Character Set

A group of characters (alphanumeric, text, or special) usually associated with one or more languages, such as the English alphabet or Japanese kanji. There are many character sets used in the computing industry. Character sets are identified by a character set name.

Character Set Encoding

Also known as character encoding. A specific computer representation of a character set. Some character sets can have multiple encodings—for example, Western European or Latin 1 is encoded differently in ISO 8859-1, 8859-15, ANSI 1252 (Microsoft standard), and EBCDIC. Unicode also comes in different encodings, such as UTF-8 or UTF-16. In general, the differences in encodings are between ISO, ANSI, and EBCDIC.

Character Set Encoding Name

A name identifying a character set encoding. For character sets with a single encoding, the character set encoding name and the character set name are usually the same. The notable exception is Unicode. Aside from Unicode, the most prominent example of a character set with multiple encodings is JIS (Japan Industrial Standard). Shift-JIS, EUC, and ISO 2022-JP are all encodings based on JIS. As with character set names, industry standardization is minimal and there are multiple names for the same encoding.

Character Set Name

A name identifying a character set, for example Western European or Latin 1. These names are not well-standardized and many character sets have multiple names. However, you can use formal identifiers to clearly specify a character set when necessary.

Code Page

Also known as codepage. A Microsoft Windows implementation of a character set encoding. Some other vendors use the term code page and even in Microsoft Windows, it is used for ANSI code page (Windows) and OEM code page (DOS), but not for ISO character sets. IBM uses a numbering system which is similar, and often identical, to Microsoft. However, IBM renumbers extensions while Microsoft does not, which can lead to instructions, such as, "Use IBM 943 with Siebel applications and MS 932; IBM 932 is an older version."

Code Page Number

A Microsoft Windows designator for a Microsoft Windows code page. This number is used by the Windows operating system to identify code pages and is similar to a character set encoding name.

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)

Also known as universal time coordinated. A time scale defined and recommended by the International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR), and maintained by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM). The Global Time Zone feature uses UTC, which does not observe daylight savings time (DST). For more information, see Configuring Global Applications.

Formatting

The formatting of data, such as dates, time, numbers, and currency. For more information, see Formatting.

Global Deployment

The process of installing, configuring, testing, and deploying Siebel eBusiness Applications in more than one locale and language.

Internationalization

Internationalization (often abbreviated as I18N since there are 18 characters between the initial I and the terminal N) refers to the process of making a software product that can correctly process data for any customer, including data entry and display, through proper locale. For more information, see Internationalization.

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)

An Internet body that managed Internet addresses, domain names and protocol parameters. It has been replaced by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which was formed in 1998. IANA conventions are used for the World Wide Web, email, and XML.

Locale

A locale refers to a set of user preference information related to the user's language and cultural conventions. For more information, see Locale.

Localization

Localization (often abbreviated L10N since there are 10 characters between the initial L and the terminal N) is the process of adapting a program for a specific locale. For more information, see Localization.

Multicurrency Support

A feature that allows automatic currency conversion and currency formatting. For more information, see Multicurrency Support.

Platform

A platform includes the operating system of the various entities of a Siebel deployment; the database, the Siebel servers, and the clients and the character set used by these entities. For more information, see Platform.

Siebel Character Set Encoding Name

The name used within Siebel eBusiness Applications to refer to a specific character set encoding.

Siebel Language

The language of the Siebel eBusiness Applications software installed on the system. For more information, see Siebel Language.

Traditional (Non-Unicode) Character Set

Traditional (Non-Unicode) character sets refer to character sets other than Unicode and imply that the character set supports a restricted set of characters. Typically, a traditional character set supports the alphabet of a single language or collection of languages that use the same or similar alphabets.

Unicode Character Set

A character set defined by the Unicode Consortium that is the union of most of the major character sets used in the computing industry.