It is worth while pointing out that although many characters and graphic symbols are common to all DBCS languages (e.g. all the alphanumeric characters and symbols, Roman and Greek letters, etc.), they have different code points on the code pages for different DBCS languages, even the DBCS space character is assigned to different code points. The host 42 word character codes for these characters are common in these languages, but the PC code pages are different, so you must not assume they are the same. If an application program wants to perform the functions such as converting an alphanumeric or symbol character from its SBCS code to its DBCS code, then it has to prepare a translation or conversion table for all code pages. Another handling method is, the application program can prepare a symbol file to defined these characters in a tag─symbol format and allow user to apply these symbols, so that they can be independent from languages. A good example is the APSYMBOL.APS file which is provided by the IPF compiler. Just for an example, the Example of Code Points Used in Each DBCS National Language shows the code points of several alphanumeric characters.
┌─────────────────────┬──────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐ │ │ DBCS │ DBCS CHARACTER │ │ LANGUAGE │ Code ├─────┬─────┬─────┬─────┬─────┤ │ │ Page │ 'A' │ '5' │ ' ' │ '%' │ 'IV'│ ├─────────────────────┼──────────────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤ │ Japanese │ 301 PC │8260H│8254H│8140H│8193H│FA4DH│ │ │ 300 Host │42C1H│42F5H│4040H│426CH│4653H│ ├─────────────────────┼──────────────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤ │ Korean │ 951 PC │A3C1H│A3B5H│A1A1H│A3A5H│A5B3H│ │ │ 834 Host │42C1H│42F5H│4040H│426CH│4653H│ ├─────────────────────┼──────────────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤ │ Simplified Chinese │ 1380 PC │A3C1H│A3B5H│A1A1H│A3A5H│A2F4H│ │ P.R.C. │ 837 Host │42C1H│42F5H│4040H│426CH│41F4H│ ├─────────────────────┼──────────────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┤ │ Traditional Chinese │ 927 PC │8260H│8254H│8140H│8193H│8B44H│ │ │ 947 PC BIG5 │A2CFH│A2B4H│A140H│A248H│A2BCH│ │ R.O.C. │ 835 Host │42C1H│42F5H│4040H│426CH│41F4H│ └─────────────────────┴──────────────┴─────┴─────┴─────┴─────┴─────┘ Example of Code Points Used in Each DBCS National Language