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 include:

String handling capabilities with DBCS characters
OPTIONS modes that handle DBCS characters in literal strings, symbols (for example, variable names and labels), comments, and data operations
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. The appendix describes how the resulting characters are represented as bytes. This internal representation is not usually seen if the results are printed. It may be seen if the results are displayed on certain terminals.