Selecting Application Server Character Sets

All data that is stored in memory and processed by the PeopleTools application server is held in Unicode. However, the application server allows files on the server (created through PeopleCode file layout objects) and log and trace files to be Unicode or non-Unicode. Although the PeopleSoft application server uses Unicode internally for all data processing, it can create these files in Unicode or in a non-Unicode character set.

Each PeopleSoft application server is configured with a default character set, UTF-8. If a file operation must create a non-Unicode file, this character set is used, unless another character set is explicitly specified in the file operation. For example, if you create a file layout object to write a non-Unicode file, but you don’t specify in which character set the file should be created, the default non-Unicode character set of the application server is used.

Microsoft Windows enables you to change the default character set of the system, although as installed, the default character set matches the default locale of the Microsoft Windows installation. To change the system default locale (and therefore the character set), on Microsoft Windows servers, use the Control Panel’s Regional Options menu. In the Language settings for the system section, click the Set Default button.

When running on Unix/Linux, the PeopleSoft application server enables you to specify the default non-Unicode character set in the application server’s configuration file, which you select by using the PSADMIN tool. Any valid PeopleSoft character set with a character set type of SBCS or nonshifting DBCS is a valid default non-Unicode character set for PeopleSoft application servers that run on Unix/Linux.