annotate man/mule.texi @ 33508:027d4bc2e846

(BINDING_STACK_SIZE): New macro.
author Gerd Moellmann <gerd@gnu.org>
date Wed, 15 Nov 2000 19:24:35 +0000
parents d65f9772ee72
children 78ec4a7ba765
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1 @c This is part of the Emacs manual.
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2 @c Copyright (C) 1997, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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3 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
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4 @node International, Major Modes, Frames, Top
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5 @chapter International Character Set Support
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6 @cindex MULE
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7 @cindex international scripts
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8 @cindex multibyte characters
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9 @cindex encoding of characters
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10
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11 @cindex Celtic
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12 @cindex Chinese
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13 @cindex Cyrillic
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14 @cindex Czech
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15 @cindex Devanagari
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16 @cindex Hindi
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17 @cindex Marathi
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18 @cindex Ethiopic
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19 @cindex German
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20 @cindex Greek
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21 @cindex Hebrew
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22 @cindex IPA
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23 @cindex Japanese
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24 @cindex Korean
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25 @cindex Lao
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26 @cindex Latin
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27 @cindex Polish
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28 @cindex Romanian
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29 @cindex Slovak
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30 @cindex Slovenian
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31 @cindex Thai
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32 @cindex Tibetan
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33 @cindex Turkish
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34 @cindex Vietnamese
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35 Emacs supports a wide variety of international character sets,
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36 including European variants of the Latin alphabet, as well as Chinese,
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37 Cyrillic, Devanagari (Hindi and Marathi), Ethiopic, Greek, Hebrew, IPA,
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38 Japanese, Korean, Lao, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese scripts. These features
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39 have been merged from the modified version of Emacs known as MULE (for
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40 ``MULti-lingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs'')
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41
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42 Emacs also supports various encodings of these characters used by
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43 internationalized software, such as word processors, mailers, etc.
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44
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45 @menu
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46 * International Intro:: Basic concepts of multibyte characters.
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47 * Enabling Multibyte:: Controlling whether to use multibyte characters.
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48 * Language Environments:: Setting things up for the language you use.
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49 * Input Methods:: Entering text characters not on your keyboard.
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50 * Select Input Method:: Specifying your choice of input methods.
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51 * Multibyte Conversion:: How single-byte characters convert to multibyte.
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52 * Coding Systems:: Character set conversion when you read and
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53 write files, and so on.
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54 * Recognize Coding:: How Emacs figures out which conversion to use.
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55 * Specify Coding:: Various ways to choose which conversion to use.
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56 * Fontsets:: Fontsets are collections of fonts
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57 that cover the whole spectrum of characters.
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58 * Defining Fontsets:: Defining a new fontset.
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59 * Single-Byte Character Support::
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60 You can pick one European character set
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61 to use without multibyte characters.
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62 @end menu
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63
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64 @node International Intro
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65 @section Introduction to International Character Sets
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66
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67 The users of international character sets and scripts have established
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68 many more-or-less standard coding systems for storing files. Emacs
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69 internally uses a single multibyte character encoding, so that it can
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70 intermix characters from all these scripts in a single buffer or string.
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71 This encoding represents each non-ASCII character as a sequence of bytes
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72 in the range 0200 through 0377. Emacs translates between the multibyte
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73 character encoding and various other coding systems when reading and
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74 writing files, when exchanging data with subprocesses, and (in some
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75 cases) in the @kbd{C-q} command (@pxref{Multibyte Conversion}).
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76
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77 @kindex C-h h
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78 @findex view-hello-file
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79 The command @kbd{C-h h} (@code{view-hello-file}) displays the file
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80 @file{etc/HELLO}, which shows how to say ``hello'' in many languages.
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81 This illustrates various scripts. If the font you're using doesn't have
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82 characters for all those different languages, you will see some hollow
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83 boxes instead of characters; see @ref{Fontsets}.
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84
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85 @findex list-charset-chars
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86 @cindex characters in a certain charset
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87 The command @kbd{M-x list-charset-chars} prompts for a name of a
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88 character set, and displays all the characters in that character set.
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89
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90 @findex describe-character-set
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91 @cindex character set, description
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92 The command @kbd{M-x describe-character-set} prompts for a character
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93 set name and displays information about that character set, including
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94 its internal representation within Emacs.
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95
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96 Keyboards, even in the countries where these character sets are used,
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97 generally don't have keys for all the characters in them. So Emacs
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98 supports various @dfn{input methods}, typically one for each script or
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99 language, to make it convenient to type them.
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100
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101 @kindex C-x RET
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102 The prefix key @kbd{C-x @key{RET}} is used for commands that pertain
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103 to multibyte characters, coding systems, and input methods.
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104
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105 @node Enabling Multibyte
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106 @section Enabling Multibyte Characters
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107
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108 You can enable or disable multibyte character support, either for
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109 Emacs as a whole, or for a single buffer. When multibyte characters are
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110 disabled in a buffer, then each byte in that buffer represents a
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111 character, even codes 0200 through 0377. The old features for
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112 supporting the European character sets, ISO Latin-1 and ISO Latin-2,
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113 work as they did in Emacs 19 and also work for the other ISO 8859
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114 character sets.
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115
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116 However, there is no need to turn off multibyte character support to
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117 use ISO Latin; the Emacs multibyte character set includes all the
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118 characters in these character sets, and Emacs can translate
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119 automatically to and from the ISO codes.
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120
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121 To edit a particular file in unibyte representation, visit it using
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122 @code{find-file-literally}. @xref{Visiting}. To convert a buffer in
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123 multibyte representation into a single-byte representation of the same
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124 characters, the easiest way is to save the contents in a file, kill the
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125 buffer, and find the file again with @code{find-file-literally}. You
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126 can also use @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c}
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127 (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}) and specify @samp{raw-text} as
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128 the coding system with which to find or save a file. @xref{Specify
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129 Coding}. Finding a file as @samp{raw-text} doesn't disable format
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130 conversion, uncompression and auto mode selection as
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131 @code{find-file-literally} does.
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132
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133 @vindex enable-multibyte-characters
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134 @vindex default-enable-multibyte-characters
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135 To turn off multibyte character support by default, start Emacs with
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136 the @samp{--unibyte} option (@pxref{Initial Options}), or set the
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203ba1f77b7b *** empty log message ***
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137 environment variable @env{EMACS_UNIBYTE}. You can also customize
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138 @code{enable-multibyte-characters} or, equivalently, directly set the
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139 variable @code{default-enable-multibyte-characters} in your init file to
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140 have basically the same effect as @samp{--unibyte}.
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141
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142 @cindex Lisp files, and multibyte operation
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143 @cindex multibyte operation, and Lisp files
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144 @cindex unibyte operation, and Lisp files
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145 @cindex init file, and non-ASCII characters
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146 @cindex environment variables, and non-ASCII characters
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147 Multibyte strings are not created during initialization from the
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148 values of environment variables, @file{/etc/passwd} entries etc.@: that
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149 contain non-ASCII 8-bit characters. However, Lisp files, when they are
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150 loaded for running, and in particular the initialization file
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151 @file{.emacs}, are normally read as multibyte---even with
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152 @samp{--unibyte}. To avoid multibyte strings being generated by
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153 non-ASCII characters in Lisp files, put @samp{-*-unibyte: t;-*-} in a
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154 comment on the first line, or specify the coding system @samp{raw-text}
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155 with @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c}. Do the same for initialization files for
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156 packages like Gnus.
