Viewing and Printing the Euro Symbol

by Dale Downing

I recently needed to print the Euro symbol (€) on some of my spool files. I found that this was not a standard capability. My default system value for character identifier was set to 697 for the graphic character set and 037 for the code page. These settings are not Euro ready. So, how can I print the Euro without changing my system value and worrying about what negative affects this might have on other installed software? This can be accomplished with a few simple steps.

First, set up your 5250 session to allow the display of the Euro symbol. Click on Communication--Configure as shown below in Figure 1.

In the middle of the screen, under Type of Emulation, click on Display. Go to the bottom of the screen and set the Host Code-Page drop down box to 1140 United States Euro. This is equivalent to 037 except it includes the Euro symbol. If you have a printer emulation session, do the same thing for your printer by clicking Printer under Type of Emulation and set the code page to 1140 here as well.

Figure 1: (click on the image to see a larger view).

Next, map a key on your keyboard to the Euro symbol. Click on the keyboard icon on your 5250 emulator. Next select a key to map the Euro symbol to. The example in Figure 2 uses ALT E. Select the Euro symbol from the set of characters at the bottom of the screen. Choose File-Save and Exit.

Figure 2: (click on the image to see a larger view).

Your display and printer emulation sessions are now ready to show the Euro.

One other issue needs to be considered. When generating spool files to print to network attached printers, you will have to override the default character identifier setting. This will involve compiling the print file to use the correct code page. When compiling set your character identifier to CHRID(695 1140).

My original system value was CHRID(697 037). This was the original US/Canada setting before the Euro was introduced. The 697/037 and 695/1140 settings are equivalent with exception of the 1140 code page includes the Euro symbol. You can now print the Euro symbol on your spool files.

For more information, see the following links:

iSeries Printer Device Programming, Version 5 (See appendix D)

IBM eServer Code Pages

Dale Downing has been a programmer/analyst for X-Rite Inc. for the past 5 years. He may be contacted at DDowning@xrite.com.