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annotate doc/emacs/mule.texi @ 87903:5d58981e6690
Merge from emacs--rel--22
Revision: emacs@sv.gnu.org/emacs--devo--0--patch-1006
author | Miles Bader <miles@gnu.org> |
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date | Tue, 22 Jan 2008 23:53:46 +0000 |
parents | 2cce56fd7361 |
children | 4e76a03232e5 |
rev | line source |
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84260 | 1 @c This is part of the Emacs manual. |
2 @c Copyright (C) 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, | |
87903 | 3 @c 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
84260 | 4 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions. |
5 @node International, Major Modes, Frames, Top | |
6 @chapter International Character Set Support | |
7 @cindex MULE | |
8 @cindex international scripts | |
9 @cindex multibyte characters | |
10 @cindex encoding of characters | |
11 | |
12 @cindex Celtic | |
13 @cindex Chinese | |
14 @cindex Cyrillic | |
15 @cindex Czech | |
16 @cindex Devanagari | |
17 @cindex Hindi | |
18 @cindex Marathi | |
19 @cindex Ethiopic | |
20 @cindex German | |
21 @cindex Greek | |
22 @cindex Hebrew | |
23 @cindex IPA | |
24 @cindex Japanese | |
25 @cindex Korean | |
26 @cindex Lao | |
27 @cindex Latin | |
28 @cindex Polish | |
29 @cindex Romanian | |
30 @cindex Slovak | |
31 @cindex Slovenian | |
32 @cindex Thai | |
33 @cindex Tibetan | |
34 @cindex Turkish | |
35 @cindex Vietnamese | |
36 @cindex Dutch | |
37 @cindex Spanish | |
38 Emacs supports a wide variety of international character sets, | |
39 including European and Vietnamese variants of the Latin alphabet, as | |
40 well as Cyrillic, Devanagari (for Hindi and Marathi), Ethiopic, Greek, | |
41 Han (for Chinese and Japanese), Hangul (for Korean), Hebrew, IPA, | |
42 Kannada, Lao, Malayalam, Tamil, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese scripts. | |
43 Emacs also supports various encodings of these characters used by | |
44 other internationalized software, such as word processors and mailers. | |
45 | |
46 Emacs allows editing text with international characters by supporting | |
47 all the related activities: | |
48 | |
49 @itemize @bullet | |
50 @item | |
51 You can visit files with non-@acronym{ASCII} characters, save non-@acronym{ASCII} text, and | |
52 pass non-@acronym{ASCII} text between Emacs and programs it invokes (such as | |
53 compilers, spell-checkers, and mailers). Setting your language | |
54 environment (@pxref{Language Environments}) takes care of setting up the | |
55 coding systems and other options for a specific language or culture. | |
56 Alternatively, you can specify how Emacs should encode or decode text | |
57 for each command; see @ref{Text Coding}. | |
58 | |
59 @item | |
60 You can display non-@acronym{ASCII} characters encoded by the various | |
61 scripts. This works by using appropriate fonts on graphics displays | |
62 (@pxref{Defining Fontsets}), and by sending special codes to text-only | |
63 displays (@pxref{Terminal Coding}). If some characters are displayed | |
64 incorrectly, refer to @ref{Undisplayable Characters}, which describes | |
65 possible problems and explains how to solve them. | |
66 | |
67 @item | |
68 You can insert non-@acronym{ASCII} characters or search for them. To do that, | |
69 you can specify an input method (@pxref{Select Input Method}) suitable | |
70 for your language, or use the default input method set up when you set | |
71 your language environment. If | |
72 your keyboard can produce non-@acronym{ASCII} characters, you can select an | |
73 appropriate keyboard coding system (@pxref{Terminal Coding}), and Emacs | |
74 will accept those characters. Latin-1 characters can also be input by | |
75 using the @kbd{C-x 8} prefix, see @ref{Unibyte Mode}. | |
76 | |
77 On X Window systems, your locale should be set to an appropriate value | |
78 to make sure Emacs interprets keyboard input correctly; see | |
79 @ref{Language Environments, locales}. | |
80 @end itemize | |
81 | |
82 The rest of this chapter describes these issues in detail. | |
83 | |
84 @menu | |
85 * International Chars:: Basic concepts of multibyte characters. | |
86 * Enabling Multibyte:: Controlling whether to use multibyte characters. | |
87 * Language Environments:: Setting things up for the language you use. | |
88 * Input Methods:: Entering text characters not on your keyboard. | |
89 * Select Input Method:: Specifying your choice of input methods. | |
90 * Multibyte Conversion:: How single-byte characters convert to multibyte. | |
91 * Coding Systems:: Character set conversion when you read and | |
92 write files, and so on. | |
93 * Recognize Coding:: How Emacs figures out which conversion to use. | |
94 * Specify Coding:: Specifying a file's coding system explicitly. | |
95 * Output Coding:: Choosing coding systems for output. | |
96 * Text Coding:: Choosing conversion to use for file text. | |
97 * Communication Coding:: Coding systems for interprocess communication. | |
98 * File Name Coding:: Coding systems for file @emph{names}. | |
99 * Terminal Coding:: Specifying coding systems for converting | |
100 terminal input and output. | |
101 * Fontsets:: Fontsets are collections of fonts | |
102 that cover the whole spectrum of characters. | |
103 * Defining Fontsets:: Defining a new fontset. | |
104 * Undisplayable Characters:: When characters don't display. | |
105 * Unibyte Mode:: You can pick one European character set | |
106 to use without multibyte characters. | |
107 * Charsets:: How Emacs groups its internal character codes. | |
108 @end menu | |
109 | |
110 @node International Chars | |
111 @section Introduction to International Character Sets | |
112 | |
113 The users of international character sets and scripts have | |
114 established many more-or-less standard coding systems for storing | |
115 files. Emacs internally uses a single multibyte character encoding, | |
116 so that it can intermix characters from all these scripts in a single | |
117 buffer or string. This encoding represents each non-@acronym{ASCII} | |
118 character as a sequence of bytes in the range 0200 through 0377. | |
119 Emacs translates between the multibyte character encoding and various | |
120 other coding systems when reading and writing files, when exchanging | |
121 data with subprocesses, and (in some cases) in the @kbd{C-q} command | |
122 (@pxref{Multibyte Conversion}). | |
123 | |
124 @kindex C-h h | |
125 @findex view-hello-file | |
126 @cindex undisplayable characters | |
127 @cindex @samp{?} in display | |
128 The command @kbd{C-h h} (@code{view-hello-file}) displays the file | |
129 @file{etc/HELLO}, which shows how to say ``hello'' in many languages. | |
130 This illustrates various scripts. If some characters can't be | |
131 displayed on your terminal, they appear as @samp{?} or as hollow boxes | |
132 (@pxref{Undisplayable Characters}). | |
133 | |
134 Keyboards, even in the countries where these character sets are used, | |
135 generally don't have keys for all the characters in them. So Emacs | |
136 supports various @dfn{input methods}, typically one for each script or | |
137 language, to make it convenient to type them. | |
138 | |
139 @kindex C-x RET | |
140 The prefix key @kbd{C-x @key{RET}} is used for commands that pertain | |
141 to multibyte characters, coding systems, and input methods. | |
142 | |
143 @node Enabling Multibyte | |
144 @section Enabling Multibyte Characters | |
145 | |
146 By default, Emacs starts in multibyte mode, because that allows you to | |
147 use all the supported languages and scripts without limitations. | |
148 | |
149 @cindex turn multibyte support on or off | |
150 You can enable or disable multibyte character support, either for | |
151 Emacs as a whole, or for a single buffer. When multibyte characters | |
152 are disabled in a buffer, we call that @dfn{unibyte mode}. Then each | |
153 byte in that buffer represents a character, even codes 0200 through | |
154 0377. | |
155 | |
156 The old features for supporting the European character sets, ISO | |
157 Latin-1 and ISO Latin-2, work in unibyte mode as they did in Emacs 19 | |
158 and also work for the other ISO 8859 character sets. However, there | |
159 is no need to turn off multibyte character support to use ISO Latin; | |
160 the Emacs multibyte character set includes all the characters in these | |
161 character sets, and Emacs can translate automatically to and from the | |
162 ISO codes. | |
163 | |
164 To edit a particular file in unibyte representation, visit it using | |
165 @code{find-file-literally}. @xref{Visiting}. To convert a buffer in | |
166 multibyte representation into a single-byte representation of the same | |
167 characters, the easiest way is to save the contents in a file, kill the | |
