You can specify whether single-byte characters, double-byte characters, or mixed double-byte and single-byte characters are permitted, as well as the maximum number of bytes the variable can accept. Here is a description of each type:

Type

Description

'CHAR maximum-length'

Specifies a single-byte character string.

'DBCS maximum-length'

Specifies a double-byte character string. The maximum length must be an even number.

'MIXED maximum-length'

Specifies a character string containing single-byte characters, double-byte characters, or both.

Note: This type is treated as CHAR if the system does not support double-byte characters.

'ANY maximum-length'

Specifies a character string containing single-byte characters, double-byte characters, or both. It is processed by the conversion utility as MIXED.

'EBCDIC maximum-length'

Specifies a single-byte character string.

'%varname maximum-length'

Specifies that a variable name is used for TYPE in the Panel definition. The application must ensure a valid type is set before the panel is displayed.

'VMASK maximum-length'

A VEDIT statement is added to the generated panel. The ‘maximum-length’ is the default length for associated variables. The application must use the VMASK service with a user-specified mask value.

'ITIME'

A VEDIT statement is added to the generated panel for associated variables. The default length for the variables is 5. The application must use the VMASK service with a mask of ITIME.

'STDTIME'

A VEDIT statement is added to the generated panel for associated variables. The default length for the variables is 8. The application must use the VMASK service with a mask of STDTIME.

'IDATE'

A VEDIT statement is added to the generated panel for associated variables. The default length for the variables is 8. The application must use the VMASK service with a mask of IDATE.

'STDDATE'

A VEDIT statement is added to the generated panel for associated variables. The default length for the variables is 10. The application must use the VMASK service with a mask of STDDATE.

'JDATE'

A VEDIT statement is added to the generated panel for associated variables. The default length for the variables is 6. The application must use the VMASK service with a mask of JDATE.

'JSTD'

A VEDIT statement is added to the generated panel for associated variables. The default length for the variables is 8. The application must use the VMASK service with a mask of JSTD.

We add the variable classes for authorc and catnumc to the markup example found in Declaring variables. We assume an author's last name has a maximum of 40 characters, and a catalog number is 10 characters.

<!doctype dm system>

<varclass name=authorc type='char 40'>
<varclass name=catnumc type='char 10'>

<varlist>
  <vardcl name=author varclass=authorc>
  <vardcl name=catnum varclass=catnumc>
</varlist>

<panel name=books2>Book Title Search
  <area>
    <dtacol pmtwidth=20>
      <dtafld entwidth=40 datavar=author>Author
      <dtafld entwidth=10 datavar=catnum>Catalog number
    </dtacol>
  </area>
</panel>