A composite data type that consists of a length prefix, a data string, and a terminator.
Length Prefix
•Consists of a four-byte integer
•Occurs immediately before the first character of the data string
•Contains the number of bytes in the following data string
•Does not include the terminator
Data String
•Consists of a string of Unicode characters (wide or double-byte characters)
•May contain multiple embedded null characters
Terminator
•Consists of two null characters (0x00)