Shift-out, Shift-in (SOSI) delimiter

EBCDIC double-byte character set (DBCS) text is encoded with shift-out and shift-in (SOSI) bytes to delimit the transition from single-byte characters to double-byte characters. In the editor, the shift-out delimiter is represented by the » symbol, and the shift-in character is represented by the « symbol. Display of SOSI delimiters in the editor text allows the record length and column alignment to be the same as on an EBCDIC system.

SOSI delimiters are displayed automatically in a local or remote file, when a remote DBCS code page is detected for the file. When you type text, you do not need to type SOSI bytes; the editor automatically detects when to display them. However, when you copy text with a SOSI delimiter outside of the editor, the delimiter is not included in the pasted text.

SOSI delimiter symbols are not printed or included in the Outline view or in the compare editorStructural Differences Outline. Instead, a white space is displayed in place of the symbol.

In the System z® LPEX Editor, you can choose not to insert SOSI delimiters when you save a local or offline resource. For information about this option, see Setting file save preferences.

Limitations: The COBOL, JCL, and PL/I Editors have the following limitations:
  1. DBCS elements might be displayed with an incomplete underline or border annotation. For example, a real-time syntax check warning annotation on a DBCS element might underline only a portion of the DBCS element.
  2. When you use the print action, the SOSI bytes and the first and last DBCS characters are missing from the printed file. As a workaround, you can print from the System z LPEX Editor.

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