PH47577: USE OF HIGH-VALUES WITH FIXED BYTE-LENGTH UTF-8 ITEMS MAY PRODUCE INCORRECT RESULTS FOR MOVES/COMPARES

Obtain the fix for this APAR.

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• Use of HIGH-VALUES with fixed byte-length UTF-8 items may
  produce incorrect results for moves/compares
  

Local fix

• BYPASS/CIRCUMVENTION:
  None
  

Problem summary

• ****************************************************************
  * USERS AFFECTED: Users of Enterprise COBOL 6.3 and later      *
  *                 releases running programs                    *
  *                 that contain move and/or compare             *
  *                 operations involving the HIGH-VALUES         *
  *                 figurative constant and a fixed byte-length  *
  *                 UTF-8 data item with a byte length that is   *
  *                 not a multiple of 4 bytes.                   *
  ****************************************************************
  * PROBLEM DESCRIPTION: Incorrect result for move and compare   *
  *                      operations.                             *
  *                                                              *
  *                      When HIGH-VALUES is moved into a fixed  *
  *                      byte-length UTF-8 data item having a    *
  *                      length that is not a multiple of 4      *
  *                      bytes, the UTF-8 receiver will          *
  *                      not technically contain the highest     *
  *                      collating UTF-8 string possible of that *
  *                      byte-length, as any trailing            *
  *                      bytes that cannot contain the full      *
  *                      4-byte encoding of HIGH-VALUES will     *
  *                      be filled with UTF-8 spaces instead of  *
  *                      the highest collating 1, 2 or 3 byte    *
  *                      UTF-8 sequence.                         *
  *                                                              *
  *                      A similar problem occurs when           *
  *                      comparing HIGH-VALUES against a fixed   *
  *                      byte-length UTF-8 data item that        *
  *                      has a length that is not a multiple     *
  *                      of 4 bytes.  When comparing against     *
  *                      the final 1, 2 or 3 bytes in the        *
  *                      data item, UTF-8 spaces are used        *
  *                      instead of the highest collating        *
  *                      1, 2, or 3 byte UTF-8 sequence.         *
  ****************************************************************
  * RECOMMENDATION: Apply the PTF                                *
  ****************************************************************
  When a fixed byte-length UTF-8 data item has a length not evenly
  divisible by 4, the excess bytes at the end of the string
  were being filled with UTF-8 spaces instead of the largest
  UTF-8 value corresponding to that number of bytes.
  

Problem conclusion

• The runtime and compiler have been updated to bring values in
  line with UTF-8 standards. Any remainder bytes of a fixed byte
  length UTF-8 item are set to the encoding of the highest
  possible code point appropriate for that number of remaining
  bytes.
  

Temporary fix

Comments

APAR Information

• APAR is sysrouted FROM one or more of the following:

• APAR is sysrouted TO one or more of the following:

  PH48667

Modules/Macros

• IGY8RWTU IGYCASMB IGYCCBE  IGYCCCRT IGYCCICS IGYCCSRV IGYCDGEN
  IGYCDIAG IGYCDMAP IGYCEN$0 IGYCEN$1 IGYCEN$2 IGYCEN$3 IGYCEN$4
  IGYCEN$5 IGYCEN$8 IGYCEN$D IGYCEN$R IGYCFGEN IGYCFREE IGYCINIT
  IGYCJA$0 IGYCJA$1 IGYCJA$2 IGYCJA$3 IGYCJA$4 IGYCJA$5 IGYCJA$8
  IGYCJA$D IGYCJA$R IGYCLIBR IGYCLSTR IGYCLVL0 IGYCLVL1 IGYCLVL2
  IGYCLVL3 IGYCLVL8 IGYCMALL IGYCOPI  IGYCOSCN IGYCPGEN IGYCRCTL
  IGYCRDPR IGYCRDSC IGYCREAL IGYCRWT  IGYCSCAN IGYCSIMD IGYCUE$0
  IGYCUE$1 IGYCUE$2 IGYCUE$3 IGYCUE$4 IGYCUE$5 IGYCUE$8 IGYCUE$D
  IGYCUE$R IGYCXREF IGYDRV   IGYEQCWI IGYMSGE  IGYMSGK  IGYMSGT
  IGYQCB   IGYQCBE  IGYQCBG  IGYQSPLT IGYTCARA IGYTSALE IGYZQEN6
  IGYZQENU IGYZQJP6 IGYZQJPN
  

Fix information

• Fixed component name

  ENT COBOL FOR Z

• Fixed component ID

  5655EC600

Applicable component levels

• R630 PSY UI81630

     UP22/07/29 P F207

• R631 PSY UI81631

     UP22/07/29 P F207

• R632 PSY UI81632

     UP22/07/29 P F207

Fix is available

• Select the PTF appropriate for your component level. You will be required to sign in. Distribution on physical media is not available in all countries.