CHARACTER

CHARACTER returns the character value of x, with a length specified by y. CHARACTER also supports conversion from graphic to character type.

Abbreviation: CHAR

x

Expression.

x must have a computational type.

When x is nongraphic, CHARACTER returns x converted to character.

When x is GRAPHIC, CHARACTER returns x converted to SBCS characters. If a DBCS character cannot be translated to an SBCS equivalent, the CONVERSION condition is raised.

The values of x are not checked.

y

Expression. If necessary, y is converted to a real fixed-point binary value.

If y is omitted, the length is determined by the rules for type conversion.

y cannot be negative.

If y = 0, the result is the null character string.

  dcl X graphic(6);
  dcl A char (6);
  A = char(X);