168 buffer, and find the file again with @code{find-file-literally}. You | |
169 can also use @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} | |
170 (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}) and specify @samp{raw-text} as | |
171 the coding system with which to find or save a file. @xref{Text | |
172 Coding}. Finding a file as @samp{raw-text} doesn't disable format | |
173 conversion, uncompression and auto mode selection as | |
174 @code{find-file-literally} does. | |
175 | |
176 @vindex enable-multibyte-characters | |
177 @vindex default-enable-multibyte-characters | |
178 To turn off multibyte character support by default, start Emacs with | |
179 the @samp{--unibyte} option (@pxref{Initial Options}), or set the | |
180 environment variable @env{EMACS_UNIBYTE}. You can also customize | |
181 @code{enable-multibyte-characters} or, equivalently, directly set the | |
182 variable @code{default-enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{nil} in | |
183 your init file to have basically the same effect as @samp{--unibyte}. | |
184 | |
185 @findex toggle-enable-multibyte-characters | |
186 To convert a unibyte session to a multibyte session, set | |
187 @code{default-enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{t}. Buffers which | |
188 were created in the unibyte session before you turn on multibyte support | |
189 will stay unibyte. You can turn on multibyte support in a specific | |
190 buffer by invoking the command @code{toggle-enable-multibyte-characters} | |
191 in that buffer. | |
192 | |
193 @cindex Lisp files, and multibyte operation | |
194 @cindex multibyte operation, and Lisp files | |
195 @cindex unibyte operation, and Lisp files | |
196 @cindex init file, and non-@acronym{ASCII} characters | |
197 @cindex environment variables, and non-@acronym{ASCII} characters | |
198 With @samp{--unibyte}, multibyte strings are not created during | |
199 initialization from the values of environment variables, | |
200 @file{/etc/passwd} entries etc.@: that contain non-@acronym{ASCII} 8-bit | |
201 characters. | |
202 | |
203 Emacs normally loads Lisp files as multibyte, regardless of whether | |
204 you used @samp{--unibyte}. This includes the Emacs initialization file, | |
205 @file{.emacs}, and the initialization files of Emacs packages such as | |
206 Gnus. However, you can specify unibyte loading for a particular Lisp | |
207 file, by putting @w{@samp{-*-unibyte: t;-*-}} in a comment on the first | |
208 line (@pxref{File Variables}). Then that file is always loaded as | |
209 unibyte text, even if you did not start Emacs with @samp{--unibyte}. | |
210 The motivation for these conventions is that it is more reliable to | |
211 always load any particular Lisp file in the same way. However, you can | |
212 load a Lisp file as unibyte, on any one occasion, by typing @kbd{C-x | |
213 @key{RET} c raw-text @key{RET}} immediately before loading it. | |
214 | |
215 The mode line indicates whether multibyte character support is | |
216 enabled in the current buffer. If it is, there are two or more | |
217 characters (most often two dashes) near the beginning of the mode | |
218 line, before the indication of the visited file's end-of-line | |
219 convention (colon, backslash, etc.). When multibyte characters | |
220 are not enabled, nothing precedes the colon except a single dash. | |
221 @xref{Mode Line}, for more details about this. | |
222 | |
223 @node Language Environments | |
224 @section Language Environments | |
225 @cindex language environments | |
226 | |
227 All supported character sets are supported in Emacs buffers whenever | |
228 multibyte characters are enabled; there is no need to select a | |
229 particular language in order to display its characters in an Emacs | |
230 buffer. However, it is important to select a @dfn{language environment} | |
231 in order to set various defaults. The language environment really | |
232 represents a choice of preferred script (more or less) rather than a | |
233 choice of language. | |
234 | |
235 The language environment controls which coding systems to recognize | |
236 when reading text (@pxref{Recognize Coding}). This applies to files, | |
237 incoming mail, netnews, and any other text you read into Emacs. It may | |
238 also specify the default coding system to use when you create a file. | |
239 Each language environment also specifies a default input method. | |
240 | |
241 @findex set-language-environment | |
242 @vindex current-language-environment | |
243 To select a language environment, you can customize the variable | |
244 @code{current-language-environment} or use the command @kbd{M-x | |
245 set-language-environment}. It makes no difference which buffer is | |
246 current when you use this command, because the effects apply globally to | |
247 the Emacs session. The supported language environments include: | |
248 | |
249 @cindex Euro sign | |
250 @cindex UTF-8 | |
251 @quotation | |
252 ASCII, Belarusian, Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Chinese-BIG5, | |
253 Chinese-CNS, Chinese-EUC-TW, Chinese-GB, Croatian, Cyrillic-ALT, | |
254 Cyrillic-ISO, Cyrillic-KOI8, Czech, Devanagari, Dutch, English, | |
255 Esperanto, Ethiopic, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hebrew, IPA, | |
256 Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Lao, Latin-1, Latin-2, Latin-3, | |
257 Latin-4, Latin-5, Latin-6, Latin-7, Latin-8 (Celtic), Latin-9 (updated | |
258 Latin-1 with the Euro sign), Latvian, Lithuanian, Malayalam, Polish, | |
259 Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tajik, Tamil, | |
260 Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, UTF-8 (for a setup which prefers Unicode | |
261 characters and files encoded in UTF-8), Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, | |
262 and Windows-1255 (for a setup which prefers Cyrillic characters and | |
263 files encoded in Windows-1255). | |
264 @tex | |
265 \hbadness=10000\par % just avoid underfull hbox warning | |
266 @end tex | |
267 @end quotation | |
268 | |
269 @cindex fonts for various scripts | |
270 @cindex Intlfonts package, installation | |
271 To display the script(s) used by your language environment on a | |
272 graphical display, you need to have a suitable font. If some of the | |
273 characters appear as empty boxes, you should install the GNU Intlfonts | |
274 package, which includes fonts for most supported scripts.@footnote{If | |
275 you run Emacs on X, you need to inform the X server about the location | |
276 of the newly installed fonts with the following commands: | |
277 | |
278 @example | |
279 xset fp+ /usr/local/share/emacs/fonts | |
280 xset fp rehash | |
281 @end example | |
282 } | |
283 @xref{Fontsets}, for more details about setting up your fonts. | |
284 | |
285 @findex set-locale-environment | |
286 @vindex locale-language-names | |
287 @vindex locale-charset-language-names | |
288 @cindex locales | |
289 Some operating systems let you specify the character-set locale you | |
290 are using by setting the locale environment variables @env{LC_ALL}, | |
291 @env{LC_CTYPE}, or @env{LANG}.@footnote{If more than one of these is | |
292 set, the first one that is nonempty specifies your locale for this | |
293 purpose.} During startup, Emacs looks up your character-set locale's | |
294 name in the system locale alias table, matches its canonical name | |
295 against entries in the value of the variables | |
296 @code{locale-charset-language-names} and @code{locale-language-names}, | |
297 and selects the corresponding language environment if a match is found. | |
298 (The former variable overrides the latter.) It also adjusts the display | |
299 table and terminal coding system, the locale coding system, the | |
300 preferred coding system as needed for the locale, and---last but not | |
301 least---the way Emacs decodes non-@acronym{ASCII} characters sent by your keyboard. | |
302 | |
303 If you modify the @env{LC_ALL}, @env{LC_CTYPE}, or @env{LANG} | |
304 environment variables while running Emacs, you may want to invoke the | |
305 @code{set-locale-environment} function afterwards to readjust the | |
306 language environment from the new locale. | |
307 | |
308 @vindex locale-preferred-coding-systems | |
309 The @code{set-locale-environment} function normally uses the preferred | |
310 coding system established by the language environment to decode system | |
311 messages. But if your locale matches an entry in the variable | |
312 @code{locale-preferred-coding-systems}, Emacs uses the corresponding | |
313 coding system instead. For example, if the locale @samp{ja_JP.PCK} | |
314 matches @code{japanese-shift-jis} in | |
315 @code{locale-preferred-coding-systems}, Emacs uses that encoding even | |
316 though it might normally use @code{japanese-iso-8bit}. | |
317 | |
