Character strings

A character string is a sequence of bytes. The length of the string is the number of bytes in the sequence. If the length is zero, the value is called the empty string. The empty string should not be confused with the null value.

Default CCSIDs
The value of the field MIXED DATA (on installation panel DSNTIPF) determines the default CCSIDs for a character string.
Fixed-length character strings
When fixed-length character string distinct types, columns, and variables are defined, the length attribute is specified, and all values have the same length. For a fixed-length character string, the length attribute must be between 1 and 255 inclusive.
Varying-length character strings
The types of varying-length character strings are VARCHAR and character large object (CLOB). A CLOB is a type of LOB. A CLOB column is useful for storing large amounts of character data, such as documents written with a single character set.
Character string variables
Character string variables follow specific rules for use in host languages.
Character string encoding schemes
The method of representing DBCS and MBCS characters within a mixed string differs among the encoding schemes.
Examples
The same mixed date character string can be represented as character and hexadecimal data in different encoding schemes.
String unit specifications
The ability to specify string units for certain built-in functions and on the CAST specification allows you to process string data in a more "character-based manner" than a "byte-based manner". The string unit determines the length in which the operation is to occur. You can specify CODEUNITS32, CODEUNITS16, or OCTETS as the units for the operation.

Parent topic: Data types