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157
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158 The mode line indicates whether multibyte character support is enabled
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159 in the current buffer. If it is, there are two or more characters (most
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160 often two dashes) before the colon near the beginning of the mode line.
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161 When multibyte characters are not enabled, just one dash precedes the
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162 colon.
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163
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164 @node Language Environments
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165 @section Language Environments
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166 @cindex language environments
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167
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168 All supported character sets are supported in Emacs buffers whenever
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169 multibyte characters are enabled; there is no need to select a
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170 particular language in order to display its characters in an Emacs
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171 buffer. However, it is important to select a @dfn{language environment}
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172 in order to set various defaults. The language environment really
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173 represents a choice of preferred script (more or less) rather than a
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174 choice of language.
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175
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176 The language environment controls which coding systems to recognize
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177 when reading text (@pxref{Recognize Coding}). This applies to files,
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178 incoming mail, netnews, and any other text you read into Emacs. It may
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179 also specify the default coding system to use when you create a file.
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180 Each language environment also specifies a default input method.
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181
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182 @findex set-language-environment
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183 @vindex current-language-environment
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184 To select a language environment, customize the option
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185 @code{current-language-environment} or use the command @kbd{M-x
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186 set-language-environment}. It makes no difference which buffer is
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187 current when you use this command, because the effects apply globally to
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188 the Emacs session. The supported language environments include:
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189
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190 @cindex euro sign
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191 @quotation
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192 Chinese-BIG5, Chinese-CNS, Chinese-GB, Cyrillic-ALT, Cyrillic-ISO,
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193 Cyrillic-KOI8, Czech, Devanagari, English, Ethiopic, German, Greek,
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194 Hebrew, IPA, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Latin-1, Latin-2, Latin-3, Latin-4,
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195 Latin-5, Latin-8 (Celtic), Latin-9 (updated Latin-1, with the Euro
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196 sign), Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, and
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197 Vietnamese.
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198 @end quotation
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199
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200 @cindex fonts, for displaying different languages
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201 To be able to display the script(s) used by your language environment
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202 on a windowed display, you need to have a suitable font installed. If
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203 some of the characters appear as empty boxes, download and install the
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204 GNU Intlfonts distribution, which includes fonts for all supported
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205 scripts. @xref{Fontsets}, for more details about setting up your
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206 fonts.
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207
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208 @findex set-locale-environment
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209 @vindex locale-language-names
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210 @vindex locale-charset-language-names
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211 Some operating systems let you specify the language you are using by
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212 setting the locale environment variables @env{LC_ALL}, @env{LC_CTYPE},
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213 and @env{LANG}; the first of these which is nonempty specifies your
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214 locale. Emacs handles this during startup by invoking the
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215 @code{set-locale-environment} function, which matches your locale
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216 against entries in the value of the variable
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217 @code{locale-language-names} and selects the corresponding language
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218 environment if a match is found. But if your locale also matches an
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219 entry in the variable @code{locale-charset-language-names}, this entry
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220 is preferred if its character set disagrees. For example, suppose the
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221 locale @samp{en_GB.ISO8859-15} matches @code{"Latin-1"} in
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222 @code{locale-language-names} and @code{"Latin-9"} in
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223 @code{locale-charset-language-names}; since these two language
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224 environments' character sets disagree, Emacs uses @code{"Latin-9"}.
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225
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226 If all goes well, the @code{set-locale-environment} function selects
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227 the language environment, since language is part of locale. It also
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228 adjusts the display table and terminal coding system, the locale coding
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229 system, and the preferred coding system as needed for the locale.
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230
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231 Since the @code{set-locale-environment} function is automatically
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232 invoked during startup, you normally do not need to invoke it yourself.
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233 However, if you modify the @env{LC_ALL}, @env{LC_CTYPE}, or @env{LANG}
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234 environment variables, you may want to invoke the
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235 @code{set-locale-environment} function afterwards.
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236
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237 @findex set-locale-environment
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238 @vindex locale-preferred-coding-systems
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239 The @code{set-locale-environment} function normally uses the preferred
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240 coding system established by the language environment to decode system
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241 messages. But if your locale matches an entry in the variable
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242 @code{locale-preferred-coding-systems}, Emacs uses the corresponding
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243 coding system instead. For example, if the locale @samp{ja_JP.PCK}
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244 matches @code{japanese-shift-jis} in
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245 @code{locale-preferred-coding-systems}, Emacs uses that encoding even
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246 though it might normally use @code{japanese-iso-8bit}.
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247
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248 The environment chosen from the locale when Emacs starts is
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249 overidden by any explicit use of the command
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250 @code{set-language-environment} or customization of
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251 @code{current-language-environment} in your init file.
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252
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253 @kindex C-h L
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254 @findex describe-language-environment
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255 To display information about the effects of a certain language
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256 environment @var{lang-env}, use the command @kbd{C-h L @var{lang-env}
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257 @key{RET}} (@code{describe-language-environment}). This tells you which
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258 languages this language environment is useful for, and lists the
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259 character sets, coding systems, and input methods that go with it. It
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260 also shows some sample text to illustrate scripts used in this language
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261 environment. By default, this command describes the chosen language
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262 environment.
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263
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264 @vindex set-language-environment-hook
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265 You can customize any language environment with the normal hook
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266 @code{set-language-environment-hook}. The command
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267 @code{set-language-environment} runs that hook after setting up the new
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268 language environment. The hook functions can test for a specific
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269 language environment by checking the variable
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270 @code{current-language-environment}.
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271
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272 @vindex exit-language-environment-hook
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273 Before it starts to set up the new language environment,
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274 @code{set-language-environment} first runs the hook
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275 @code{exit-language-environment-hook}. This hook is useful for undoing
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276 customizations that were made with @code{set-language-environment-hook}.
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277 For instance, if you set up a special key binding in a specific language
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278 environment using @code{set-language-environment-hook}, you should set
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279 up @code{exit-language-environment-hook} to restore the normal binding
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280 for that key.
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281
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282 @node Input Methods
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283 @section Input Methods
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284
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285 @cindex input methods
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286 An @dfn{input method} is a kind of character conversion designed
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287 specifically for interactive input. In Emacs, typically each language
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288 has its own input method; sometimes several languages which use the same
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289 characters can share one input method. A few languages support several
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290 input methods.
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291
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292 The simplest kind of input method works by mapping ASCII letters into
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293 another alphabet. This is how the Greek and Russian input methods work.
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294
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295 A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of
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296 characters into one letter. Many European input methods use composition
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297 to produce a single non-ASCII letter from a sequence that consists of a
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298 letter followed by accent characters (or vice versa). For example, some
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299 methods convert the sequence @kbd{a'} into a single accented letter.
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300 These input methods have no special commands of their own; all they do
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301 is compose sequences of printing characters.
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302
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303 The input methods for syllabic scripts typically use mapping followed
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304 by composition. The input methods for Thai and Korean work this way.
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305 First, letters are mapped into symbols for particular sounds or tone
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306 marks; then, sequences of these which make up a whole syllable are
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307 mapped into one syllable sign.