318 You can override the language environment chosen at startup with | |
319 explicit use of the command @code{set-language-environment}, or with | |
320 customization of @code{current-language-environment} in your init | |
321 file. | |
322 | |
323 @kindex C-h L | |
324 @findex describe-language-environment | |
325 To display information about the effects of a certain language | |
326 environment @var{lang-env}, use the command @kbd{C-h L @var{lang-env} | |
327 @key{RET}} (@code{describe-language-environment}). This tells you | |
328 which languages this language environment is useful for, and lists the | |
329 character sets, coding systems, and input methods that go with it. It | |
330 also shows some sample text to illustrate scripts used in this | |
331 language environment. If you give an empty input for @var{lang-env}, | |
332 this command describes the chosen language environment. | |
333 | |
334 @vindex set-language-environment-hook | |
335 You can customize any language environment with the normal hook | |
336 @code{set-language-environment-hook}. The command | |
337 @code{set-language-environment} runs that hook after setting up the new | |
338 language environment. The hook functions can test for a specific | |
339 language environment by checking the variable | |
340 @code{current-language-environment}. This hook is where you should | |
341 put non-default settings for specific language environment, such as | |
342 coding systems for keyboard input and terminal output, the default | |
343 input method, etc. | |
344 | |
345 @vindex exit-language-environment-hook | |
346 Before it starts to set up the new language environment, | |
347 @code{set-language-environment} first runs the hook | |
348 @code{exit-language-environment-hook}. This hook is useful for undoing | |
349 customizations that were made with @code{set-language-environment-hook}. | |
350 For instance, if you set up a special key binding in a specific language | |
351 environment using @code{set-language-environment-hook}, you should set | |
352 up @code{exit-language-environment-hook} to restore the normal binding | |
353 for that key. | |
354 | |
355 @node Input Methods | |
356 @section Input Methods | |
357 | |
358 @cindex input methods | |
359 An @dfn{input method} is a kind of character conversion designed | |
360 specifically for interactive input. In Emacs, typically each language | |
361 has its own input method; sometimes several languages which use the same | |
362 characters can share one input method. A few languages support several | |
363 input methods. | |
364 | |
365 The simplest kind of input method works by mapping @acronym{ASCII} letters | |
366 into another alphabet; this allows you to use one other alphabet | |
367 instead of @acronym{ASCII}. The Greek and Russian input methods | |
368 work this way. | |
369 | |
370 A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of | |
371 characters into one letter. Many European input methods use composition | |
372 to produce a single non-@acronym{ASCII} letter from a sequence that consists of a | |
373 letter followed by accent characters (or vice versa). For example, some | |
374 methods convert the sequence @kbd{a'} into a single accented letter. | |
375 These input methods have no special commands of their own; all they do | |
376 is compose sequences of printing characters. | |
377 | |
378 The input methods for syllabic scripts typically use mapping followed | |
379 by composition. The input methods for Thai and Korean work this way. | |
380 First, letters are mapped into symbols for particular sounds or tone | |
381 marks; then, sequences of these which make up a whole syllable are | |
382 mapped into one syllable sign. | |
383 | |
384 Chinese and Japanese require more complex methods. In Chinese input | |
385 methods, first you enter the phonetic spelling of a Chinese word (in | |
386 input method @code{chinese-py}, among others), or a sequence of | |
387 portions of the character (input methods @code{chinese-4corner} and | |
388 @code{chinese-sw}, and others). One input sequence typically | |
389 corresponds to many possible Chinese characters. You select the one | |
390 you mean using keys such as @kbd{C-f}, @kbd{C-b}, @kbd{C-n}, | |
391 @kbd{C-p}, and digits, which have special meanings in this situation. | |
392 | |
393 The possible characters are conceptually arranged in several rows, | |
394 with each row holding up to 10 alternatives. Normally, Emacs displays | |
395 just one row at a time, in the echo area; @code{(@var{i}/@var{j})} | |
396 appears at the beginning, to indicate that this is the @var{i}th row | |
397 out of a total of @var{j} rows. Type @kbd{C-n} or @kbd{C-p} to | |
398 display the next row or the previous row. | |
399 | |
400 Type @kbd{C-f} and @kbd{C-b} to move forward and backward among | |
401 the alternatives in the current row. As you do this, Emacs highlights | |
402 the current alternative with a special color; type @code{C-@key{SPC}} | |
403 to select the current alternative and use it as input. The | |
404 alternatives in the row are also numbered; the number appears before | |
405 the alternative. Typing a digit @var{n} selects the @var{n}th | |
406 alternative of the current row and uses it as input. | |
407 | |
408 @key{TAB} in these Chinese input methods displays a buffer showing | |
409 all the possible characters at once; then clicking @kbd{Mouse-2} on | |
410 one of them selects that alternative. The keys @kbd{C-f}, @kbd{C-b}, | |
411 @kbd{C-n}, @kbd{C-p}, and digits continue to work as usual, but they | |
412 do the highlighting in the buffer showing the possible characters, | |
413 rather than in the echo area. | |
414 | |
415 In Japanese input methods, first you input a whole word using | |
416 phonetic spelling; then, after the word is in the buffer, Emacs | |
417 converts it into one or more characters using a large dictionary. One | |
418 phonetic spelling corresponds to a number of different Japanese words; | |
419 to select one of them, use @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} to cycle through | |
420 the alternatives. | |
421 | |
422 Sometimes it is useful to cut off input method processing so that the | |
423 characters you have just entered will not combine with subsequent | |
424 characters. For example, in input method @code{latin-1-postfix}, the | |
425 sequence @kbd{e '} combines to form an @samp{e} with an accent. What if | |
426 you want to enter them as separate characters? | |
427 | |
428 One way is to type the accent twice; this is a special feature for | |
429 entering the separate letter and accent. For example, @kbd{e ' '} gives | |
430 you the two characters @samp{e'}. Another way is to type another letter | |
431 after the @kbd{e}---something that won't combine with that---and | |
432 immediately delete it. For example, you could type @kbd{e e @key{DEL} | |
433 '} to get separate @samp{e} and @samp{'}. | |
434 | |
435 Another method, more general but not quite as easy to type, is to use | |
436 @kbd{C-\ C-\} between two characters to stop them from combining. This | |
437 is the command @kbd{C-\} (@code{toggle-input-method}) used twice. | |
438 @ifnottex | |
439 @xref{Select Input Method}. | |
440 @end ifnottex | |
441 | |
442 @cindex incremental search, input method interference | |
443 @kbd{C-\ C-\} is especially useful inside an incremental search, | |
444 because it stops waiting for more characters to combine, and starts | |
445 searching for what you have already entered. | |
446 | |
447 To find out how to input the character after point using the current | |
448 input method, type @kbd{C-u C-x =}. @xref{Position Info}. | |
449 | |
450 @vindex input-method-verbose-flag | |
451 @vindex input-method-highlight-flag | |
452 The variables @code{input-method-highlight-flag} and | |
453 @code{input-method-verbose-flag} control how input methods explain | |
454 what is happening. If @code{input-method-highlight-flag} is | |
455 non-@code{nil}, the partial sequence is highlighted in the buffer (for | |
456 most input methods---some disable this feature). If | |
457 @code{input-method-verbose-flag} is non-@code{nil}, the list of | |
458 possible characters to type next is displayed in the echo area (but | |
459 not when you are in the minibuffer). | |
460 | |
461 @node Select Input Method | |
462 @section Selecting an Input Method | |
463 | |
464 @table @kbd | |
465 @item C-\ | |
466 Enable or disable use of the selected input method. | |
467 | |
468 @item C-x @key{RET} C-\ @var{method} @key{RET} | |
469 Select a new input method for the current buffer. | |
470 | |
471 @item C-h I @var{method} @key{RET} | |
472 @itemx C-h C-\ @var{method} @key{RET} | |
473 @findex describe-input-method | |
474 @kindex C-h I | |
475 @kindex C-h C-\ | |
