DBCS and Unicode Enablement (IBM System i)

Interpro is an experienced provider of enablement solutions for enterprise-wide application software developed for the IBM System i (formerly AS/400 and iSeries) platform.

Double-byte character set (DBCS) and Unicode enablement represent two methodologies for allowing IBM System i-based application software to display and process ideographic character set data. Ideographic languages include Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.

Conventional single-byte code pages of 255 characters are inadequate to store the thousands of characters that these languages require, and special double-byte and Unicode code pages generally allocate two bytes to each character. Only applications that have been double-byte or Unicode enabled can display and process double-byte data effectively.

To this end, Interpro provides comprehensive DBCS and Unicode enablement and consulting services for the IBM System i platform. DCU, Interpro's proprietary conversion utility, automates a large percentage of the enablement effort, resulting in a faster and more cost efficient time to market.

Interpro's DBCS and Unicode enablement services include the following:

Comprehensive installation, inventory, and recompile of all source objects
Lowercase to uppercase literals conversion (when required)
Execution of DCU Analyzer to identify 90% of DBCS issues requiring resolution
Execution of DCU Analyzer to identify 90% of enablement issues requiring resolution
Analysis and retrofitting of the remaining issues not identified by DCU
Mass compile and debugging of enabled sources
Unit testing
DBCS or Unicode enablement of installation programs and databases
Full functionality testing and resolution of problems found
Final mass compile of enabled sources
Personalized DBCS and Unicode consulting and training services

Clients for whom Interpro has provided DBCS and Unicode enablement services include:

Manhattan Associates
Genelco Software Solutions (now IBM Global Services)
Andersen Consulting (now Accenture)
Silvon Software
MARCAM (now Infor)