Message Files

Previous versions of OS/2 supported only a single codepage for message files used by the system and by applications within the system. This created a problem where a process used a codepage other than the system's primary codepage, since messages appeared using the primary codepage rather than the codepage specific to that process. OS/2 Version 2.0 resolves this problem by allowing multiple codepages in a single message file, and allowing a message to be retrieved by a process using the codepage currently used by that process. This level of support has resulted in changes in the following areas:

  • The message file structure is modified to include codepage and language identification.

  • The MKMSGF utility is enhanced to create multiple codepage message files.

  • The MSGBIND utility is enhanced to allow the binding of messages for multiple codepages to a single application program.

  • The DosGetMessage() function call in MSG.DLL is enhanced to retrieve messages based on the current codepage of a process.

  • A new DosQueryMessageCp() function is added to MSG.DLL to retrieve the list of codepage and language identifiers present in the application's message file.

    Using this support, an application may query the current codepage for its parent process using the DosQueryCp() function, ensure that codepage is supported by the application's message file by issuing a DosQueryMessageCp() call, and then issue DosGetMessage() calls specifying the appropriate codepage for the message to be retrieved. For most applications, it is recommended that the multinational codepage 850 be used where support for multiple national languages is required.

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