Support for Unicode columns in an EBCDIC table

Db2 12 extends support for Unicode columns in EBCDIC tables. A Unicode column in an EBCDIC table that is defined with Db2 12 is subject to fewer restrictions than if the column had been defined using Db2 11.

As businesses become more global, there is a need to store a wider set of characters. For example, with the expansion of EU countries, the customer name from a newly joined country might not be stored correctly in an SBCS EBCDIC column. Db2 12 addresses this need by providing a byte-based Unicode column of CCSID 1208 or CCSID 1200 in an EBCDIC table.

Unicode columns created in Db2 11 can be migrated to Db2 12 Unicode columns.