System for accessing databases with different character sets

摘要

A system and method for converting character sets stored in at least one database into different character sets. First, an Activity including a requesting object makes a request of a Link. The Link including a receiving object and a retrieving object receives the request and retrieves the corresponding data from the database. The retrieval process creates a "stream" object from the data and a character set indicator. The stream object is transmitted to the Activity which processes the request. During processing, a request may be made of the stream object for the data in a particular character set. The stream object determines whether the retrieved character set matches the character set requested. If the data requires converting, the stream object, comprising a converting object converts the data into the target character set. The data is then presented to the requester in the target character set. If no conversion is necessary, the data is sent directly to the requestor.