How to fix the Oracle error PCB-00236: Cannot use PIC N/G variable. NLS_NCHAR not set or set incorrectly.?

In this post, you’ll learn more about the Oracle ErrorPCB-00236: Cannot use PIC N/G variable. NLS_NCHAR not set or set incorrectly. with the details on why you receive this error and the possible solution to fix it.

Oracle Error Description

PCB-00236: Cannot use PIC N/G variable. NLS_NCHAR not set or set incorrectly.

Reason for the Error PCB-00236: Cannot use PIC N/G variable. NLS_NCHAR not set or set incorrectly.

Cause: To use PIC N or PIC G variables as host variables, both of the environment variables NLS_LANG and NLS_NCHAR must be set with correct values. One of the following problems has occurred which prevents Pro*COBOL from accepting PIC N and PIC G variables as host variables: 1) One or both of NLS_LANG and NLS_NCHAR are not set at all. 2) NLS_LANG is not set with a valid language, territory, or character set. 3) NLS_NCHAR is not set to a valid NCHAR character set. 4) The character set specified by NLS_NCHAR is not a fixed width character set. Pro*COBOL can only use fixed width character sets for PIC N or PIC G host variables.

How to fix the Error PCB-00236: Cannot use PIC N/G variable. NLS_NCHAR not set or set incorrectly. ?

You can fix this error in Oracle by following the below steps

Action: Set the NLS_NCHAR environment variable to a valid fixed width character set name. Set NLS_LANG with a valid language, territory, and character set.