Micro Focus Visual COBOL 2.3 Update 2 for Eclipse (Windows) > General Reference > COBOL Language Reference > Part 3. Additional Topics > Micro Focus Extensions for Double-Byte Character Support > Data Division > The PICTURE Clause (DBCS)

The PICTURE Clause (DBCS)

General Rules for NCHAR data itemrules Rules for NCHAR Data

Its PICTURE character-string can contain only the symbol "N".
Its contents can be any characters in the DBCS character set.

General Rules for NCHAR-EDITED data rule Rules for NCHAR-EDITED Data

Its PICTURE character string can contain any combination of the symbols "N", "B", "/" and "0". Refer to the section The PICTURE Clause for edited-data rules.

Symbols Used

The functions of these symbols are as follows:

Symbol	Representation	Example NCHAR Japanese Values
Symbol	Representation	Shift-JIS	EUC
N	Each "N" represents a character position which can contain only a DBCS character or a DBCS space.
B	Each "B" represents a character position into which the DBCS space character is inserted.	x"8140"	x"A1A1"
/	Each "/" represents a character position into which the DBCS forward slash is inserted.	x"851E"	x"A1BF"
0	Each "0" represents a character position into which the DBCS Zero is inserted.	x"824F"	x"A3B0"

Note: Each "N", "B", "/", "0" represents a single double-byte character position.

DBCS Characters Editing Rules

The type of editing that can be performed on an item depends on the category to which the item belongs. The table Editing Types for Data Categories in the section The PICTURE Clause is extended with the information shown in the table below:

Category	Type of Editing
NCHAR	None
NCHAR-EDITED	Simple insertion "B", "/", "0" only

Fixed Insertion Editing

When used in an SBCS item, "B" (space) represents an SBCS space. When used in an NCHAR item it represents a DBCS space.

When used in an SBCS item, "/" (forward slash) represents an SBCS forward slash. When used in an NCHAR item it represents a DBCS forward slash.

When used in an SBCS item, "0" (zero) represents an SBCS zero. When used in an NCHAR item it represents a DBCS zero.