AIX Version 4.3 Differences Guide

Chapter 10. National Language Support
The AIX operating system has no built-in dependencies on code set, character
classification, character comparison rules, character collation order, monetary
formatting, numeric punctuation, date and time formatting, or the text of
messages. The national language support (NLS) environment is defined by a
combination of language and geographic or cultural requirements. These
conventions consist of four basic components:
• Translated language of the screens, panels, and messages
• Language convention of the geographical area and culture
• Language of the keyboard
• Language of the documentation
Customers are free to mix and match the above components for each user. The
NLS environment allows AIX to be tailored to the individual user's language and
cultural expectations.
To support this design, applications use standard APIs to display messages and
handle characters in code set independent fashion. Additionally, libraries hide all
code set-independent processing and do not alter the locale set by applications.
10.1 National Language Character Handling
The NLS feature of AIX Version 4.3 allows input and output of national language
(NL) characters. NL-specific cultural conventions can be set by the user from the
command line or by an application on a per-process basis. These cultural
conventions include the territory-unique ways to represent date, time, monetary
values, numbers, and collating sequences. By setting the appropriate
environment variables, users can define their own NL behavior. Individual users
may even operate using different locales, keyboards, and language text on the
same system.
10.2 Levels of NLS Enablement
AIX provides the following levels of national language support enablement. To
determine the level of NL support provided by any particular IBM licensed
product, please consult the program product announcement material. To assist in
classifying the extent to which a product provides national language support, the
levels are listed following in descending order of national language capability:
Universal Language Support (ULS)
Support for multiple languages based on universal character set ISO
10646. See Section 10.3, “Unicode” on page 242 for more information.
Full International Language Support (ILS)
Support for all locales in the underlying operating system.
Multi-Byte Character Set Support (MBCS)
Support for all locales based on multi-byte and single-byte code sets
in the underlying operating system. Bidirectional code set support is
limited.
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