE$FMT DS CL2 Format input FMTUSER EQU C'01' User Data like User ID, Program, Library FMTMETA EQU C'02' Meta Data Header FMTFB EQU C'03' Format Buffer FMTSB EQU C'04' String Buffer FMTVBN EQU C'05' Meta data value buffer FMTPRE EQU C'99' Preview format buffer FMTA EQU C'A ' Data Type A FMTAV EQU C'AV' Data Type AV FMTB EQU C'B ' Data Type B FMTBV EQU C'BV' Data Type BV FMTD EQU C'D ' Data Type D FMTF4 EQU C'F4' Data Type F4 FMTF8 EQU C'F8' Data Type F8 FMTI1 EQU C'I1' Data Type I1 FMTI2 EQU C'I2' Data Type I2 FMTI4 EQU C'I4' Data Type I4 FMTK EQU C'K ' Data Type K FMTKV EQU C'KV' Data Type KV FMTL EQU C'L ' Data Type L FMTN EQU C'N ' Data Type N FMTP EQU C'P ' Data Type P FMTT EQU C'T ' Data Type T FMTU EQU C'U ' Data Type U FMTUV EQU C'UV' Data Type UV UE$ETXT DS CL40 Error Text output UE$LEN EQU *-UE$CB Length of UECB SPACE ,
The user-written conversion exit example USRTRPC
is delivered in the EntireX
common source library EXX105.SRCE. The related JCL to build USRTCHA
is in member EXBUSRXT
in the EntireX common jobs library. See Contents of Mainframe Installation Medium.
The user exit provides two separate functions, CONVERT
and
GETLENGTH
. The field UE$FCT
indicates the function to
execute.
Both functions can send an error, using register 15 in the range 1 to
9999 to SAGTRPC together with an error text in the field
UE$ETXT
.
A value of 0 returned in register 15 means successful response.
Error 9999 is reserved for output buffer overflow.
See CONVERT
Function.
When an error occurs, the conversion of the message will be aborted and the error text will be sent to the receiver (client or server). The error is prefixed with the error class 1011. See Message Class 1011 - User-definable SAGTRPC Conversion Exit.
Example:
The user exit returns 1 in register 15 and the message "Invalid
Function" in UE$ETXT
. The receiver gets the error message
10110001 Invalid Function
.
This function has to be executed when the contents of
UE$FCT
match the definition FCTCONV
.
UE$DLEN
must be supplied by SAGTRPC's user-written
conversion exit. Its value must be set to the length of the output buffer.
All other interface fields are supplied by the Broker and must not be modified by SAGTRPC's user-written conversion exit.
The incoming data is located in a buffer pointed to by
UE$IBUF
. UE$ILEN
defines the length.
The outgoing converted message must be written to the buffer pointed to
by UE$OBUF
. The field TR$OLEN
defines the maximum length
available.
For variable length data such as AV and KV, an output buffer overflow
can occur if the message size increases after conversion or the receiver's
receive buffer is too small. In this case error 9999 "output buffer
overflow" must be returned,
which calls the GETLENGTH
Function for the remaining fields.
The GETLENGTH
function evaluates the needed length of the
output buffer after conversion. An actual conversion must not be performed. The
length needed must be returned in the field UE$OLEN
.
The GETLENGTH
function is called for remaining fields
after the CONVERT
function returned the error 9999 "output
buffer overflow".
The purpose of this function is to evaluate the length needed by the
receiver's receive buffer. This length is returned to the receiver in the ACI
field
RETURN-LENGTH
.
The receiver can then use the Broker ACI function
RECEIVE
with the option LAST
together with a receive buffer large enough to reread the
message.
The character-set information used is the same as in the user-written
translation routine and is taken from UE$SCODE
(for the sender),
UE$RCODE
(for the receiver) and UE$BCODE
(for the
Broker). The character-set information depends on the direction information
given in the field UE$DIR
. See the following table:
UE$DIR |
From Character Set | To Character Set |
---|---|---|
DIRS2B (Sender to Broker)
|
UE$SCODE |
UE$BCODE |
DIRS2R (Sender to Receiver)
|
UE$SCODE |
UE$RCODE |
DIRB2R (Broker to Receiver)
|
UE$BCODE |
UE$RCODE |
Alternatively, the codepage as derived from the locale string mapping process
is provided in UE$SCP
(sender codepage), UE$RCP
(receiver codepage) and UE$BCP
(Broker codepage), and can be used
to find the correct conversion table. See the following table and also Locale String Mapping.
UE$DIR |
From Codepage | To Codepage |
---|---|---|
DIRS2B (Sender to Broker)
|
UE$SCP |
UE$BCP |
DIRS2R (Sender to Receiver)
|
UE$SCP |
UE$RCP |
DIRB2R (Broker to Receiver)
|
UE$BCP |
UE$RCP |
The field UE$FMT
provides the SAGTRPC user-written
conversion exit with the information on the IDL data types to convert. Each
data type can be handled independently.
UE$FMT |
Data to be converted | Notes |
---|---|---|
FMTA |
IDL data type A | 1, 3, 4 |
FMTAV |
IDL data type AV | 4, 5 |
FMTB |
IDL data type B | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTBV |
IDL data type BV | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTD |
IDL data type D | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTF4 |
IDL data type F4 | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTF8 |
IDL data type F8 | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTI1 |
IDL data type I1 | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTI2 |
IDL data type I2 | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTI4 |
IDL data type I4 | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTK |
IDL data type K | 1, 3, 4 |
FMTKV |
IDL data type KV | 4, 5 |
FMTL |
IDL data type L | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTN |
IDL data type N | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTP |
IDL data type P | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTT |
IDL data type T | 1, 2, 8 |
FMTU |
IDL data type U | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTUV |
IDL data type UV | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTUSER |
RPC user data such as user ID, library, program... | 1, 3, 4 |
FMTMETA |
RPC metadata | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTFB |
RPC format buffer | 1, 2, 7 |
FMTSB |
RPC metadata variable length | 4, 5, 7 |
FMTPRE |
Preview data | 4, 6, 7 |
Notes:
UE$DLEN
. If the output buffer in the CONVERT
function
is too small, error 9999 must be returned to the caller.
To assemble and link the SAGTRPC user-written conversion exit
Assemble and link your conversion exit. You can give the resulting load module any name that does not begin with "SAG". Names starting with "SAG", such as "SAGTRPC", are reserved for Software AG. Refer to the JCL provided in member EXBUSRXT in data set EXX105.JOBS.
To install and configure the SAGTRPC user-written conversion exit
Refer to the instructions under Configuring SAGTRPC User Exits.
To configure SAGTRPC user exits
The user-written conversion module must be accessible to the Broker worker threads. Therefore, copy the user-written conversion module into any library of the Broker's steplib concatenation.
In the Broker attribute file, set the service-specific attribute CONVERSION
to the name of the user-written SAGTRPC user exit routine.
Example:
CONVERSION=(MYTRANS)
To configure locale string defaults
If the broker's locale string defaults do not match your requirements, we recommend you assign suitable locale string defaults for your country and region. See the appropriate attribute under Codepage-specific Attributes for information on customizing broker's locale string defaults, and also Locale String Mapping.
To customize mapping of locale strings
If the broker's built-in locale string mechanism does not match your requirements, you can assign specific codepages to locale strings. See Broker's Built-in Locale String Mapping and the appropriate attribute under Codepage-specific Attributes for information on customizing broker's locale string defaults.