476 Describe the input method @var{method} (@code{describe-input-method}). | |
477 By default, it describes the current input method (if any). This | |
478 description should give you the full details of how to use any | |
479 particular input method. | |
480 | |
481 @item M-x list-input-methods | |
482 Display a list of all the supported input methods. | |
483 @end table | |
484 | |
485 @findex set-input-method | |
486 @vindex current-input-method | |
487 @kindex C-x RET C-\ | |
488 To choose an input method for the current buffer, use @kbd{C-x | |
489 @key{RET} C-\} (@code{set-input-method}). This command reads the | |
490 input method name from the minibuffer; the name normally starts with the | |
491 language environment that it is meant to be used with. The variable | |
492 @code{current-input-method} records which input method is selected. | |
493 | |
494 @findex toggle-input-method | |
495 @kindex C-\ | |
496 Input methods use various sequences of @acronym{ASCII} characters to | |
497 stand for non-@acronym{ASCII} characters. Sometimes it is useful to | |
498 turn off the input method temporarily. To do this, type @kbd{C-\} | |
499 (@code{toggle-input-method}). To reenable the input method, type | |
500 @kbd{C-\} again. | |
501 | |
502 If you type @kbd{C-\} and you have not yet selected an input method, | |
503 it prompts for you to specify one. This has the same effect as using | |
504 @kbd{C-x @key{RET} C-\} to specify an input method. | |
505 | |
506 When invoked with a numeric argument, as in @kbd{C-u C-\}, | |
507 @code{toggle-input-method} always prompts you for an input method, | |
508 suggesting the most recently selected one as the default. | |
509 | |
510 @vindex default-input-method | |
511 Selecting a language environment specifies a default input method for | |
512 use in various buffers. When you have a default input method, you can | |
513 select it in the current buffer by typing @kbd{C-\}. The variable | |
514 @code{default-input-method} specifies the default input method | |
515 (@code{nil} means there is none). | |
516 | |
517 In some language environments, which support several different input | |
518 methods, you might want to use an input method different from the | |
519 default chosen by @code{set-language-environment}. You can instruct | |
520 Emacs to select a different default input method for a certain | |
521 language environment, if you wish, by using | |
522 @code{set-language-environment-hook} (@pxref{Language Environments, | |
523 set-language-environment-hook}). For example: | |
524 | |
525 @lisp | |
526 (defun my-chinese-setup () | |
527 "Set up my private Chinese environment." | |
528 (if (equal current-language-environment "Chinese-GB") | |
529 (setq default-input-method "chinese-tonepy"))) | |
530 (add-hook 'set-language-environment-hook 'my-chinese-setup) | |
531 @end lisp | |
532 | |
533 @noindent | |
534 This sets the default input method to be @code{chinese-tonepy} | |
535 whenever you choose a Chinese-GB language environment. | |
536 | |
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537 You can instruct Emacs to activate a certain input method |
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538 automatically. For example: |
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539 |
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540 @lisp |
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541 (add-hook 'text-mode-hook |
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542 (lambda () (set-input-method "german-prefix"))) |
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543 @end lisp |
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544 |
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545 @noindent |
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546 This activates the input emthod ``german-prefix'' automatically in the |
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547 Text mode. |
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548 |
84260 | 549 @findex quail-set-keyboard-layout |
550 Some input methods for alphabetic scripts work by (in effect) | |
551 remapping the keyboard to emulate various keyboard layouts commonly used | |
552 for those scripts. How to do this remapping properly depends on your | |
553 actual keyboard layout. To specify which layout your keyboard has, use | |
554 the command @kbd{M-x quail-set-keyboard-layout}. | |
555 | |
556 @findex quail-show-key | |
557 You can use the command @kbd{M-x quail-show-key} to show what key (or | |
558 key sequence) to type in order to input the character following point, | |
559 using the selected keyboard layout. The command @kbd{C-u C-x =} also | |
560 shows that information in addition to the other information about the | |
561 character. | |
562 | |
563 @findex list-input-methods | |
564 To see a list of all the supported input methods, type @kbd{M-x | |
565 list-input-methods}. The list gives information about each input | |
566 method, including the string that stands for it in the mode line. | |
567 | |
568 @node Multibyte Conversion | |
569 @section Unibyte and Multibyte Non-@acronym{ASCII} characters | |
570 | |
571 When multibyte characters are enabled, character codes 0240 (octal) | |
572 through 0377 (octal) are not really legitimate in the buffer. The valid | |
573 non-@acronym{ASCII} printing characters have codes that start from 0400. | |
574 | |
575 If you type a self-inserting character in the range 0240 through | |
576 0377, or if you use @kbd{C-q} to insert one, Emacs assumes you | |
577 intended to use one of the ISO Latin-@var{n} character sets, and | |
578 converts it to the Emacs code representing that Latin-@var{n} | |
579 character. You select @emph{which} ISO Latin character set to use | |
580 through your choice of language environment | |
581 @iftex | |
582 (see above). | |
583 @end iftex | |
584 @ifnottex | |
585 (@pxref{Language Environments}). | |
586 @end ifnottex | |
587 If you do not specify a choice, the default is Latin-1. | |
588 | |
589 If you insert a character in the range 0200 through 0237, which | |
590 forms the @code{eight-bit-control} character set, it is inserted | |
591 literally. You should normally avoid doing this since buffers | |
592 containing such characters have to be written out in either the | |
593 @code{emacs-mule} or @code{raw-text} coding system, which is usually | |
594 not what you want. | |
595 | |
596 @node Coding Systems | |
597 @section Coding Systems | |
598 @cindex coding systems | |
599 | |
600 Users of various languages have established many more-or-less standard | |
601 coding systems for representing them. Emacs does not use these coding | |
602 systems internally; instead, it converts from various coding systems to | |
603 its own system when reading data, and converts the internal coding | |
604 system to other coding systems when writing data. Conversion is | |
605 possible in reading or writing files, in sending or receiving from the | |
606 terminal, and in exchanging data with subprocesses. | |
607 | |
608 Emacs assigns a name to each coding system. Most coding systems are | |
609 used for one language, and the name of the coding system starts with the | |
610 language name. Some coding systems are used for several languages; | |
611 their names usually start with @samp{iso}. There are also special | |
612 coding systems @code{no-conversion}, @code{raw-text} and | |
613 @code{emacs-mule} which do not convert printing characters at all. | |
614 | |
615 @cindex international files from DOS/Windows systems | |
616 A special class of coding systems, collectively known as | |
617 @dfn{codepages}, is designed to support text encoded by MS-Windows and | |
618 MS-DOS software. The names of these coding systems are | |
619 @code{cp@var{nnnn}}, where @var{nnnn} is a 3- or 4-digit number of the | |
620 codepage. You can use these encodings just like any other coding | |
621 system; for example, to visit a file encoded in codepage 850, type | |
622 @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c cp850 @key{RET} C-x C-f @var{filename} | |
623 @key{RET}}@footnote{ | |
624 In the MS-DOS port of Emacs, you need to create a @code{cp@var{nnn}} | |
625 coding system with @kbd{M-x codepage-setup}, before you can use it. | |
626 @iftex | |
627 @xref{MS-DOS and MULE,,,emacs-extra,Specialized Emacs Features}. | |
628 @end iftex | |
629 @ifnottex | |
630 @xref{MS-DOS and MULE}. | |
631 @end ifnottex | |
632 }. | |
633 | |
634 In addition to converting various representations of non-@acronym{ASCII} | |
635 characters, a coding system can perform end-of-line conversion. Emacs | |
636 handles three different conventions for how to separate lines in a file: | |
637 newline, carriage-return linefeed, and just carriage-return. | |
638 | |
639 @table @kbd | |
640 @item C-h C @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
