Re: CCSID (I think) problem

Hi Simon,

Why assume that a PC in Canada is using CP1252 (where a cent sign has a
codepoint of x'A2')?  Wouldn't CP863, Canadian French for the IBM PC (where
a cent sign has a codepoint of x'9B'), be just as likely?  Not that this
explains what's happening.

Also, CAExpress downloads typically do not translate if the CCSID is 65535
unless specifically told to do so (a property of the transfer definition);
one more piece of information we need.

Peter Dow
Dow Software Services, Inc.
909 793-9050 voice
909 522-3214 cellular
909 793-4480 fax


----- Original Message -----
From: "Simon Coulter" <shc@flybynight.com.au>
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 12:18 AM
Subject: Re: CCSID (I think) problem


Since the file is being downloaded to a PC we can guess that it is some
dialect of WinDOS and therefore probably using codepage 1252 (Latin-1).

We can presume that since the host system has a CCSID of 65535 then the
file is probably also 65535.

He says the data is generated on the CP37 Ontario AS/400 and downloaded
to the PC in Quebec and this download 'corrupts' the square bracket.

He says if the data is (generated?? sent??) to the Quebec CP500 AS/400 it
downloads correctly.

A left-square-bracket in CP37 is x'BA', in CP500 it is x'4A', and in
CP1252 it is x'5B'.  I do not see how a square bracket can become a
'cent' sign in this instance.

If a left-square-bracket were created on CP37 it should have code point
x'BA'.  If a 'cent' sign were created on CP37 it should have code point
x'4A'.  Interestingly that is the same codepoint as used for the
left-square-bracket in CP500.  So if a file with CCSID 65535 containing a
CP37 'cent' sign were sent to a CP500 AS/400 it would display as a
left-square-bracket.  If that file were then sent to a PC it should
appear on the PC as a left-square-bracket because CA will attempt to
guess the correct conversion tables.

Even allowing for the alternate set of square brackets (x'AD' and x'BD)
doesn't account for the observed behaviour.  There is more going on here
than is immediately apparent and we need more information to explain the
behaviour.