Working with UTF-8 data

When you are working with an UTF-8 file, you can use the UTF-8 editing facility to translate data from and to UTF-8 when displaying and receiving input from the terminal.

The UTF-8 editing facility converts the UTF-8 data to the corresponding EBCDIC representation prior to displaying at the terminal. Also, when you enter data from the terminal, the data is converted from the CCSID of the terminal to UTF-8 before being stored in the file you are editing.

To activate the UTF-8 editing facility for a PDS member or data set select 2 (UTF8) for the Data Encoding option on the edit entry panel.

The UTF-8 editing facility is automatically invoked for a z/OS® UNIX file tagged with a CCSID of 1208. The following can be used to activate the UTF-8 editing facility for a z/OS UNIX file that is not tagged with a CCSID of 1208:

Select 2 (UTF8) for the Data Encoding option on the Edit/View entry panel.
Specify the UTF8 parameter when calling the EDIT or VIEW services.
Specify the EU (Edit - UTF-8) or VU (View - UTF-8) line commands on the z/OS UNIX directory list display.

When using the UTF-8 editing facility with a z/OS UNIX file, ISPF ensures the file's CCSID is set to 1208 when the file is saved.

The ISPF editor then treats the source data as though it is UTF-8 data and converts it from UTF-8 to the CCSID of the terminal for display purposes, although the data remains unchanged within the file. When you input or modify data at the terminal, the ISPF editor translates the data entered from the CCSID of the terminal to UTF-8 before storing the data in the file.