Character Classes of the Code Set

A GLS locale groups the characters of a code set into character classes. Each class contains characters that have a related purpose. GLS supports 12 classes. The contents of a character class can be language specific. For example, the lower class contains all alphabetic lowercase characters in a code set. The code set of the default locale groups the letters a through z into the lower class, which also includes other lowercase characters such as á, è, î, õ, and ü.

To be internationalized, your application must not assume which characters belong in a given character class. Instead, use IBM Informix GLS library functions to identify the class of a particular character.