The default settings for the internationalization features can be established at the following levels:

There is a priority associated with these levels. A setting at the task level overrides a setting at the session level. A setting at the session level overrides a setting at the usercode level. A setting at the usercode level overrides a setting at the system level, and so on. A default language and convention can be established at any level, but the default ccsversion can be established only at the system level.

Two task attributes enable you to change the language, the convention, or both. These attributes are the LANGUAGE and the CONVENTION task attributes. By using these attributes, you have the option to select from among multiple languages and conventions when running a program. Information on the use of task attributes is provided in the Task Attributes Programming Reference Manual.

The LANGUAGE task attribute establishes the language used by a program at run time. The CONVENTION task attribute establishes the convention used by a program at run time. For example, an international bank might have a program to print bank statements for customers in different countries. This program could have a general routine to format dates, times, currency, and numerics according to the selected conventions. To print a bank statement for a French customer, this program could set the CONVENTION task attribute to France Bureautique and process the general routine. For a customer in Sweden, the program could set the CONVENTION task attribute to Sweden and process the general routine.

As you code your program you can use the defaults in both the source code and the calls to the CENTRALSUPPORT library, or you can use the settings of your choice. The task level and system level are probably the most useful levels for your program. Because the language and convention features have task attributes defined, you can access or set these task attributes in your program.