Choose code pages based on the character data you use in mappings. Character data can be represented by character modes based on the character size. Character size is the storage space a character requires in the database. Different character sizes can be defined as follows:
Single-byte. A character represented as a unique number between 0 and 255. One byte is eight bits. ASCII characters are single-byte characters.
Double-byte. A character two bytes or 16 bits in size represented as a unique number 256 or greater. Many Asian languages, such as Chinese, have double-byte characters.
Multibyte. A character two or more bytes in size is represented as a unique number 256 or greater. Many Asian languages, such as Chinese, have multibyte characters.