641 Describe coding system @var{coding}. | |
642 | |
643 @item C-h C @key{RET} | |
644 Describe the coding systems currently in use. | |
645 | |
646 @item M-x list-coding-systems | |
647 Display a list of all the supported coding systems. | |
648 @end table | |
649 | |
650 @kindex C-h C | |
651 @findex describe-coding-system | |
652 The command @kbd{C-h C} (@code{describe-coding-system}) displays | |
653 information about particular coding systems, including the end-of-line | |
654 conversion specified by those coding systems. You can specify a coding | |
655 system name as the argument; alternatively, with an empty argument, it | |
656 describes the coding systems currently selected for various purposes, | |
657 both in the current buffer and as the defaults, and the priority list | |
658 for recognizing coding systems (@pxref{Recognize Coding}). | |
659 | |
660 @findex list-coding-systems | |
661 To display a list of all the supported coding systems, type @kbd{M-x | |
662 list-coding-systems}. The list gives information about each coding | |
663 system, including the letter that stands for it in the mode line | |
664 (@pxref{Mode Line}). | |
665 | |
666 @cindex end-of-line conversion | |
667 @cindex line endings | |
668 @cindex MS-DOS end-of-line conversion | |
669 @cindex Macintosh end-of-line conversion | |
670 Each of the coding systems that appear in this list---except for | |
671 @code{no-conversion}, which means no conversion of any kind---specifies | |
672 how and whether to convert printing characters, but leaves the choice of | |
673 end-of-line conversion to be decided based on the contents of each file. | |
674 For example, if the file appears to use the sequence carriage-return | |
675 linefeed to separate lines, DOS end-of-line conversion will be used. | |
676 | |
677 Each of the listed coding systems has three variants which specify | |
678 exactly what to do for end-of-line conversion: | |
679 | |
680 @table @code | |
681 @item @dots{}-unix | |
682 Don't do any end-of-line conversion; assume the file uses | |
683 newline to separate lines. (This is the convention normally used | |
684 on Unix and GNU systems.) | |
685 | |
686 @item @dots{}-dos | |
687 Assume the file uses carriage-return linefeed to separate lines, and do | |
688 the appropriate conversion. (This is the convention normally used on | |
689 Microsoft systems.@footnote{It is also specified for MIME @samp{text/*} | |
690 bodies and in other network transport contexts. It is different | |
691 from the SGML reference syntax record-start/record-end format which | |
692 Emacs doesn't support directly.}) | |
693 | |
694 @item @dots{}-mac | |
695 Assume the file uses carriage-return to separate lines, and do the | |
696 appropriate conversion. (This is the convention normally used on the | |
697 Macintosh system.) | |
698 @end table | |
699 | |
700 These variant coding systems are omitted from the | |
701 @code{list-coding-systems} display for brevity, since they are entirely | |
702 predictable. For example, the coding system @code{iso-latin-1} has | |
703 variants @code{iso-latin-1-unix}, @code{iso-latin-1-dos} and | |
704 @code{iso-latin-1-mac}. | |
705 | |
706 @cindex @code{undecided}, coding system | |
707 The coding systems @code{unix}, @code{dos}, and @code{mac} are | |
708 aliases for @code{undecided-unix}, @code{undecided-dos}, and | |
709 @code{undecided-mac}, respectively. These coding systems specify only | |
710 the end-of-line conversion, and leave the character code conversion to | |
711 be deduced from the text itself. | |
712 | |
713 The coding system @code{raw-text} is good for a file which is mainly | |
714 @acronym{ASCII} text, but may contain byte values above 127 which are | |
715 not meant to encode non-@acronym{ASCII} characters. With | |
716 @code{raw-text}, Emacs copies those byte values unchanged, and sets | |
717 @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{nil} in the current buffer | |
718 so that they will be interpreted properly. @code{raw-text} handles | |
719 end-of-line conversion in the usual way, based on the data | |
720 encountered, and has the usual three variants to specify the kind of | |
721 end-of-line conversion to use. | |
722 | |
723 In contrast, the coding system @code{no-conversion} specifies no | |
724 character code conversion at all---none for non-@acronym{ASCII} byte values and | |
725 none for end of line. This is useful for reading or writing binary | |
726 files, tar files, and other files that must be examined verbatim. It, | |
727 too, sets @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{nil}. | |
728 | |
729 The easiest way to edit a file with no conversion of any kind is with | |
730 the @kbd{M-x find-file-literally} command. This uses | |
731 @code{no-conversion}, and also suppresses other Emacs features that | |
732 might convert the file contents before you see them. @xref{Visiting}. | |
733 | |
734 The coding system @code{emacs-mule} means that the file contains | |
735 non-@acronym{ASCII} characters stored with the internal Emacs encoding. It | |
736 handles end-of-line conversion based on the data encountered, and has | |
737 the usual three variants to specify the kind of end-of-line conversion. | |
738 | |
739 @findex unify-8859-on-decoding-mode | |
740 @anchor{Character Translation} | |
741 The @dfn{character translation} feature can modify the effect of | |
742 various coding systems, by changing the internal Emacs codes that | |
743 decoding produces. For instance, the command | |
744 @code{unify-8859-on-decoding-mode} enables a mode that ``unifies'' the | |
745 Latin alphabets when decoding text. This works by converting all | |
746 non-@acronym{ASCII} Latin-@var{n} characters to either Latin-1 or | |
747 Unicode characters. This way it is easier to use various | |
748 Latin-@var{n} alphabets together. (In a future Emacs version we hope | |
749 to move towards full Unicode support and complete unification of | |
750 character sets.) | |
751 | |
752 @vindex enable-character-translation | |
753 If you set the variable @code{enable-character-translation} to | |
754 @code{nil}, that disables all character translation (including | |
755 @code{unify-8859-on-decoding-mode}). | |
756 | |
757 @node Recognize Coding | |
758 @section Recognizing Coding Systems | |
759 | |
760 Emacs tries to recognize which coding system to use for a given text | |
761 as an integral part of reading that text. (This applies to files | |
762 being read, output from subprocesses, text from X selections, etc.) | |
763 Emacs can select the right coding system automatically most of the | |
764 time---once you have specified your preferences. | |
765 | |
766 Some coding systems can be recognized or distinguished by which byte | |
767 sequences appear in the data. However, there are coding systems that | |
768 cannot be distinguished, not even potentially. For example, there is no | |
769 way to distinguish between Latin-1 and Latin-2; they use the same byte | |
770 values with different meanings. | |
771 | |
772 Emacs handles this situation by means of a priority list of coding | |
773 systems. Whenever Emacs reads a file, if you do not specify the coding | |
774 system to use, Emacs checks the data against each coding system, | |
775 starting with the first in priority and working down the list, until it | |
776 finds a coding system that fits the data. Then it converts the file | |
777 contents assuming that they are represented in this coding system. | |
778 | |
779 The priority list of coding systems depends on the selected language | |
780 environment (@pxref{Language Environments}). For example, if you use | |
781 French, you probably want Emacs to prefer Latin-1 to Latin-2; if you use | |
782 Czech, you probably want Latin-2 to be preferred. This is one of the | |
783 reasons to specify a language environment. | |
784 | |
785 @findex prefer-coding-system | |
786 However, you can alter the coding system priority list in detail | |
787 with the command @kbd{M-x prefer-coding-system}. This command reads | |
788 the name of a coding system from the minibuffer, and adds it to the | |
789 front of the priority list, so that it is preferred to all others. If | |
790 you use this command several times, each use adds one element to the | |
791 front of the priority list. | |
792 | |
793 If you use a coding system that specifies the end-of-line conversion | |
794 type, such as @code{iso-8859-1-dos}, what this means is that Emacs | |
795 should attempt to recognize @code{iso-8859-1} with priority, and should | |
796 use DOS end-of-line conversion when it does recognize @code{iso-8859-1}. | |
797 | |
798 @vindex file-coding-system-alist | |
799 Sometimes a file name indicates which coding system to use for the | |
800 file. The variable @code{file-coding-system-alist} specifies this | |
