The main purpose of class RWDBMBString is to assist users of the DB Interface Module in differentiating between plain ASCII strings and multibyte character set strings. For example, some databases may require quotation marks around national character set strings when inserted into or compared with national character set columns (NCHAR, NVARCHAR). If all strings are stored in RWCString instances, the DB Interface Module cannot determine which strings need special quotes and which do not.

Some databases require different treatment for standard character strings and national character strings. For this reason, it is the application programmer’s responsibility to treat standard character string columns and national character string columns as different types.

If multibyte strings and national character columns are used in a DB Interface Module application, using RWDBMBString as the implementation of the multibyte strings ensures maximum cross-database portability.

You should use RWDBMBString like any other datatype. You should check your Access Module Guide to see if there any specific restrictions that apply to your database.

RWDBMBString is a direct subclass of RWCString from the Essential Tools Module. All the member functions that are available in RWCString are also available in RWDBMBString. This includes the use of regular expression and substring classes.