Double-Byte Character Set (DBCS) Support

A Double-Byte Character Set supports languages that have more characters than can be represented by 8 bits (such as Korean Hangeul and Japanese kanji). REXX has a full range of DBCS functions and handling techniques.

These DBCS functions and handling techniques include:
  • Symbol and string handling capabilities with DBCS characters
  • An option that allows DBCS characters in symbols, comments, and literal strings.
  • An option that allows data strings to contain DBCS characters.
  • A number of functions that specifically support the processing of DBCS character strings
  • Defined DBCS enhancements to current instructions and functions.
Note: The use of DBCS does not affect the meaning of the built-in functions as described in Functions. This explains how the characters in a result are obtained from the characters of the arguments by such actions as selecting, concatenating, and padding. This information describes how the resulting characters are represented as bytes. This internal representation is not usually seen if the results are printed. It might be seen if the results are displayed on certain terminals.