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308
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309 Chinese and Japanese require more complex methods. In Chinese input
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310 methods, first you enter the phonetic spelling of a Chinese word (in
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311 input method @code{chinese-py}, among others), or a sequence of portions
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312 of the character (input methods @code{chinese-4corner} and
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313 @code{chinese-sw}, and others). Since one phonetic spelling typically
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314 corresponds to many different Chinese characters, you must select one of
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315 the alternatives using special Emacs commands. Keys such as @kbd{C-f},
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316 @kbd{C-b}, @kbd{C-n}, @kbd{C-p}, and digits have special definitions in
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317 this situation, used for selecting among the alternatives. @key{TAB}
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318 displays a buffer showing all the possibilities.
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319
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320 In Japanese input methods, first you input a whole word using
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321 phonetic spelling; then, after the word is in the buffer, Emacs converts
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322 it into one or more characters using a large dictionary. One phonetic
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323 spelling corresponds to many differently written Japanese words, so you
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324 must select one of them; use @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} to cycle through
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325 the alternatives.
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326
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327 Sometimes it is useful to cut off input method processing so that the
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328 characters you have just entered will not combine with subsequent
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329 characters. For example, in input method @code{latin-1-postfix}, the
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330 sequence @kbd{e '} combines to form an @samp{e} with an accent. What if
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331 you want to enter them as separate characters?
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332
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333 One way is to type the accent twice; that is a special feature for
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334 entering the separate letter and accent. For example, @kbd{e ' '} gives
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335 you the two characters @samp{e'}. Another way is to type another letter
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336 after the @kbd{e}---something that won't combine with that---and
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337 immediately delete it. For example, you could type @kbd{e e @key{DEL}
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338 '} to get separate @samp{e} and @samp{'}.
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339
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340 Another method, more general but not quite as easy to type, is to use
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341 @kbd{C-\ C-\} between two characters to stop them from combining. This
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342 is the command @kbd{C-\} (@code{toggle-input-method}) used twice.
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343 @ifinfo
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344 @xref{Select Input Method}.
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345 @end ifinfo
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346
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347 @kbd{C-\ C-\} is especially useful inside an incremental search,
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348 because it stops waiting for more characters to combine, and starts
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349 searching for what you have already entered.
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350
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351 @vindex input-method-verbose-flag
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352 @vindex input-method-highlight-flag
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353 The variables @code{input-method-highlight-flag} and
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354 @code{input-method-verbose-flag} control how input methods explain what
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355 is happening. If @code{input-method-highlight-flag} is non-@code{nil},
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356 the partial sequence is highlighted in the buffer. If
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357 @code{input-method-verbose-flag} is non-@code{nil}, the list of possible
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358 characters to type next is displayed in the echo area (but not when you
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359 are in the minibuffer).
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360
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361 @cindex Leim package
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362 Input methods are implemented in the separate Leim package, which must
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363 be installed with Emacs.
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364
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365 @node Select Input Method
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366 @section Selecting an Input Method
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367
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368 @table @kbd
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369 @item C-\
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370 Enable or disable use of the selected input method.
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371
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372 @item C-x @key{RET} C-\ @var{method} @key{RET}
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373 Select a new input method for the current buffer.
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374
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375 @item C-h I @var{method} @key{RET}
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376 @itemx C-h C-\ @var{method} @key{RET}
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parents:
diff changeset
377 @findex describe-input-method
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
378 @kindex C-h I
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
379 @kindex C-h C-\
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
380 Describe the input method @var{method} (@code{describe-input-method}).
31204
130dd2c5797b *** empty log message ***
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parents: 31141
diff changeset
381 By default, it describes the current input method (if any). This
130dd2c5797b *** empty log message ***
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31141
diff changeset
382 description should give you the full details of how to use any
31270
a45cbbc51e09 *** empty log message ***
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31257
diff changeset
383 particular input method.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
384
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
385 @item M-x list-input-methods
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
386 Display a list of all the supported input methods.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
387 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
388
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
389 @findex set-input-method
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
390 @vindex current-input-method
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
391 @kindex C-x RET C-\
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
392 To choose an input method for the current buffer, use @kbd{C-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
393 @key{RET} C-\} (@code{set-input-method}). This command reads the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
394 input method name with the minibuffer; the name normally starts with the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
395 language environment that it is meant to be used with. The variable
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
396 @code{current-input-method} records which input method is selected.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
397
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
398 @findex toggle-input-method
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
399 @kindex C-\
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
400 Input methods use various sequences of ASCII characters to stand for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
401 non-ASCII characters. Sometimes it is useful to turn off the input
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
402 method temporarily. To do this, type @kbd{C-\}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
403 (@code{toggle-input-method}). To reenable the input method, type
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
404 @kbd{C-\} again.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
405
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
406 If you type @kbd{C-\} and you have not yet selected an input method,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
407 it prompts for you to specify one. This has the same effect as using
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
408 @kbd{C-x @key{RET} C-\} to specify an input method.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
409
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
410 @vindex default-input-method
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
411 Selecting a language environment specifies a default input method for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
412 use in various buffers. When you have a default input method, you can
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
413 select it in the current buffer by typing @kbd{C-\}. The variable
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
414 @code{default-input-method} specifies the default input method
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
415 (@code{nil} means there is none).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
416
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
417 @findex quail-set-keyboard-layout
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
418 Some input methods for alphabetic scripts work by (in effect)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
419 remapping the keyboard to emulate various keyboard layouts commonly used
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
420 for those scripts. How to do this remapping properly depends on your
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
421 actual keyboard layout. To specify which layout your keyboard has, use
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
422 the command @kbd{M-x quail-set-keyboard-layout}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
423
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
424 @findex list-input-methods
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
425 To display a list of all the supported input methods, type @kbd{M-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
426 list-input-methods}. The list gives information about each input
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
427 method, including the string that stands for it in the mode line.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
428
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
429 @node Multibyte Conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
430 @section Unibyte and Multibyte Non-ASCII characters
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
431
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
432 When multibyte characters are enabled, character codes 0240 (octal)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
433 through 0377 (octal) are not really legitimate in the buffer. The valid
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
434 non-ASCII printing characters have codes that start from 0400.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
435
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
436 If you type a self-inserting character in the invalid range 0240
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
437 through 0377, Emacs assumes you intended to use one of the ISO
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
438 Latin-@var{n} character sets, and converts it to the Emacs code
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
439 representing that Latin-@var{n} character. You select @emph{which} ISO
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
440 Latin character set to use through your choice of language environment
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
441 @iftex
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
442 (see above).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
443 @end iftex
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
444 @ifinfo
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
445 (@pxref{Language Environments}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
446 @end ifinfo
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
447 If you do not specify a choice, the default is Latin-1.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
448
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
449 The same thing happens when you use @kbd{C-q} to enter an octal code
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
450 in this range.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
451
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
452 @node Coding Systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
453 @section Coding Systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
454 @cindex coding systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
455
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
456 Users of various languages have established many more-or-less standard
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
457 coding systems for representing them. Emacs does not use these coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
458 systems internally; instead, it converts from various coding systems to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
459 its own system when reading data, and converts the internal coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
460 system to other coding systems when writing data. Conversion is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
461 possible in reading or writing files, in sending or receiving from the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
462 terminal, and in exchanging data with subprocesses.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
463
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
464 Emacs assigns a name to each coding system. Most coding systems are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
465 used for one language, and the name of the coding system starts with the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
466 language name. Some coding systems are used for several languages;
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
467 their names usually start with @samp{iso}. There are also special
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
468 coding systems @code{no-conversion}, @code{raw-text} and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
469 @code{emacs-mule} which do not convert printing characters at all.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
470
32386
d65f9772ee72 Mention the cpNNNN coding systems, with an xref to msdog.texi.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 32275
diff changeset
471 A special class of coding systems, collectively known as
d65f9772ee72 Mention the cpNNNN coding systems, with an xref to msdog.texi.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 32275
diff changeset
472 @dfn{codepages}, is designed to support text encoded by MS-Windows and
d65f9772ee72 Mention the cpNNNN coding systems, with an xref to msdog.texi.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 32275
diff changeset
473 MS-DOS software. To use any of these systems, you need to create it
d65f9772ee72 Mention the cpNNNN coding systems, with an xref to msdog.texi.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 32275
diff changeset
474 with @kbd{M-x codepage-setup}. @xref{MS-DOS and MULE}.
