Using containers for code page conversion

The following example converts data from code page1 to code page2 :

EXEC CICS PUT CONTAINER(
temp
) DATATYPE(DFHVALUE(CHAR))
FROMCCSID(
code page1
) FROM(
input-data
)
EXEC CICS GET CONTAINER(
temp
) INTOCCSID(
code page2
)
SET(
data-ptr
) FLENGTH(
data-len
)

The following example converts data from the region's default EBCDIC code page to a specified UTF8 code page:

EXEC CICS PUT CONTAINER(
temp
) DATATYPE(DFHVALUE(CHAR))
FROM(
ebcdic-data
)
EXEC CICS GET CONTAINER(
temp
) INTOCCSID(utf8_ccsid)
SET(
utf8-data-ptr
) FLENGTH(
utf8-data-len
)

When using the container API in this way, bear the following in mind:

• On GET CONTAINER commands, use the SET option, rather than INTO, unless the converted length is known. (You can retrieve the length of the converted data by issuing a GET CONTAINER( cont_name ) NODATA FLENGTH( len ) command.)
• If you prefer to specify a supported IANA charset name for the code pages, rather than the decimal CCSIDs, or if you want to specify a CCSID alphanumerically, use the FROMCODEPAGE and INTOCODEPAGE options instead of the FROMCCSID and INTOCCSID options.
• To avoid a storage overhead, after conversion copy the converted data and delete the container.
• To avoid shipping the channel, use a temporary channel. For more information about temporary storage and use of channels, see Avoiding affinities when using temporary storage.
• All-to-all conversion is not possible. That is, a code page conversion error occurs if a specified code page and the channel's code page are an unsupported combination.