HLASM Language Reference

Concatenation of strings containing double-byte data: If the assembler is invoked
with the DBCS option, then the following additional considerations apply:
When a variable symbol adjoins double-byte data, the SO delimiting the
double-byte data is not a valid delimiter of the variable symbol. The variable
symbol must be terminated by a period.
The assembler checks for SI and SO at concatenation points. If the byte to the
left of the join is SI and the byte to the right of the join is SO, then the SI/SO
pair are considered redundant and are removed.
To create redundant SI/SO pairs at concatenation points, use the substring
notation and SETC expressions to create additional SI and SO characters. By
controlling the order of concatenation, you can leave a redundant SI/SO pair at
a concatenation point.
Instead of substring notation, you can use the BYTE function to create
additional SI and SO characters:
&SO SETC (BYTE 14)
&SI SETC (BYTE 15)
Examples:
&DBDA SETC ''
&SO SETC BYTE(X'E')
&SI SETC BYTE(X'F')
&DBCS1A SETC
'&DBDA.'
&DBCS1E SETC
'&DBDA'
&DBCS2 SETC '&DBDA'.''
&DBCS2A SETC
'&DBDA'.''.'&DBDA'
&DBCS3 SETC '&DBDA'.'&SI'.'&SO'.''
&DBCS3P SETC
'&DBDA'.'&SI'
&DBCS3Q SETC
'&SO'.''
&DBCS3R SETC
'&DBCS3P'.'&DBCS3Q'
These examples use the BYTE function to create variables &SO and &SI, which
have the values of SO and SI, respectively. The variable &DBCS1A is assigned the
value with the SI/SO pair at the join removed. The assignment to variable
&DBCS1E fails with error ASMA35E Invalid delimiter, because the symbol &DBDA is
terminated by SO and not by a period. The variable &DBCS2 is assigned the value
. The variable &DBCS2A is assigned the value . As with &DBCS1A,
redundant SI/SO pairs are removed at the joins. The variable &DBCS3 is assigned
the value . Although SI and SO have been added at the join, the
concatenation operation removes two SI and two SO characters, since redundant
SI/SO pairs are found at the second and third concatenations. However, by using
intermediate variables &DBCS3P and &DBCS3Q to change the order of concatenation,
the string can be assigned to variable &DBCS3R. Note that substituting the
variable symbol &DBCS3R in the nominal value of a G-type constant results in
removal of the SI/SO pair at the join.
Using SETC Symbols
The character value assigned to a SETC symbol is substituted for the SETC
symbol when it is used in the name, operation, or operand field of a statement.
For example, consider the following macro definition, macro instruction, and
generated statements:
384 HLASM V1R5 Language Reference