d65f9772ee72 Mention the cpNNNN coding systems, with an xref to msdog.texi.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 32275
diff changeset
475
25829
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parents:
diff changeset
476 @cindex end-of-line conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
477 In addition to converting various representations of non-ASCII
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
478 characters, a coding system can perform end-of-line conversion. Emacs
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
479 handles three different conventions for how to separate lines in a file:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
480 newline, carriage-return linefeed, and just carriage-return.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
481
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
482 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
483 @item C-h C @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
484 Describe coding system @var{coding}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
485
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
486 @item C-h C @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
487 Describe the coding systems currently in use.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
488
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
489 @item M-x list-coding-systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
490 Display a list of all the supported coding systems.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
491 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
492
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
493 @kindex C-h C
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
494 @findex describe-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
495 The command @kbd{C-h C} (@code{describe-coding-system}) displays
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
496 information about particular coding systems. You can specify a coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
497 system name as argument; alternatively, with an empty argument, it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
498 describes the coding systems currently selected for various purposes,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
499 both in the current buffer and as the defaults, and the priority list
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
500 for recognizing coding systems (@pxref{Recognize Coding}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
501
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
502 @findex list-coding-systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
503 To display a list of all the supported coding systems, type @kbd{M-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
504 list-coding-systems}. The list gives information about each coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
505 system, including the letter that stands for it in the mode line
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
506 (@pxref{Mode Line}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
507
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
508 @cindex end-of-line conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
509 @cindex MS-DOS end-of-line conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
510 @cindex Macintosh end-of-line conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
511 Each of the coding systems that appear in this list---except for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
512 @code{no-conversion}, which means no conversion of any kind---specifies
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
513 how and whether to convert printing characters, but leaves the choice of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
514 end-of-line conversion to be decided based on the contents of each file.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
515 For example, if the file appears to use the sequence carriage-return
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
516 linefeed to separate lines, DOS end-of-line conversion will be used.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
517
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
518 Each of the listed coding systems has three variants which specify
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
519 exactly what to do for end-of-line conversion:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
520
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
521 @table @code
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
522 @item @dots{}-unix
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
523 Don't do any end-of-line conversion; assume the file uses
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
524 newline to separate lines. (This is the convention normally used
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
525 on Unix and GNU systems.)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
526
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
527 @item @dots{}-dos
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
528 Assume the file uses carriage-return linefeed to separate lines, and do
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
529 the appropriate conversion. (This is the convention normally used on
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
530 Microsoft systems.@footnote{It is also specified for MIME `text/*'
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
531 bodies and in other network transport contexts. It is different
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
532 from the SGML reference syntax record-start/record-end format which
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
533 Emacs doesn't support directly.})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
534
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
535 @item @dots{}-mac
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
536 Assume the file uses carriage-return to separate lines, and do the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
537 appropriate conversion. (This is the convention normally used on the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
538 Macintosh system.)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
539 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
540
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
541 These variant coding systems are omitted from the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
542 @code{list-coding-systems} display for brevity, since they are entirely
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
543 predictable. For example, the coding system @code{iso-latin-1} has
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
544 variants @code{iso-latin-1-unix}, @code{iso-latin-1-dos} and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
545 @code{iso-latin-1-mac}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
546
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
547 The coding system @code{raw-text} is good for a file which is mainly
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
548 ASCII text, but may contain byte values above 127 which are not meant to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
549 encode non-ASCII characters. With @code{raw-text}, Emacs copies those
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
550 byte values unchanged, and sets @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
551 @code{nil} in the current buffer so that they will be interpreted
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
552 properly. @code{raw-text} handles end-of-line conversion in the usual
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
553 way, based on the data encountered, and has the usual three variants to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
554 specify the kind of end-of-line conversion to use.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
555
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
556 In contrast, the coding system @code{no-conversion} specifies no
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
557 character code conversion at all---none for non-ASCII byte values and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
558 none for end of line. This is useful for reading or writing binary
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
559 files, tar files, and other files that must be examined verbatim. It,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
560 too, sets @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{nil}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
561
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
562 The easiest way to edit a file with no conversion of any kind is with
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
563 the @kbd{M-x find-file-literally} command. This uses
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
564 @code{no-conversion}, and also suppresses other Emacs features that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
565 might convert the file contents before you see them. @xref{Visiting}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
566
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
567 The coding system @code{emacs-mule} means that the file contains
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
568 non-ASCII characters stored with the internal Emacs encoding. It
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
569 handles end-of-line conversion based on the data encountered, and has
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
570 the usual three variants to specify the kind of end-of-line conversion.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
571
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
572 @node Recognize Coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
573 @section Recognizing Coding Systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
574
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
575 Most of the time, Emacs can recognize which coding system to use for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
576 any given file---once you have specified your preferences.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
577
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
578 Some coding systems can be recognized or distinguished by which byte
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
579 sequences appear in the data. However, there are coding systems that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
580 cannot be distinguished, not even potentially. For example, there is no
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
581 way to distinguish between Latin-1 and Latin-2; they use the same byte
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
582 values with different meanings.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
583
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
584 Emacs handles this situation by means of a priority list of coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
585 systems. Whenever Emacs reads a file, if you do not specify the coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
586 system to use, Emacs checks the data against each coding system,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
587 starting with the first in priority and working down the list, until it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
588 finds a coding system that fits the data. Then it converts the file
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
589 contents assuming that they are represented in this coding system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
590
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
591 The priority list of coding systems depends on the selected language
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
592 environment (@pxref{Language Environments}). For example, if you use
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
593 French, you probably want Emacs to prefer Latin-1 to Latin-2; if you use
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
594 Czech, you probably want Latin-2 to be preferred. This is one of the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
595 reasons to specify a language environment.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
596
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
597 @findex prefer-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
598 However, you can alter the priority list in detail with the command
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
599 @kbd{M-x prefer-coding-system}. This command reads the name of a coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
600 system from the minibuffer, and adds it to the front of the priority
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
601 list, so that it is preferred to all others. If you use this command
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
602 several times, each use adds one element to the front of the priority
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
603 list.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
604
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
605 If you use a coding system that specifies the end-of-line conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
606 type, such as @code{iso-8859-1-dos}, what that means is that Emacs
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
607 should attempt to recognize @code{iso-8859-1} with priority, and should
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
608 use DOS end-of-line conversion in case it recognizes @code{iso-8859-1}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
609
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
610 @vindex file-coding-system-alist
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
611 Sometimes a file name indicates which coding system to use for the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
612 file. The variable @code{file-coding-system-alist} specifies this
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
613 correspondence. There is a special function
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
614 @code{modify-coding-system-alist} for adding elements to this list. For
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
615 example, to read and write all @samp{.txt} files using the coding system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
616 @code{china-iso-8bit}, you can execute this Lisp expression:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
617
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
618 @smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
619 (modify-coding-system-alist 'file "\\.txt\\'" 'china-iso-8bit)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
620 @end smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
621
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
622 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
623 The first argument should be @code{file}, the second argument should be
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
624 a regular expression that determines which files this applies to, and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
625 the third argument says which coding system to use for these files.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
626
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
627 @vindex inhibit-eol-conversion
30375
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
628 @cindex DOS-style end-of-line display
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
629 Emacs recognizes which kind of end-of-line conversion to use based on
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
630 the contents of the file: if it sees only carriage-returns, or only
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
631 carriage-return linefeed sequences, then it chooses the end-of-line
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
632 conversion accordingly. You can inhibit the automatic use of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
633 end-of-line conversion by setting the variable @code{inhibit-eol-conversion}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
634 to non-@code{nil}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
635
30375
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
636 @vindex inhibit-iso-escape-detection
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
637 @cindex escape sequences in files
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
638 By default, the automatic detection of coding system is sensitive to
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
639 escape sequences. If Emacs sees a sequence of characters that begin
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
640 with an @key{ESC} character, and the sequence is valid as an ISO-2022
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
641 code, the code is determined as one of ISO-2022 encoding, and the file
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
642 is decoded by the corresponding coding system
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
643 (e.g. @code{iso-2022-7bit}).