801 correspondence. There is a special function | |
802 @code{modify-coding-system-alist} for adding elements to this list. For | |
803 example, to read and write all @samp{.txt} files using the coding system | |
804 @code{chinese-iso-8bit}, you can execute this Lisp expression: | |
805 | |
806 @smallexample | |
807 (modify-coding-system-alist 'file "\\.txt\\'" 'chinese-iso-8bit) | |
808 @end smallexample | |
809 | |
810 @noindent | |
811 The first argument should be @code{file}, the second argument should be | |
812 a regular expression that determines which files this applies to, and | |
813 the third argument says which coding system to use for these files. | |
814 | |
815 @vindex inhibit-eol-conversion | |
816 @cindex DOS-style end-of-line display | |
817 Emacs recognizes which kind of end-of-line conversion to use based on | |
818 the contents of the file: if it sees only carriage-returns, or only | |
819 carriage-return linefeed sequences, then it chooses the end-of-line | |
820 conversion accordingly. You can inhibit the automatic use of | |
821 end-of-line conversion by setting the variable @code{inhibit-eol-conversion} | |
822 to non-@code{nil}. If you do that, DOS-style files will be displayed | |
823 with the @samp{^M} characters visible in the buffer; some people | |
824 prefer this to the more subtle @samp{(DOS)} end-of-line type | |
825 indication near the left edge of the mode line (@pxref{Mode Line, | |
826 eol-mnemonic}). | |
827 | |
828 @vindex inhibit-iso-escape-detection | |
829 @cindex escape sequences in files | |
830 By default, the automatic detection of coding system is sensitive to | |
831 escape sequences. If Emacs sees a sequence of characters that begin | |
832 with an escape character, and the sequence is valid as an ISO-2022 | |
833 code, that tells Emacs to use one of the ISO-2022 encodings to decode | |
834 the file. | |
835 | |
836 However, there may be cases that you want to read escape sequences | |
837 in a file as is. In such a case, you can set the variable | |
838 @code{inhibit-iso-escape-detection} to non-@code{nil}. Then the code | |
839 detection ignores any escape sequences, and never uses an ISO-2022 | |
840 encoding. The result is that all escape sequences become visible in | |
841 the buffer. | |
842 | |
843 The default value of @code{inhibit-iso-escape-detection} is | |
844 @code{nil}. We recommend that you not change it permanently, only for | |
845 one specific operation. That's because many Emacs Lisp source files | |
846 in the Emacs distribution contain non-@acronym{ASCII} characters encoded in the | |
847 coding system @code{iso-2022-7bit}, and they won't be | |
848 decoded correctly when you visit those files if you suppress the | |
849 escape sequence detection. | |
850 | |
851 @vindex auto-coding-alist | |
852 @vindex auto-coding-regexp-alist | |
853 @vindex auto-coding-functions | |
854 The variables @code{auto-coding-alist}, | |
855 @code{auto-coding-regexp-alist} and @code{auto-coding-functions} are | |
856 the strongest way to specify the coding system for certain patterns of | |
857 file names, or for files containing certain patterns; these variables | |
858 even override @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tags in the file itself. Emacs | |
859 uses @code{auto-coding-alist} for tar and archive files, to prevent it | |
860 from being confused by a @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tag in a member of the | |
861 archive and thinking it applies to the archive file as a whole. | |
862 Likewise, Emacs uses @code{auto-coding-regexp-alist} to ensure that | |
863 RMAIL files, whose names in general don't match any particular | |
864 pattern, are decoded correctly. One of the builtin | |
865 @code{auto-coding-functions} detects the encoding for XML files. | |
866 | |
867 @vindex rmail-decode-mime-charset | |
868 When you get new mail in Rmail, each message is translated | |
869 automatically from the coding system it is written in, as if it were a | |
870 separate file. This uses the priority list of coding systems that you | |
871 have specified. If a MIME message specifies a character set, Rmail | |
872 obeys that specification, unless @code{rmail-decode-mime-charset} is | |
873 @code{nil}. | |
874 | |
875 @vindex rmail-file-coding-system | |
876 For reading and saving Rmail files themselves, Emacs uses the coding | |
877 system specified by the variable @code{rmail-file-coding-system}. The | |
878 default value is @code{nil}, which means that Rmail files are not | |
879 translated (they are read and written in the Emacs internal character | |
880 code). | |
881 | |
882 @node Specify Coding | |
883 @section Specifying a File's Coding System | |
884 | |
885 If Emacs recognizes the encoding of a file incorrectly, you can | |
886 reread the file using the correct coding system by typing @kbd{C-x | |
887 @key{RET} r @var{coding-system} @key{RET}}. To see what coding system | |
888 Emacs actually used to decode the file, look at the coding system | |
889 mnemonic letter near the left edge of the mode line (@pxref{Mode | |
890 Line}), or type @kbd{C-h C @key{RET}}. | |
891 | |
892 @vindex coding | |
893 You can specify the coding system for a particular file in the file | |
894 itself, using the @w{@samp{-*-@dots{}-*-}} construct at the beginning, | |
895 or a local variables list at the end (@pxref{File Variables}). You do | |
896 this by defining a value for the ``variable'' named @code{coding}. | |
897 Emacs does not really have a variable @code{coding}; instead of | |
898 setting a variable, this uses the specified coding system for the | |
899 file. For example, @samp{-*-mode: C; coding: latin-1;-*-} specifies | |
900 use of the Latin-1 coding system, as well as C mode. When you specify | |
901 the coding explicitly in the file, that overrides | |
902 @code{file-coding-system-alist}. | |
903 | |
904 If you add the character @samp{!} at the end of the coding system | |
905 name in @code{coding}, it disables any character translation | |
906 (@pxref{Character Translation}) while decoding the file. This is | |
907 useful when you need to make sure that the character codes in the | |
908 Emacs buffer will not vary due to changes in user settings; for | |
909 instance, for the sake of strings in Emacs Lisp source files. | |
910 | |
911 @node Output Coding | |
912 @section Choosing Coding Systems for Output | |
913 | |
914 @vindex buffer-file-coding-system | |
915 Once Emacs has chosen a coding system for a buffer, it stores that | |
916 coding system in @code{buffer-file-coding-system}. That makes it the | |
917 default for operations that write from this buffer into a file, such | |
918 as @code{save-buffer} and @code{write-region}. You can specify a | |
919 different coding system for further file output from the buffer using | |
920 @code{set-buffer-file-coding-system} (@pxref{Text Coding}). | |
921 | |
922 You can insert any character Emacs supports into any Emacs buffer, | |
923 but most coding systems can only handle a subset of these characters. | |
924 Therefore, you can insert characters that cannot be encoded with the | |
925 coding system that will be used to save the buffer. For example, you | |
926 could start with an @acronym{ASCII} file and insert a few Latin-1 | |
927 characters into it, or you could edit a text file in Polish encoded in | |
928 @code{iso-8859-2} and add some Russian words to it. When you save | |
929 that buffer, Emacs cannot use the current value of | |
930 @code{buffer-file-coding-system}, because the characters you added | |
931 cannot be encoded by that coding system. | |
932 | |
933 When that happens, Emacs tries the most-preferred coding system (set | |
934 by @kbd{M-x prefer-coding-system} or @kbd{M-x | |
935 set-language-environment}), and if that coding system can safely | |
936 encode all of the characters in the buffer, Emacs uses it, and stores | |
937 its value in @code{buffer-file-coding-system}. Otherwise, Emacs | |
938 displays a list of coding systems suitable for encoding the buffer's | |
939 contents, and asks you to choose one of those coding systems. | |
940 | |
941 If you insert the unsuitable characters in a mail message, Emacs | |
942 behaves a bit differently. It additionally checks whether the | |
943 most-preferred coding system is recommended for use in MIME messages; | |
944 if not, Emacs tells you that the most-preferred coding system is not | |
945 recommended and prompts you for another coding system. This is so you | |
946 won't inadvertently send a message encoded in a way that your | |
947 recipient's mail software will have difficulty decoding. (You can | |
948 still use an unsuitable coding system if you type its name in response | |
949 to the question.) | |
950 | |
951 @vindex sendmail-coding-system | |
