If the message of a program unit is sent to a terminal or printer, openUTM transfers the logical message and a character set name to VTSU-B. VTSU-B edits the message for output. The type of message and type of client determine which of the generated character sets is transferred from openUTM to VTSU-B.
A distinction is made here between three message types:
message in line mode without edit profile or messages created by event exit FORMAT
message in line mode with edit profiles
message in format mode.
Message in line mode without edit profile and messages created by event EXIT FORMAT
The terminal or printer to which the message is addressed supports none of the extended character sets.
The message is transferred to VTSU-B without specifying a character set
name.Characters that do not belong to the EBCDIC kernel are replaced by smudge characters or substitute characters.The terminal or printer to which the message is addressed supports extended character sets.
Dialog messages are edited using the user-specific character set.
Asynchronous messages are edited using the LTERM partner-specific character set of the LTERM partner whose message queue contains the message.
In this way, the program unit can correctly serve 8-bit printers, amongst others. The program unit uses INFO LO to obtain information on the character set names generated in the locale of the LTERM partner assigned to the printer. It then transfers the character set name together with the message to VTSU for editing.
You must ensure that the EBCDIC character set associated with the character set name is compatible with an ISO character set supported by the printer. This is not checked by VTSU-B, as VTSU-B does not know which ISO character sets are supported by the printer. The supported character sets are indicated in the printer description.
In order that VTSU-B can serve the printer in 8-bit mode, the VTSU-operating parameters xxxxxDEV8 and xxxxxLIN8 must be set. Any modification to the operating parameters does not come into effect until VTSU is loaded dynamically. See the User Guide “VTSU - Virtual Terminal Support”.
If the EBCDIC character set of the message is not compatible with any ISO character set of the 8-bit client, one of the following errors will occur:
A dialog service is terminated with PEND ER. A PEND ER dump is created and UTM message K017 is sent.
An asynchronous output message is discarded. A UTM dump is created and a UTM message is sent.
UTM message K106 is output to the screen if an asynchronous message was retrieved with KDCOUT (LTERM...,ANNOAMSG=YES) or if part of the message was already sent before the error occurred.
An error message is written to SYSLOG.
In relation to the character set, formatted messages created by the format exit are handled like messages in line mode.
Message in line mode with edit profiles
No character set name is assigned to the edit profile.
In relation to the character set used, these messages are handled like messages in line mode without edit profile.
By using user-specific and LTERM partner-specific character sets, you can thus permanently serve users in 8-bit mode without having to explicitly generate 8-bit edit profiles.
A character set name is assigned to the edit profile.
openUTM always transfers the character set name of the edit profile together with the logical message to VTSU-B for editing.
If a message is sent to a terminal or printer that only permits 7-bit mode, the service is terminated with PEND ER in the case of dialog services. An asynchronous message is discarded in this case and a UTM message is sent.
In the case of messages to 8-bit terminals or printers, the EBCDIC character set used must be compatible with an ISO character set supported by the terminal/printer. With asynchronous messages, VTSU-B cannot check this compatibility. For this reason, the message should only be sent in the character set assigned to the edit profile.
You need only explicitly assign a character set to an edit profile if this character set is not identical to the user-specific or LTERM partner-specific character set and if the message to be sent contains characters from this character set which do not, however, belong to the EBCDIC kernel.
Message in format mode
Format to which no character set was assigned when creating IFG.
In relation to the character set used, openUTM handles these messages in the same way as messages in line mode without edit profile, i.e. a dialog message is edited using the user-specific character set, and an asynchronous message is edited using the LTERM partner-specific character set, if this message is directed to an 8-bit terminal or corresponding printer.
Format with character set name, i.e. a character set was assigned to the format when creating with IFG.
The character set name assigned to the format is transferred by openUTM for editing.
If the message is directed to printers or clients that only permit 7-bit mode, the service is terminated with PEND ER in dialog services. An asynchronous output message is discarded in this case and a UTM message is sent.
With messages to 8-bit terminals or printers, the EBCDIC character set used by the message must be compatible with one of the ISO character sets supported by the terminal/printer.
A character set need therefore only be explicitly assigned to the format to be sent if it contains characters that do not belong to the EBCDIC kernel.
A character set need only be explicitly assigned to the format if the character set used for representation is not identical to the user-specific or LTERM partner-specific character set.