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
644
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
645 However, there may be cases that you want to read escape sequences in
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
646 a file as is. In such a case, you can set th variable
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
647 @code{inhibit-iso-escape-detection} to non-@code{nil}. Then the code
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
648 detection will ignore any escape sequences, and so no file is detected
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
649 as being encoded in some of ISO-2022 encoding. The result is that all
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
650 escape sequences become visible in a buffer.
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
651
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
652 The default value of @code{inhibit-iso-escape-detection} is
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
653 @code{nil}, and it is strongly recommended not to change it. That's
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
654 because many Emacs Lisp source files that contain non-ASCII characters
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
655 are encoded in the coding system @code{iso-2022-7bit} in the Emacs
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
656 distribution, and they won't be decoded correctly when you visit those
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
657 files if you suppress the escape sequence detection.
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
658
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
659 @vindex coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
660 You can specify the coding system for a particular file using the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
661 @samp{-*-@dots{}-*-} construct at the beginning of a file, or a local
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
662 variables list at the end (@pxref{File Variables}). You do this by
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
663 defining a value for the ``variable'' named @code{coding}. Emacs does
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
664 not really have a variable @code{coding}; instead of setting a variable,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
665 it uses the specified coding system for the file. For example,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
666 @samp{-*-mode: C; coding: latin-1;-*-} specifies use of the Latin-1
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
667 coding system, as well as C mode. If you specify the coding explicitly
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
668 in the file, that overrides @code{file-coding-system-alist}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
669
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
670 @vindex auto-coding-alist
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
671 The variable @code{auto-coding-alist} is the strongest way to specify
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
672 the coding system for certain patterns of file names; this variable even
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
673 overrides @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tags in the file itself. Emacs uses this
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
674 feature for tar and archive files, to prevent Emacs from being confused
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
675 by a @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tag in a member of the archive and thinking it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
676 applies to the archive file as a whole.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
677
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
678 @vindex buffer-file-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
679 Once Emacs has chosen a coding system for a buffer, it stores that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
680 coding system in @code{buffer-file-coding-system} and uses that coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
681 system, by default, for operations that write from this buffer into a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
682 file. This includes the commands @code{save-buffer} and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
683 @code{write-region}. If you want to write files from this buffer using
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
684 a different coding system, you can specify a different coding system for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
685 the buffer using @code{set-buffer-file-coding-system} (@pxref{Specify
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
686 Coding}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
687
31021
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
688 While editing a file, you will sometimes insert characters which
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
689 cannot be encoded with the coding system stored in
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
690 @code{buffer-file-coding-system}. For example, suppose you start with
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
691 an ASCII file and insert a few Latin-1 characters into it. Or you could
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
692 edit a text file in Polish encoded in @code{iso-8859-2} and add to it
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
693 translations of several Polish words into Russian. When you save the
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
694 buffer, Emacs can no longer use the previous value of the buffer's
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
695 coding system, because the characters you added cannot be encoded by
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
696 that coding system.
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
697
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
698 When that happens, Emacs tries the most-preferred coding system (set
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
699 by @kbd{M-x prefer-coding-system} or @kbd{M-x
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
700 set-language-environment}), and if that coding system can safely encode
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
701 all of the characters in the buffer, Emacs uses it, and stores its value
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
702 in @code{buffer-file-coding-system}. Otherwise, Emacs pops up a window
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
703 with a list of coding systems suitable for encoding the buffer, and
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
704 prompts you to choose one of those coding systems.
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
705
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
706 If you insert characters which cannot be encoded by the buffer's
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
707 coding system while editing a mail message, Emacs behaves a bit
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
708 differently. It additionally checks whether the most-preferred coding
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
709 system is recommended for use in MIME messages; if it isn't, Emacs tells
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
710 you that the most-preferred coding system is not recommended and prompts
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
711 you for another coding system. This is so you won't inadvertently send
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
712 a message encoded in a way that your recipient's mail software will have
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
713 difficulty decoding. (If you do want to use the most-preferred coding
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
714 system, you can type its name to Emacs prompt anyway.)
