We use IBM i Netserver to provide access (internally within the company) to files on IFS. Currently The CCSID configuration value at the Netserver server level I currently set to 0 and new IFS files created via Netsver (for example by using Windows Explorer) are having their ccsid attribute set to 1250 by Netserver upon creation.
We started to use UTF-8 encoded files for some application (ccsid 1208). At the moment we can't simply create such files via Netserver share and use them straight away, because after creation we need to alter the ccsid attribute from 1250 to 1208.
Is it possible to configure IBM i Netserver share so that a new IFS file created on Windows workstation via this share will have it's ccsid attribute set to a specified ccsid (1208 in my case) which is different from the Netserver ccsid (1250 in my case)?
I did some documentation and internet searching. I've found only one note on the following web page, that suggest that should be possible.
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=nas8N1017350
It says : "... When a file is created through NetServer, the CCSID of the file is the CCSID of the share or, if not provided, the CCSID of the server....". I am not quite sure what is meant by "CCSID of the share" in that text. I've been unable to find any other reference to that term.
Looking at the Netserver share configuration dialog in System i Navigator I asked my system admins to create a new Netserver share, that had the simple text conversion turned on and the CCSID set to 1208 - I was hoping that the CCSID that is set in the dialog is what was referred to as "CCSID of the share". I created a new IFS file using that new share but unfortunately it was created with CCSID attribute = 1250 - not 1208.
The CCSID for created files is the "NetServer CCSID", before a different share CCSID. The NetServer Properties dialog, Advanced tab, shows current settings. The 'Next start' button lets you change the NetServer CCSID. Stopping and restarting the NetServer server puts the new CCSID into effect.
Worse, when a file is copied into a NetServer share that has a share CCSID different from the NetServer CCSID and the extension matches one listed for 'Text conversion' for that share, the created file should have the share CCSID set for it. However, existing lines in the copied file won't necessarily be converted. You can easily end up with one CCSID set for the file while the data is still in the original CCSID.
Overall, a number of issues might show up. A major reason historically is that NetServer PTFs haven't always made it into cume packages, so individual PTFs needed to be located. It's much better in current releases, but ensuring (1) that a current cume package is installed and (2) that any relevant NetServer PTFs have been at least reviewed.
If behavior is not as documented, IBM Support should be contacted.