Problem:

Is the Host Compatibility Option (HCO) available for Net Express?

Is the Host Compatibility Option (HCO) available for Server Express?

Is the Host Compatibility Option (HCO) available for UNIX platforms ?

Compiling an application with the DB2 and CHARSET(EBCDIC) directives returns an 801-S error (Does not accept EBCDIC data).

Resolution:

Up to and including the 5.0 WrapPack 2 releases of Net Express and Server Express 5.0, it was not possible to compile DB2 applications with the CHARSET(EBCDIC) directive.

As of the 5.0 WrapPack 3 release of both Net Express and Server Express, the Host Compatibility Option (HCO) is now available as part of the base product installation.

HCO is a set of tools that enable you to offload DB2 for z/OS development and testing to Windows or UNIX platforms using IBM's DB2 Universal Database (UDB) V5 or later.

HCO does this by allowing EBCDIC-enabled programs to work with DB2 UDB.

In addition, HCO can be used to re-host applications where the target run-time environment can change. HCO gives you the flexibility to use mainframe SQL syntax but replace character front ends with graphical interfaces.

Included in HCO are tools to:

    * Create databases with EBCDIC collating sequences

    * Process SQL DDL statements so that DB2 table definitions stored on

       the mainframe can be downloaded to the PC and used to create tables

       without having to be modified

    * Generate copybooks for tables (DCLGEN)

    * Export data in a variety of formats

    * Import data in a variety of formats

Refer to the Host Compatibility Option Technical Guide within the product documentation for further details.