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
715
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
716 @vindex sendmail-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
717 When you send a message with Mail mode (@pxref{Sending Mail}), Emacs has
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
718 four different ways to determine the coding system to use for encoding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
719 the message text. It tries the buffer's own value of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
720 @code{buffer-file-coding-system}, if that is non-@code{nil}. Otherwise,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
721 it uses the value of @code{sendmail-coding-system}, if that is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
722 non-@code{nil}. The third way is to use the default coding system for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
723 new files, which is controlled by your choice of language environment,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
724 if that is non-@code{nil}. If all of these three values are @code{nil},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
725 Emacs encodes outgoing mail using the Latin-1 coding system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
726
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
727 @vindex rmail-decode-mime-charset
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
728 When you get new mail in Rmail, each message is translated
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
729 automatically from the coding system it is written in---as if it were a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
730 separate file. This uses the priority list of coding systems that you
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
731 have specified. If a MIME message specifies a character set, Rmail
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
732 obeys that specification, unless @code{rmail-decode-mime-charset} is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
733 @code{nil}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
734
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
735 @vindex rmail-file-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
736 For reading and saving Rmail files themselves, Emacs uses the coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
737 system specified by the variable @code{rmail-file-coding-system}. The
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
738 default value is @code{nil}, which means that Rmail files are not
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
739 translated (they are read and written in the Emacs internal character
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
740 code).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
741
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
742 @node Specify Coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
743 @section Specifying a Coding System
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
744
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
745 In cases where Emacs does not automatically choose the right coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
746 system, you can use these commands to specify one:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
747
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
748 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
749 @item C-x @key{RET} f @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
750 Use coding system @var{coding} for the visited file
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
751 in the current buffer.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
752
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
753 @item C-x @key{RET} c @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
754 Specify coding system @var{coding} for the immediately following
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
755 command.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
756
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
757 @item C-x @key{RET} k @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
758 Use coding system @var{coding} for keyboard input.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
759
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
760 @item C-x @key{RET} t @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
761 Use coding system @var{coding} for terminal output.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
762
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
763 @item C-x @key{RET} p @var{input-coding} @key{RET} @var{output-coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
764 Use coding systems @var{input-coding} and @var{output-coding} for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
765 subprocess input and output in the current buffer.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
766
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
767 @item C-x @key{RET} x @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
768 Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring selections to and from
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
769 other programs through the window system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
770
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
771 @item C-x @key{RET} X @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
772 Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring @emph{one}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
773 selection---the next one---to or from the window system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
774 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
775
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
776 @kindex C-x RET f
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
777 @findex set-buffer-file-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
778 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} f} (@code{set-buffer-file-coding-system})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
779 specifies the file coding system for the current buffer---in other
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
780 words, which coding system to use when saving or rereading the visited
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
781 file. You specify which coding system using the minibuffer. Since this
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
782 command applies to a file you have already visited, it affects only the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
783 way the file is saved.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
784
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
785 @kindex C-x RET c
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
786 @findex universal-coding-system-argument
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
787 Another way to specify the coding system for a file is when you visit
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
788 the file. First use the command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
789 (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}); this command uses the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
790 minibuffer to read a coding system name. After you exit the minibuffer,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
791 the specified coding system is used for @emph{the immediately following
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
792 command}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
793
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
794 So if the immediately following command is @kbd{C-x C-f}, for example,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
795 it reads the file using that coding system (and records the coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
796 system for when the file is saved). Or if the immediately following
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
797 command is @kbd{C-x C-w}, it writes the file using that coding system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
798 Other file commands affected by a specified coding system include
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
799 @kbd{C-x C-i} and @kbd{C-x C-v}, as well as the other-window variants of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
800 @kbd{C-x C-f}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
801
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
802 @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} also affects commands that start subprocesses,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
803 including @kbd{M-x shell} (@pxref{Shell}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
804
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
805 However, if the immediately following command does not use the coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
806 system, then @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} ultimately has no effect.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
807
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
808 An easy way to visit a file with no conversion is with the @kbd{M-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
809 find-file-literally} command. @xref{Visiting}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
810
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
811 @vindex default-buffer-file-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
812 The variable @code{default-buffer-file-coding-system} specifies the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
813 choice of coding system to use when you create a new file. It applies
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
814 when you find a new file, and when you create a buffer and then save it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
815 in a file. Selecting a language environment typically sets this
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
816 variable to a good choice of default coding system for that language
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
817 environment.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
818
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
819 @kindex C-x RET t
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
820 @findex set-terminal-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
821 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} t} (@code{set-terminal-coding-system})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
822 specifies the coding system for terminal output. If you specify a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
823 character code for terminal output, all characters output to the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
824 terminal are translated into that coding system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
825
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
826 This feature is useful for certain character-only terminals built to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
827 support specific languages or character sets---for example, European
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
828 terminals that support one of the ISO Latin character sets. You need to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
829 specify the terminal coding system when using multibyte text, so that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
830 Emacs knows which characters the terminal can actually handle.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
831
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
832 By default, output to the terminal is not translated at all, unless
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
833 Emacs can deduce the proper coding system from your terminal type.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
834
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
835 @kindex C-x RET k
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
836 @findex set-keyboard-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
837 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} k} (@code{set-keyboard-coding-system})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
838 specifies the coding system for keyboard input. Character-code
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
839 translation of keyboard input is useful for terminals with keys that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
840 send non-ASCII graphic characters---for example, some terminals designed
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
841 for ISO Latin-1 or subsets of it.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
842
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
843 By default, keyboard input is not translated at all.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
844
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
845 There is a similarity between using a coding system translation for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
846 keyboard input, and using an input method: both define sequences of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
847 keyboard input that translate into single characters. However, input
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
848 methods are designed to be convenient for interactive use by humans, and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
849 the sequences that are translated are typically sequences of ASCII
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
850 printing characters. Coding systems typically translate sequences of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
851 non-graphic characters.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
852
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
853 @kindex C-x RET x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
854 @kindex C-x RET X
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
855 @findex set-selection-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
856 @findex set-next-selection-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
857 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} x} (@code{set-selection-coding-system})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
858 specifies the coding system for sending selected text to the window
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
859 system, and for receiving the text of selections made in other
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
860 applications. This command applies to all subsequent selections, until
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
861 you override it by using the command again. The command @kbd{C-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
862 @key{RET} X} (@code{set-next-selection-coding-system}) specifies the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
863 coding system for the next selection made in Emacs or read by Emacs.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
864
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
865 @kindex C-x RET p
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
866 @findex set-buffer-process-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
867 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} p} (@code{set-buffer-process-coding-system})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
868 specifies the coding system for input and output to a subprocess. This
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
869 command applies to the current buffer; normally, each subprocess has its
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
870 own buffer, and thus you can use this command to specify translation to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
871 and from a particular subprocess by giving the command in the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
872 corresponding buffer.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
873
29826
05c0499d035a (set-buffer-process-coding-system): Documentation fixed.
Kenichi Handa <handa@m17n.org>
parents: 29107
diff changeset
874 The default for translation of process input and output depends on the
05c0499d035a (set-buffer-process-coding-system): Documentation fixed.
Kenichi Handa <handa@m17n.org>
parents: 29107
diff changeset
875 current language environment.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
876
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
877 @vindex file-name-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
878 The variable @code{file-name-coding-system} specifies a coding system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
879 to use for encoding file names. If you set the variable to a coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
880 system name (as a Lisp symbol or a string), Emacs encodes file names
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
881 using that coding system for all file operations. This makes it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
882 possible to use non-ASCII characters in file names---or, at least, those
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
883 non-ASCII characters which the specified coding system can encode.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
884
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
885 If @code{file-name-coding-system} is @code{nil}, Emacs uses a default
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
886 coding system determined by the selected language environment. In the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
887 default language environment, any non-ASCII characters in file names are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
888 not encoded specially; they appear in the file system using the internal
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
889 Emacs representation.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
890
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
891 @strong{Warning:} if you change @code{file-name-coding-system} (or the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
892 language environment) in the middle of an Emacs session, problems can
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
893 result if you have already visited files whose names were encoded using
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
894 the earlier coding system and cannot be encoded (or are encoded
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
895 differently) under the new coding system. If you try to save one of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
896 these buffers under the visited file name, saving may use the wrong file
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
897 name, or it may get an error. If such a problem happens, use @kbd{C-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
898 C-w} to specify a new file name for that buffer.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
899
26140
068f7ad41d40 Describe new functions and variables for locales.
Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
900 @vindex locale-coding-system
068f7ad41d40 Describe new functions and variables for locales.
Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
901 The variable @code{locale-coding-system} specifies a coding system to
068f7ad41d40 Describe new functions and variables for locales.
Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
902 use when encoding and decoding system strings such as system error
068f7ad41d40 Describe new functions and variables for locales.
Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
903 messages and @code{format-time-string} formats and time stamps. This
068f7ad41d40 Describe new functions and variables for locales.
Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
904 coding system should be compatible with the underlying system's coding
068f7ad41d40 Describe new functions and variables for locales.
Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
905 system, which is normally specified by the first environment variable in
068f7ad41d40 Describe new functions and variables for locales.
Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
906 the list @env{LC_ALL}, @env{LC_CTYPE}, @env{LANG} whose value is
068f7ad41d40 Describe new functions and variables for locales.
Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
907 nonempty.
068f7ad41d40 Describe new functions and variables for locales.
Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
908
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
909 @node Fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
910 @section Fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
911 @cindex fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
912
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
913 A font for X Windows typically defines shapes for one alphabet or
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
914 script. Therefore, displaying the entire range of scripts that Emacs
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
915 supports requires a collection of many fonts. In Emacs, such a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
916 collection is called a @dfn{fontset}. A fontset is defined by a list of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
917 fonts, each assigned to handle a range of character codes.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
918
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
919 Each fontset has a name, like a font. The available X fonts are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
920 defined by the X server; fontsets, however, are defined within Emacs
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
921 itself. Once you have defined a fontset, you can use it within Emacs by
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
922 specifying its name, anywhere that you could use a single font. Of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
923 course, Emacs fontsets can use only the fonts that the X server
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
924 supports; if certain characters appear on the screen as hollow boxes,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
925 this means that the fontset in use for them has no font for those
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
926 characters.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
927
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
928 Emacs creates two fontsets automatically: the @dfn{standard fontset}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
929 and the @dfn{startup fontset}. The standard fontset is most likely to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
930 have fonts for a wide variety of non-ASCII characters; however, this is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
931 not the default for Emacs to use. (By default, Emacs tries to find a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
932 font which has bold and italic variants.) You can specify use of the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
933 standard fontset with the @samp{-fn} option, or with the @samp{Font} X
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
934 resource (@pxref{Font X}). For example,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
935
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
936 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
937 emacs -fn fontset-standard
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
938 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
939
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
940 A fontset does not necessarily specify a font for every character
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
941 code. If a fontset specifies no font for a certain character, or if it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
942 specifies a font that does not exist on your system, then it cannot
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
943 display that character properly. It will display that character as an
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
944 empty box instead.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
945
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
946 @vindex highlight-wrong-size-font
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
947 The fontset height and width are determined by the ASCII characters
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
948 (that is, by the font used for ASCII characters in that fontset). If
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
949 another font in the fontset has a different height, or a different
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
950 width, then characters assigned to that font are clipped to the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
951 fontset's size. If @code{highlight-wrong-size-font} is non-@code{nil},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
952 a box is displayed around these wrong-size characters as well.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
953
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
954 @node Defining Fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
955 @section Defining fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
956
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
957 @vindex standard-fontset-spec
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
958 @cindex standard fontset
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
959 Emacs creates a standard fontset automatically according to the value
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
960 of @code{standard-fontset-spec}. This fontset's name is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
961
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
962 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
963 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-16-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-standard
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
964 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
965
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
966 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
967 or just @samp{fontset-standard} for short.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
968
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
969 Bold, italic, and bold-italic variants of the standard fontset are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
970 created automatically. Their names have @samp{bold} instead of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
971 @samp{medium}, or @samp{i} instead of @samp{r}, or both.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
972
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
973 @cindex startup fontset
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
974 If you specify a default ASCII font with the @samp{Font} resource or
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
975 the @samp{-fn} argument, Emacs generates a fontset from it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
976 automatically. This is the @dfn{startup fontset} and its name is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
977 @code{fontset-startup}. It does this by replacing the @var{foundry},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
978 @var{family}, @var{add_style}, and @var{average_width} fields of the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
979 font name with @samp{*}, replacing @var{charset_registry} field with
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
980 @samp{fontset}, and replacing @var{charset_encoding} field with
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
981 @samp{startup}, then using the resulting string to specify a fontset.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
982
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
983 For instance, if you start Emacs this way,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
984
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
985 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
986 emacs -fn "*courier-medium-r-normal--14-140-*-iso8859-1"
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
987 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
988
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
989 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
990 Emacs generates the following fontset and uses it for the initial X
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
991 window frame:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
992
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
993 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
994 -*-*-medium-r-normal-*-14-140-*-*-*-*-fontset-startup
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
995 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
996
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
997 With the X resource @samp{Emacs.Font}, you can specify a fontset name
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
998 just like an actual font name. But be careful not to specify a fontset
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
999 name in a wildcard resource like @samp{Emacs*Font}---that wildcard
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1000 specification applies to various other purposes, such as menus, and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1001 menus cannot handle fontsets.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1002
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1003 You can specify additional fontsets using X resources named
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1004 @samp{Fontset-@var{n}}, where @var{n} is an integer starting from 0.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1005 The resource value should have this form:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1006
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1007 @smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1008 @var{fontpattern}, @r{[}@var{charsetname}:@var{fontname}@r{]@dots{}}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1009 @end smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1010
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1011 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1012 @var{fontpattern} should have the form of a standard X font name, except
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1013 for the last two fields. They should have the form
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1014 @samp{fontset-@var{alias}}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1015
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1016 The fontset has two names, one long and one short. The long name is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1017 @var{fontpattern}. The short name is @samp{fontset-@var{alias}}. You
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1018 can refer to the fontset by either name.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1019
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1020 The construct @samp{@var{charset}:@var{font}} specifies which font to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1021 use (in this fontset) for one particular character set. Here,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1022 @var{charset} is the name of a character set, and @var{font} is the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1023 font to use for that character set. You can use this construct any
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1024 number of times in defining one fontset.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1025
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1026 For the other character sets, Emacs chooses a font based on
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1027 @var{fontpattern}. It replaces @samp{fontset-@var{alias}} with values
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1028 that describe the character set. For the ASCII character font,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1029 @samp{fontset-@var{alias}} is replaced with @samp{ISO8859-1}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1030
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1031 In addition, when several consecutive fields are wildcards, Emacs
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1032 collapses them into a single wildcard. This is to prevent use of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1033 auto-scaled fonts. Fonts made by scaling larger fonts are not usable
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1034 for editing, and scaling a smaller font is not useful because it is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1035 better to use the smaller font in its own size, which Emacs does.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1036
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1037 Thus if @var{fontpattern} is this,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1038
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parents:
diff changeset
1039 @example
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parents:
diff changeset
1040 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24
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parents:
diff changeset
1041 @end example
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parents:
diff changeset
1042
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parents:
diff changeset
1043 @noindent
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parents:
diff changeset
1044 the font specification for ASCII characters would be this:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1045
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1046 @example
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parents:
diff changeset
1047 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-ISO8859-1
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parents:
diff changeset
1048 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1049
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parents:
diff changeset
1050 @noindent
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parents:
diff changeset
1051 and the font specification for Chinese GB2312 characters would be this:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1052
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1053 @example
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parents:
diff changeset
1054 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-gb2312*-*
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parents:
diff changeset
1055 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1056
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1057 You may not have any Chinese font matching the above font
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1058 specification. Most X distributions include only Chinese fonts that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1059 have @samp{song ti} or @samp{fangsong ti} in @var{family} field. In
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1060 such a case, @samp{Fontset-@var{n}} can be specified as below:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1061
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1062 @smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1063 Emacs.Fontset-0: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24,\
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1064 chinese-gb2312:-*-*-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-gb2312*-*
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1065 @end smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1066
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1067 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1068 Then, the font specifications for all but Chinese GB2312 characters have
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1069 @samp{fixed} in the @var{family} field, and the font specification for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1070 Chinese GB2312 characters has a wild card @samp{*} in the @var{family}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1071 field.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1072
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1073 @findex create-fontset-from-fontset-spec
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1074 The function that processes the fontset resource value to create the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1075 fontset is called @code{create-fontset-from-fontset-spec}. You can also
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1076 call this function explicitly to create a fontset.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1077
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1078 @xref{Font X}, for more information about font naming in X.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1079
27211
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1080 @node Single-Byte Character Support
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1081 @section Single-byte Character Set Support
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1082
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1083 @cindex European character sets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1084 @cindex accented characters
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1085 @cindex ISO Latin character sets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1086 @cindex Unibyte operation
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1087 @vindex enable-multibyte-characters
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1088 The ISO 8859 Latin-@var{n} character sets define character codes in
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1089 the range 160 to 255 to handle the accented letters and punctuation
27211
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1090 needed by various European languages (and some non-European ones).