952 When you send a message with Mail mode (@pxref{Sending Mail}), Emacs has | |
953 four different ways to determine the coding system to use for encoding | |
954 the message text. It tries the buffer's own value of | |
955 @code{buffer-file-coding-system}, if that is non-@code{nil}. Otherwise, | |
956 it uses the value of @code{sendmail-coding-system}, if that is | |
957 non-@code{nil}. The third way is to use the default coding system for | |
958 new files, which is controlled by your choice of language environment, | |
959 if that is non-@code{nil}. If all of these three values are @code{nil}, | |
960 Emacs encodes outgoing mail using the Latin-1 coding system. | |
961 | |
962 @node Text Coding | |
963 @section Specifying a Coding System for File Text | |
964 | |
965 In cases where Emacs does not automatically choose the right coding | |
966 system for a file's contents, you can use these commands to specify | |
967 one: | |
968 | |
969 @table @kbd | |
970 @item C-x @key{RET} f @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
971 Use coding system @var{coding} for saving or revisiting the visited | |
972 file in the current buffer. | |
973 | |
974 @item C-x @key{RET} c @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
975 Specify coding system @var{coding} for the immediately following | |
976 command. | |
977 | |
978 @item C-x @key{RET} r @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
979 Revisit the current file using the coding system @var{coding}. | |
980 | |
981 @item M-x recode-region @key{RET} @var{right} @key{RET} @var{wrong} @key{RET} | |
982 Convert a region that was decoded using coding system @var{wrong}, | |
983 decoding it using coding system @var{right} instead. | |
984 @end table | |
985 | |
986 @kindex C-x RET f | |
987 @findex set-buffer-file-coding-system | |
988 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} f} | |
989 (@code{set-buffer-file-coding-system}) sets the file coding system for | |
990 the current buffer---in other words, it says which coding system to | |
991 use when saving or reverting the visited file. You specify which | |
992 coding system using the minibuffer. If you specify a coding system | |
993 that cannot handle all of the characters in the buffer, Emacs warns | |
994 you about the troublesome characters when you actually save the | |
995 buffer. | |
996 | |
997 @cindex specify end-of-line conversion | |
998 You can also use this command to specify the end-of-line conversion | |
999 (@pxref{Coding Systems, end-of-line conversion}) for encoding the | |
1000 current buffer. For example, @kbd{C-x @key{RET} f dos @key{RET}} will | |
1001 cause Emacs to save the current buffer's text with DOS-style CRLF line | |
1002 endings. | |
1003 | |
1004 @kindex C-x RET c | |
1005 @findex universal-coding-system-argument | |
1006 Another way to specify the coding system for a file is when you visit | |
1007 the file. First use the command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} | |
1008 (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}); this command uses the | |
1009 minibuffer to read a coding system name. After you exit the minibuffer, | |
1010 the specified coding system is used for @emph{the immediately following | |
1011 command}. | |
1012 | |
1013 So if the immediately following command is @kbd{C-x C-f}, for example, | |
1014 it reads the file using that coding system (and records the coding | |
1015 system for when you later save the file). Or if the immediately following | |
1016 command is @kbd{C-x C-w}, it writes the file using that coding system. | |
1017 When you specify the coding system for saving in this way, instead | |
1018 of with @kbd{C-x @key{RET} f}, there is no warning if the buffer | |
1019 contains characters that the coding system cannot handle. | |
1020 | |
1021 Other file commands affected by a specified coding system include | |
1022 @kbd{C-x i} and @kbd{C-x C-v}, as well as the other-window variants | |
1023 of @kbd{C-x C-f}. @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} also affects commands that | |
1024 start subprocesses, including @kbd{M-x shell} (@pxref{Shell}). If the | |
1025 immediately following command does not use the coding system, then | |
1026 @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} ultimately has no effect. | |
1027 | |
1028 An easy way to visit a file with no conversion is with the @kbd{M-x | |
1029 find-file-literally} command. @xref{Visiting}. | |
1030 | |
1031 @vindex default-buffer-file-coding-system | |
1032 The variable @code{default-buffer-file-coding-system} specifies the | |
1033 choice of coding system to use when you create a new file. It applies | |
1034 when you find a new file, and when you create a buffer and then save it | |
1035 in a file. Selecting a language environment typically sets this | |
1036 variable to a good choice of default coding system for that language | |
1037 environment. | |
1038 | |
1039 @kindex C-x RET r | |
1040 @findex revert-buffer-with-coding-system | |
1041 If you visit a file with a wrong coding system, you can correct this | |
1042 with @kbd{C-x @key{RET} r} (@code{revert-buffer-with-coding-system}). | |
1043 This visits the current file again, using a coding system you specify. | |
1044 | |
1045 @findex recode-region | |
1046 If a piece of text has already been inserted into a buffer using the | |
1047 wrong coding system, you can redo the decoding of it using @kbd{M-x | |
1048 recode-region}. This prompts you for the proper coding system, then | |
1049 for the wrong coding system that was actually used, and does the | |
1050 conversion. It first encodes the region using the wrong coding system, | |
1051 then decodes it again using the proper coding system. | |
1052 | |
1053 @node Communication Coding | |
1054 @section Coding Systems for Interprocess Communication | |
1055 | |
1056 This section explains how to specify coding systems for use | |
1057 in communication with other processes. | |
1058 | |
1059 @table @kbd | |
1060 @item C-x @key{RET} x @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
1061 Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring selections to and from | |
1062 other window-based applications. | |
1063 | |
1064 @item C-x @key{RET} X @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
1065 Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring @emph{one} | |
1066 selection---the next one---to or from another window-based application. | |
1067 | |
1068 @item C-x @key{RET} p @var{input-coding} @key{RET} @var{output-coding} @key{RET} | |
1069 Use coding systems @var{input-coding} and @var{output-coding} for | |
1070 subprocess input and output in the current buffer. | |
1071 | |
1072 @item C-x @key{RET} c @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
1073 Specify coding system @var{coding} for the immediately following | |
1074 command. | |
1075 @end table | |
1076 | |
1077 @kindex C-x RET x | |
1078 @kindex C-x RET X | |
1079 @findex set-selection-coding-system | |
1080 @findex set-next-selection-coding-system | |
1081 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} x} (@code{set-selection-coding-system}) | |
1082 specifies the coding system for sending selected text to other windowing | |
1083 applications, and for receiving the text of selections made in other | |
1084 applications. This command applies to all subsequent selections, until | |
1085 you override it by using the command again. The command @kbd{C-x | |
1086 @key{RET} X} (@code{set-next-selection-coding-system}) specifies the | |
1087 coding system for the next selection made in Emacs or read by Emacs. | |
1088 | |
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1089 @vindex x-select-request-type |
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1090 The variable @code{x-select-request-type} specifies the data type to |
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1091 request from the X Window System for receiving text selections from |
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1092 other applications. If the value is @code{nil} (the default), Emacs |
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1093 tries @code{COMPOUND_TEXT} and @code{UTF8_STRING}, in this order, and |
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1094 uses various heuristics to choose the more appropriate of the two |
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1095 results; if none of these succeed, Emacs falls back on @code{STRING}. |
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1096 If the value of @code{x-select-request-type} is one of the symbols |
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1097 @code{COMPOUND_TEXT}, @code{UTF8_STRING}, @code{STRING}, or |
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1098 @code{TEXT}, Emacs uses only that request type. If the value is a |
