Symbols and strings
In DBCS, there are DBCS-only symbols and strings, and mixed symbols and strings.
DBCS-only symbols and mixed SBCS/DBCS symbols
| Byte | EBCDIC |
|---|---|
| 1st | X'41' to X'FE' |
| 2nd | X'41' to X'FE' |
| DBCS blank | X'4040' |
A mixed DBCS symbol is formed by a concatenation of SBCS symbols, DBCS-only symbols, and other mixed DBCS symbols. In EBCDIC, the SO and SI bracket the DBCS symbols and distinguish them from the SBCS symbols.
The default value of a DBCS symbol is the symbol itself, with SBCS characters translated to uppercase.
A constant symbol must begin with an SBCS digit
(0-9) or an SBCS period. The delimiter (period) in a compound
symbol must be an SBCS character.
DBCS-only strings and mixed SBCS/DBCS strings
A DBCS-only string consists of only DBCS characters.
A mixed SBCS/DBCS string is formed by a combination of SBCS and DBCS characters. In EBCDIC, the SO and SI bracket the DBCS data and distinguish it from the SBCS data. Because the SO and SI are needed only in the mixed strings, they are not associated with the DBCS-only strings.
- DBCS-only string:
.A.B.C - Mixed string:
ab<.A.B> - Mixed string:
<.A.B> - Mixed string:
ab<.C.D>ef