NSYMBOL
NSYMBOL controls the interpretation of the N symbols used in PICTURE clauses, indicating whether national or DBCS processing is assumed.
- Default
- NSYMBOL=NATIONAL
- DBCS
- Use DBCS when data items are defined with the PICTURE clause consisting only of the PICTURE symbol N and without the USAGE clause. Such data items are treated as if the USAGE DISPLAY-1 clause were specified. Literals of the form N". . ." or N’. . .’ are treated as DBCS literals.
- NATIONAL
- Use NATIONAL when data items are defined with the PICTURE clause consisting only of the PICTURE symbol N and without the USAGE clause. Such data items are treated as if the USAGE NATIONAL clause were specified. Literals of the form N". . ." or N’. . .’ are treated as national literals.
Note:
- The NSYMBOL(DBCS) option is compatible with previous releases of IBM® COBOL. The NSYMBOL(NATIONAL) option handles the N symbol consistently with the 2002 COBOL Standard.
- NSYMBOL(NATIONAL) forces the DBCS option.