Configure the primary language

A primary language consists of program code, textual data for each licensed program ordered, and default national language cultural values.

The primary language is the language in which the system is serviced and from which all language-dependent or cultural-dependent system values are initialized. In addition, other system objects and functions assume attributes based on the primary language. For example, messages appearing in the history log always appear in the primary language.

For each licensed program installed on the server, the national language version for the primary language is in the product library. For example, the i5/OS™ operating system ordered in Spanish is installed in library QSYS as the primary language.

The server provides default system values for each of the primary languages. If some of the defaults do not meet the needs of your users, you can change some language-dependent system values.

Select and change the primary language

Choosing your primary language is important. i5/OS lets you change your primary language to accommodate your business needs based on the country in which you are operating. Keep in mind, however, that changing the primary language can take several hours or longer to accomplish.

To change a primary language on your system, you can order a different primary language from IBM^®. If you have a secondary language tape for the language you want as your new primary language, you can change the primary language from that tape. For example, if you have a primary language of U.S. English, and a secondary language of Canadian French, you can use the Canadian French secondary language tape to change your primary language to Canadian French.

When you change a primary or secondary language, and want to continue receiving software and documentation updates for future releases of licensed programs that you are currently using, contact your IBM representative.

Selecting and changing a primary language affects the following operational characteristics of your system:

Cultural values of the user.
Language used to communicate with the system through user interfaces presented through a workstation or printer (see the figure in the topic Example: How locales work).
Implied character identifier (CHRID) of the character data stored in objects other than database files, message files, and message queues on the system.

All user-created files that have an implicit CCSID are tagged with the job default CCSID (DFTCCSID).

If you change the primary language and the CCSID for the data remains the same, there is no effect on your system. An example is to change the primary language from the German MNCS to the Italian MNCS, of which both use CCSID 00500. The multinational character set refers to character set 00697 and code page 00500.
If changing the primary language includes changing the CCSID value, the character data in objects other than database files might not be presented properly through the system and user interfaces. The database manager automatically converts character data unless conversion is suppressed by the application that processes the file. Data in objects other than database files are displayed correctly if the CHRID value of the display file, panel group, or menu is *JOBCCSID.