NLSCOMPATMODE System Option: z/OS

Provides national language compatibility with previous releases of SAS.

Valid in:	configuration file, SAS invocation
Category:	Environment control: Language control
PROC OPTIONS GROUP=	LANGUAGECONTROL
Default:	NONLSCOMPATMODE

Syntax

Details

Syntax

NLSCOMPATMODE | NONLSCOMPATMODE

Syntax Description

NLSCOMPATMODE: provides compatibility with previous releases of SAS in order to process data in languages other than English, which is the default language. Programs that ran in previous releases of SAS will continue to work when NLSCOMPATMODE is set.

Note: NLSCOMPATMODE might affect the format of outputs that are produced using ODS. If you are using ODS, set the option value to NONLSCOMPATMODE.

NONLSCOMPATMODE: provides support for data processing using native characters for languages other than English. When NONLSCOMPATMODE is set, character data is processed using the encoding that is specified for the SAS session.

When NONLSCOMPATMODE is in effect, SAS does not support substitution characters in SAS syntax. If you run SAS with NONLSCOMPATMODE, you must update existing programs to use national characters instead of substitution characters. For example, Danish customers who have substituted the 'Å' for the '$' character in existing SAS programs will have to update the SAS syntax to use the '$' in their environments.

Details

The NONLSCOMPATMODE system option is provided for international customers who use non-English encodings and who want to take advantage of emerging industry standards when they are coding new applications.

The NLSCOMPATMODE or NONLSCOMPATMODE settings do not change the value of the LOCALE or ENCODING system options. When NONLSCOMPATMODE is in effect, the encoding that SAS uses to process character data is the encoding that is set by the ENCODING or LOCALE options. Compiler and Session encoding characters remain separate.

Note: In preparation for deprecating the NLSCOMPATMODE option, the following warning will be displayed in the SAS log when NLSCOMPATMODE is set: SAS has been started in NLS compatibility mode with the NLSCOMPATMODE option. This option will be deprecated in a future release of SAS and NLS compatibility mode will no longer be supported. For more information, contact a SAS representative or Technical Support.