The NLS Database

The NLS database contains files that enable the operation of the National Language Support feature of InfoSphere® DataStage®.

This section describes the files in the NLS database. You can use the NLS.ADMIN command to perform all NLS administration, but you can list and edit these tables directly if you are familiar with TCL.

The NLS database is in the nls subdirectory of the server engine directory. The nls directory contains the subdirectories charset, locales, and maps.

Each subdirectory of the NLS directory contains further subdirectories, such as the listing and install subdirectories. listing contains listing information generated when building maps and locales (if the user selects this option). install contains the binary files that are loaded into memory.

The VOC names for NLS files start with the prefix NLS (this prefix is absent if you view the files from the operating system). The second part of the filename indicates the logical group that the file belongs to. The logical groups are as follows:

These letters...	Indicate this file group...
CLIENT	Data received from client programs
CS	Information about Unicode character sets
LANG	Languages
LC	Locales
MAP	Character set maps
WT	Weight tables

The third part of the filename indicates the contents of the file. For example, the file called NLS.LC.COLLATE is an NLS file belonging to the locales group that contains information about collating sequences.

Table 1 lists all the files in the NLS database.

Table 1. NLS Database Files
File	Description
NLS.CLIENT.LCS	Defines the locales to be used by client programs connecting to InfoSphere DataStage.
NLS.CLIENT.MAPS	Defines the character set used by client programs.
NLS.CS.ALPHAS	Defines which characters are defined as alphabetic in the Unicode standard. Each record ID is a hexadecimal code point value that indicates the start of a range of characters. The record itself specifies the last character in the range. These default values can be overridden by a national convention. You should not modify this file; it is for information only.
NLS.CS.BLOCKS	Defines the blocks of consecutive code point values for characters that are normally used together as a set for one or more languages. The record IDs are block numbers. This file is cross-referenced by the NLS.CS.DESCS file. You should not modify this file; it is for information only.
NLS.CS.CASES	Defines those characters that have an uppercase and lowercase version, and how they map between the two, according to the Unicode standard. These default values can be overridden by a national convention. Each record ID is the hexadecimal code point value for a character. You should not modify this file; it is for information only.
NLS.CS.DESCS	Contains descriptions of every character supported by InfoSphere DataStage NLS. Each character has its own record, using its hexadecimal code point value as the record ID. The descriptions are based on those used by the Unicode standard. You should not modify this file; it is for information only.
NLS.CS.TYPES	Defines which characters are numbers, nonprintable characters, and so on, according to the Unicode standard. These default values can be overridden by a national convention. Each record ID is the hexadecimal code point value for a character. You should not modify this file; it is for information only.
NLS.LANG.INFO	Contains information about languages. Provides possible mappings between language, locale and character set map. It is used for installing NLS and reporting on locales, and should not be modified.
NLS.LC.ALL	Holds records for all the locales known to InfoSphere DataStage. The record IDs are the locale names. The fields of each record are the IDs of records in other locale files. These files contain data about the categories that make up a locale (Time, Numeric, and so on). For a description of the record format for this file, see "Creating New Locales".
NLS.LC.COLLATE	Each record in this file defines a collating sequence used by a locale. The collating sequences are defined according to how they differ from the default collating sequence. For a description of the record format for this file, see "Format of Convention Records".
NLS.LC.CTYPE	Each record in this file holds character typing information used in a locale, that is, which characters are alphabetic, numeric, lowercase, uppercase, nonprinting, and so on. The character types are defined according to how they differ from the default character typing. For a description of the record format for this file, see "Format of Convention Records" .
NLS.LC.MONETARY	Each record in this file holds the monetary formatting convention used in a locale. For a description of the record format for this file, see "Format of Convention Records".
NLS.LC.NUMERIC	Each record in this file holds the numeric formatting convention used in a locale. For a description of the record format for this file, see "Format of Convention Records".
NLS.LC.TIME	Each record in this file holds the time and date formatting convention for a locale. For a description of the record format for this file, see "Format of Convention Records".
NLS.MAP.DESCS	Contains descriptions of every map known to InfoSphere DataStage. The record ID of each map is the map name used in InfoSphere DataStage commands or BASIC programs. The record IDs must comprise ASCII-7 characters only. For a description of the record format for this file, see "Creating a New Map".
NLS.MAP.TABLES	A type 19 file that contains the map tables for mapping an external character set to the DataStage internal character set. For more information about the structure of this file, see "Creating a New Map".
NLS.WT.LOOKUP	Contains weightings given to characters during a sort, based on the Unicode standard. This file should not be modified.
NLS.WT.TABLES	Contains specific weight information about characters used in a locale. For more information about the structure of this file, see "Editing Weight Tables".