In Unicode mode, each work file may possess a separate character set.
Only in an empty work file is it possible for the character set to have the value *NONE. This is the setting after EDT has started and after the complete deletion of a work file using @DROP or @DELETE (format 2).
If the setting is *NONE then the character set can be defined either implicitly by inserting data in the work file, or explicitly by means of a @CODENAME statement. Once the character set for a work file has been set, all the characters which enter this work file are also converted into this character set.
If data is inserted into an empty work file with the character set *NONE then the work file is implicitly assigned the character set for this data on the basis of the source from which they arrive. For information on how EDT determines the character set, see the table in the section on strings.
If the work file already has a defined character set (i.e. not *NONE), then data is converted from its source character set when it is inserted in this work file. Independently of whether the work file is empty or not, the data is converted into the work file's character set on insertion.
If data is present in the work file then switching the character set with the @CODENAME statement causes this data to be converted into the new character set.
@CODENAME ...,GLOBAL makes it possible to specify the same character set for all the work files using a single statement.
When migrations have to be performed, the @CODENAME statement provides additional performance scope. With @CODENAME ...,FORCE=YES, it is possible to relabel the work file's character set. The work file is then assigned a new character set. However, the data it contains is not converted but remains unchanged. This option can be used to correct incorrectly labeled files. The FORCE operand is only applicable to 7-bit and 8-bit character sets.