UnicodeAPPXIO < Main

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---+ Appx-IO Support

_Add new encoding types to alpha fields, RAW, NATIONAL, and UNICODE._

<br />%TOC%
---++ Overview

The Encoding Type attribute of an alpha field determines the format of the alpha field within a record of an APPXIO disk file.

   * RAW 
      * Indicates that the alpha field contains "raw" bytes of data.
   * UNICODE 
      * Indicates that the alpha field contains 32-bit characters encoded using UTF-32 encoding.
      * Each character requires 4 bytes of space in the record.
   * NATIONAL 
      * Indicates that the alpha field contains 8-bit Unicode characters encoded using the encoding method specified in SYSPARM, SYSDFLT, or SYSDIR.

When an Appx-IO record is read from disk, the file manager will convert the record buffer from its external disk format to its internal memory format.

   * RAW 
      * Does not require any reformatting or transcoding.
      * The internal byte length of a raw alpha field is the same as the external byte length on disk.
   * UNICODE 
      * Does not require any reformatting or transcoding.
      * The internal byte length of a UTF-32 alpha field is the same as the external byte length on disk.
   * NATIONAL 
      * Will be converted from the external 8-bit encoding specified in SYSPARM, SYSDFLT, or SYSDIR to our internal UTF-32 encoding. Each 8-bit character is converted to the corresponding ITF-32 internal character.
      * The byte length of the field in memroy is 4 times the external byte length.

When an Appx-IO record is written to disk, the file manager will convert the record buffer from its internal memory format to its external disk format.

   * RAW 
      * Does not require any reformatting or transcoding.
      * The internal byte length of a raw alpha field is the same as the external byte length on disk.
   * UNICODE 
      * Does not require any reformatting or transcoding.
      * The internal byte length of a UTF-32 alpha field is the same as the external byte length on disk.
   * NATIONAL 
      * Will be converted from our internal UTF-32 encoding to the external 8-bit encoding specified in SYSPARM, SYSDFLT, or SYSDIR. Each 32-bit internal character will be converted to the corresponding 8-bit external character.
      * The byte length of the field on disk will be 1/4th of the internal byte length.
      * The file manager will return a False condition on a WRITE or REWRITE statement if the internal UTF-32 characterless can't be converted to an equivalent 8-bit character.
---++ Test Plan:
---+++ FMS Types: (untested)

*Test Requirements:*

Do all encoding types seem to work properly?

Do NATIONAL encodings honor encoding settings?

*Test Results and Notes:*

untested

-- Main.PeteBrower - 2011-03-09
Topic revision: r1 - 2011-03-09 - PeteBrower