SQR Configuration for Processing International Text

SQR for PeopleSoft uses Unicode for internal storage of character data regardless of whether you are running against a Unicode encoded PeopleSoft database. This enables a single instance of SQR to process data in virtually any language.

Although SQR runs using Unicode internally, it automatically converts data read from and written to files to the appropriate non-Unicode encoding based on configurations made in the pssqr.ini/unx file. You can modify the delivered configuration to use different non-Unicode encoding based on your integration and reporting needs. Further, you can use Unicode as the input and output character set if your printer or external system communicating with SQR by file can process Unicode data.

The PeopleSoft system delivers pssqr.ini/unx files with configurations for each supported language and database connection. Manual configuration is not required for basic processing of supported languages or to connect to a Unicode database. The information in this section will help you customize SQR for PeopleSoft to better suit your integration and reporting requirements.

See The PSSQR.INI and PSSQR.UNX Files.

Advanced PSSQR.INI/UNX Settings

The following parameters under the [Environment: Common] or [Environment: <Database type>] sections of the pssqr.ini/unx file control the character set SQR uses for specific operations. The ENCODING parameter sets the default encoding for all types of operations. You can, however, control encodings for each operation independently by adding the parameters in the [Environment: Common] section of the file.

ENCODING
ENCODING-SQR-SOURCE
ENCODING-FILE-OUTPUT
ENCODING-FILE-INPUT
ENCODING-REPORT-OUTPUT
ENCODING-CONSOLE

If an individual encoding parameter is explicitly included, this specific setting overrides the default encoding specified by the ENCODING parameter.

  • The ENCODING-SQR-SOURCE parameter specifies the encoding in which the SQR source (*.SQR, *.SQC) files are encoded.

  • The ENCODING-FILE-OUTPUT and ENCODING-FILE-INPUT parameters control the character set that is used to read and write files using the SQR OPEN command.

    If no character set is specified explicitly in the OPEN command, the character set specified in these parameters is used to read or write the file. If SQR detects a byte-order mark (BOM) at the top of file, it always reads as a Unicode file, regardless of this setting.

  • The ENCODING-REPORT-OUTPUT parameter determines the encoding used for report output types LP, HP, PS, and CSV.

    The parameter should be set to a character set that contains all the characters you expect to print using SQR and, if you intend to print the output on a printer, it should also be set to the character set that the printer supports. Output in SPF, HTML, Enhanced HTML, and PDF format is not controlled by this parameter. SPF HTML, and Enhanced HTML always use Unicode for their output, and PDF output is controlled exclusively by the font configuration.

  • The ENCODING-CONSOLE parameter determines the character set that is used to write progress and other messages to the console during an SQR run.

    In Microsoft Windows, the encoding used by DOS consoles, such as the one that is used by SQR, is known as an OEM encoding; this is often different from the character set that is used by Microsoft Windows. See Microsoft's web site, OEM Code Pages, for a list of Microsoft Windows OEM code pages. For Unix/Linux systems, this setting should match the character set that is supported by your terminal device.

  • If the ENCODING parameter is not set, SQR determines the encoding to use based on the machine locale.

  • If the same parameter is not set in the [Environment: Common] and [Environment: <Database Type>] sections of the pssqr.ini/unx file, the configuration in the [Environment: <Database Type>] section overrides the configuration in the [Environment: Common] section.

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