Try OpenEdge Now
skip to main content
Internationalizing Applications
Understanding Character Processing Tables : The convmap.dat file and its tables
 

The convmap.dat file and its tables

The convmap.dat file supplied by OpenEdge, which resides in the OpenEdge/prolang/convmap directory, does not contain character processing tables. Rather, it contains INCLUDE directives, each of which includes a file containing character processing tables. The included files also reside in the OpenEdge/prolang/convmap directory.
The convmap.dat file can contain INCLUDE directives and actual character processing tables (except for word-break tables) in any combination.
A typical included file is arabic.dat, which contains tables for locales that use the Arabic language. The following table lists the contents of arabic.dat.
Table 1. Contents of arabic.dat
Code page
Character processing tables
1256
Character attribute table
BASIC case table
ARABIC9 collation table
BASIC collation table
709
BASIC case table
BASIC collation table
Character attribute table
Table for converting from code page 1256 to code page 709
708
BASIC case table
BASIC collation table
Character attribute table
Table for converting from code page 1256 to code page 708
721
BASIC case table
BASIC collation table
Character attribute table
Table for converting from code page 1256 to code page 721
711
BASIC case table
BASIC collation table
Character attribute table
Table for converting from code page 1256 to code page 711
786
BASIC case table
BASIC collation table
Character attribute table
Table for converting from code page 1256 to code page 786
714
BASIC case table
BASIC collation table
Character attribute table
Table for converting from code page 1256 to code page 714
710
BASIC case table
BASIC collation table
Character attribute table
Table for converting from code page 1256 to code page 710
720
BASIC case table
BASIC collation table
Character attribute table
Table for converting from code page 1256 to code page 720
The table shows several characteristics of the arabic.dat file in particular, and of character processing tables in general:
*The arabic.dat file contains tables for a variety of code pages
*These tables consist of character attribute tables, case tables, collation tables, and code-page conversion tables
*Each table applies to a particular code page
*Case tables and collation tables have names, while character attribute tables and code-page conversion tables do not
*A code page can have only one character attribute table, only one code-page conversion table for a given code-page conversion, only one case table with a particular name, and only one collation table with a particular name.
*Multiple code pages might have collation tables or case tables with the same name. For example, code page 710 and code page 720 each have a case table named BASIC, as the table shows.
*Every code page does not have every kind of character processing table
* Character attribute tables
* Case tables
* Collations and collation tables
* Code-page conversion tables
* Modifying convmap.dat or a file it includes
* Compiling the convmap.dat file
* Providing access to the convmap.cp file
* Modifying OpenEdge collation tables
* Finding additional information on character processing tables other than word-break tables