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1091 If you disable multibyte
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1092 characters, Emacs can still handle @emph{one} of these character codes
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1093 at a time. To specify @emph{which} of these codes to use, invoke
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1094 @kbd{M-x set-language-environment} and specify a suitable language
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1095 environment such as @samp{Latin-@var{n}}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1096
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1097 For more information about unibyte operation, see @ref{Enabling
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1098 Multibyte}. Note particularly that you probably want to ensure that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1099 your initialization files are read as unibyte if they contain non-ASCII
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1100 characters.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1101
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1102 @vindex unibyte-display-via-language-environment
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1103 Emacs can also display those characters, provided the terminal or font
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1104 in use supports them. This works automatically. Alternatively, if you
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1105 are using a window system, Emacs can also display single-byte characters
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1106 through fontsets, in effect by displaying the equivalent multibyte
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1107 characters according to the current language environment. To request
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1108 this, set the variable @code{unibyte-display-via-language-environment}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1109 to a non-@code{nil} value.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1110
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1111 @cindex @code{iso-ascii} library
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1112 If your terminal does not support display of the Latin-1 character
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1113 set, Emacs can display these characters as ASCII sequences which at
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1114 least give you a clear idea of what the characters are. To do this,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1115 load the library @code{iso-ascii}. Similar libraries for other
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1116 Latin-@var{n} character sets could be implemented, but we don't have
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1117 them yet.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1118
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1119 @findex standard-display-8bit
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1120 @cindex 8-bit display
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1121 Normally non-ISO-8859 characters (between characters 128 and 159
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1122 inclusive) are displayed as octal escapes. You can change this for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1123 non-standard `extended' versions of ISO-8859 character sets by using the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1124 function @code{standard-display-8bit} in the @code{disp-table} library.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1125
28552
ccadb68eaefd iso-acc
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27211
diff changeset
1126 There are several ways you can input single-byte non-ASCII
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1127 characters:
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parents:
diff changeset
1128
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1129 @itemize @bullet
27211
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1130 @cindex 8-bit input
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1131 @item
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1132 If your keyboard can generate character codes 128 and up, representing
31077
172cd577cca0 mention iso-acc. tweaks.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31067
diff changeset
1133 non-ASCII characters, you can execute the following expression to enable
172cd577cca0 mention iso-acc. tweaks.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31067
diff changeset
1134 Emacs to understand them:
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1135
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1136 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1137 (set-input-mode (car (current-input-mode))
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1138 (nth 1 (current-input-mode))
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1139 0)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1140 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1141
27211
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1142 It is not necessary to do this under a window system which can
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1143 distinguish 8-bit characters and Meta keys. If you do this on a normal
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1144 terminal, you will probably need to use @kbd{ESC} to type Meta
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1145 characters.@footnote{In some cases, such as the Linux console and
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1146 @code{xterm}, you can arrange for Meta to be converted to @kbd{ESC} and
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1147 still be able type 8-bit characters present directly on the keyboard or
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1148 using @kbd{Compose} or @kbd{AltGr} keys.} @xref{User Input}.
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1149
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1150 @item
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1151 You can use an input method for the selected language environment.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1152 @xref{Input Methods}. When you use an input method in a unibyte buffer,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1153 the non-ASCII character you specify with it is converted to unibyte.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1154
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1155 @kindex C-x 8
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1156 @cindex @code{iso-transl} library
31077
172cd577cca0 mention iso-acc. tweaks.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31067
diff changeset
1157 @cindex compose character
172cd577cca0 mention iso-acc. tweaks.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31067
diff changeset
1158 @cindex dead character
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1159 @item
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parents:
diff changeset
1160 For Latin-1 only, you can use the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1161 key @kbd{C-x 8} as a ``compose character'' prefix for entry of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1162 non-ASCII Latin-1 printing characters. @kbd{C-x 8} is good for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1163 insertion (in the minibuffer as well as other buffers), for searching,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1164 and in any other context where a key sequence is allowed.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1165
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1166 @kbd{C-x 8} works by loading the @code{iso-transl} library. Once that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1167 library is loaded, the @key{ALT} modifier key, if you have one, serves
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1168 the same purpose as @kbd{C-x 8}; use @key{ALT} together with an accent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1169 character to modify the following letter. In addition, if you have keys
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1170 for the Latin-1 ``dead accent characters'', they too are defined to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1171 compose with the following character, once @code{iso-transl} is loaded.
28552
ccadb68eaefd iso-acc
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27211
diff changeset
1172 Use @kbd{C-x 8 C-h} to list the available translations as mnemonic
ccadb68eaefd iso-acc
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27211
diff changeset
1173 command names.
ccadb68eaefd iso-acc
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27211
diff changeset
1174
31077
172cd577cca0 mention iso-acc. tweaks.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31067
diff changeset
1175 @item
28552
ccadb68eaefd iso-acc
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27211
diff changeset
1176 @cindex @code{iso-acc} library
31077
172cd577cca0 mention iso-acc. tweaks.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31067
diff changeset
1177 @cindex ISO Accents mode
172cd577cca0 mention iso-acc. tweaks.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31067
diff changeset
1178 @findex iso-accents-mode
31280
55ce1d116cc7 (Single-Byte Character Support): Modify iso-accents-mode index entry.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 31277
diff changeset
1179 @cindex Latin-1, Latin-2 and Latin-3 input mode
31204
130dd2c5797b *** empty log message ***
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31141
diff changeset
1180 For Latin-1, Latin-2 and Latin-3, @kbd{M-x iso-accents-mode} installs a
130dd2c5797b *** empty log message ***
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31141
diff changeset
1181 minor mode which provides a facility like the @code{latin-1-prefix}
130dd2c5797b *** empty log message ***
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31141
diff changeset
1182 input method but independent of the Leim package. This mode is
31205
e61e8402b487 *** empty log message ***
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31204
diff changeset
1183 buffer-local. It can be customized for various languages with @kbd{M-x
31257
790050caa073 Remove unbalanced brace at the end of the file.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 31205
diff changeset
1184 iso-accents-customize}.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1185 @end itemize