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1099 list of some of these symbols, Emacs tries only the request types in |
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1100 the list, in order, until one of them succeeds, or until the list is |
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1101 exhausted. |
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1102 |
84260 | 1103 @kindex C-x RET p |
1104 @findex set-buffer-process-coding-system | |
1105 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} p} (@code{set-buffer-process-coding-system}) | |
1106 specifies the coding system for input and output to a subprocess. This | |
1107 command applies to the current buffer; normally, each subprocess has its | |
1108 own buffer, and thus you can use this command to specify translation to | |
1109 and from a particular subprocess by giving the command in the | |
1110 corresponding buffer. | |
1111 | |
1112 You can also use @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} just before the command that | |
1113 runs or starts a subprocess, to specify the coding system to use for | |
1114 communication with that subprocess. | |
1115 | |
1116 The default for translation of process input and output depends on the | |
1117 current language environment. | |
1118 | |
1119 @vindex locale-coding-system | |
1120 @cindex decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} keyboard input on X | |
1121 The variable @code{locale-coding-system} specifies a coding system | |
1122 to use when encoding and decoding system strings such as system error | |
1123 messages and @code{format-time-string} formats and time stamps. That | |
1124 coding system is also used for decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} keyboard input on X | |
1125 Window systems. You should choose a coding system that is compatible | |
1126 with the underlying system's text representation, which is normally | |
1127 specified by one of the environment variables @env{LC_ALL}, | |
1128 @env{LC_CTYPE}, and @env{LANG}. (The first one, in the order | |
1129 specified above, whose value is nonempty is the one that determines | |
1130 the text representation.) | |
1131 | |
86275 | 1132 @vindex x-select-request-type |
1133 The variable @code{x-select-request-type} specifies a selection data | |
1134 type of selection to request from the X server. The default value is | |
1135 @code{nil}, which means Emacs tries @code{COMPOUND_TEXT} and | |
1136 @code{UTF8_STRING}, and uses whichever result seems more appropriate. | |
1137 You can explicitly specify the data type by setting the variable to | |
1138 one of the symbols @code{COMPOUND_TEXT}, @code{UTF8_STRING}, | |
1139 @code{STRING} and @code{TEXT}. | |
1140 | |
84260 | 1141 @node File Name Coding |
1142 @section Coding Systems for File Names | |
1143 | |
1144 @table @kbd | |
1145 @item C-x @key{RET} F @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
1146 Use coding system @var{coding} for encoding and decoding file | |
1147 @emph{names}. | |
1148 @end table | |
1149 | |
1150 @vindex file-name-coding-system | |
1151 @cindex file names with non-@acronym{ASCII} characters | |
1152 The variable @code{file-name-coding-system} specifies a coding | |
1153 system to use for encoding file names. It has no effect on reading | |
1154 and writing the @emph{contents} of files. | |
1155 | |
1156 @findex set-file-name-coding-system | |
1157 @kindex C-x @key{RET} F | |
1158 If you set the variable to a coding system name (as a Lisp symbol or | |
1159 a string), Emacs encodes file names using that coding system for all | |
1160 file operations. This makes it possible to use non-@acronym{ASCII} | |
1161 characters in file names---or, at least, those non-@acronym{ASCII} | |
1162 characters which the specified coding system can encode. Use @kbd{C-x | |
1163 @key{RET} F} (@code{set-file-name-coding-system}) to specify this | |
1164 interactively. | |
1165 | |
1166 If @code{file-name-coding-system} is @code{nil}, Emacs uses a | |
1167 default coding system determined by the selected language environment. | |
1168 In the default language environment, any non-@acronym{ASCII} | |
1169 characters in file names are not encoded specially; they appear in the | |
1170 file system using the internal Emacs representation. | |
1171 | |
1172 @strong{Warning:} if you change @code{file-name-coding-system} (or the | |
1173 language environment) in the middle of an Emacs session, problems can | |
1174 result if you have already visited files whose names were encoded using | |
1175 the earlier coding system and cannot be encoded (or are encoded | |
1176 differently) under the new coding system. If you try to save one of | |
1177 these buffers under the visited file name, saving may use the wrong file | |
1178 name, or it may get an error. If such a problem happens, use @kbd{C-x | |
1179 C-w} to specify a new file name for that buffer. | |
1180 | |
1181 @findex recode-file-name | |
1182 If a mistake occurs when encoding a file name, use the command | |
1183 @kbd{M-x recode-file-name} to change the file name's coding | |
1184 system. This prompts for an existing file name, its old coding | |
1185 system, and the coding system to which you wish to convert. | |
1186 | |
1187 @node Terminal Coding | |
1188 @section Coding Systems for Terminal I/O | |
1189 | |
1190 @table @kbd | |
1191 @item C-x @key{RET} k @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
1192 Use coding system @var{coding} for keyboard input. | |
1193 | |
1194 @item C-x @key{RET} t @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
1195 Use coding system @var{coding} for terminal output. | |
1196 @end table | |
1197 | |
1198 @kindex C-x RET t | |
1199 @findex set-terminal-coding-system | |
1200 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} t} (@code{set-terminal-coding-system}) | |
1201 specifies the coding system for terminal output. If you specify a | |
1202 character code for terminal output, all characters output to the | |
1203 terminal are translated into that coding system. | |
1204 | |
1205 This feature is useful for certain character-only terminals built to | |
1206 support specific languages or character sets---for example, European | |
1207 terminals that support one of the ISO Latin character sets. You need to | |
1208 specify the terminal coding system when using multibyte text, so that | |
1209 Emacs knows which characters the terminal can actually handle. | |
1210 | |
1211 By default, output to the terminal is not translated at all, unless | |
1212 Emacs can deduce the proper coding system from your terminal type or | |
1213 your locale specification (@pxref{Language Environments}). | |
1214 | |
1215 @kindex C-x RET k | |
1216 @findex set-keyboard-coding-system | |
1217 @vindex keyboard-coding-system | |
1218 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} k} (@code{set-keyboard-coding-system}) | |
1219 or the variable @code{keyboard-coding-system} specifies the coding | |
1220 system for keyboard input. Character-code translation of keyboard | |
1221 input is useful for terminals with keys that send non-@acronym{ASCII} | |
1222 graphic characters---for example, some terminals designed for ISO | |
1223 Latin-1 or subsets of it. | |
1224 | |
1225 By default, keyboard input is translated based on your system locale | |
1226 setting. If your terminal does not really support the encoding | |
1227 implied by your locale (for example, if you find it inserts a | |
1228 non-@acronym{ASCII} character if you type @kbd{M-i}), you will need to set | |
1229 @code{keyboard-coding-system} to @code{nil} to turn off encoding. | |
1230 You can do this by putting | |
1231 | |
1232 @lisp | |
1233 (set-keyboard-coding-system nil) | |
1234 @end lisp | |
1235 | |
1236 @noindent | |
1237 in your @file{~/.emacs} file. | |
1238 | |
1239 There is a similarity between using a coding system translation for | |
1240 keyboard input, and using an input method: both define sequences of | |
1241 keyboard input that translate into single characters. However, input | |
1242 methods are designed to be convenient for interactive use by humans, and | |
1243 the sequences that are translated are typically sequences of @acronym{ASCII} | |
1244 printing characters. Coding systems typically translate sequences of | |
1245 non-graphic characters. | |
1246 | |
1247 @node Fontsets | |
1248 @section Fontsets | |
1249 @cindex fontsets | |
1250 | |
1251 A font typically defines shapes for a single alphabet or script. | |
1252 Therefore, displaying the entire range of scripts that Emacs supports | |
1253 requires a collection of many fonts. In Emacs, such a collection is | |
1254 called a @dfn{fontset}. A fontset is defined by a list of fonts, each | |
1255 assigned to handle a range of character codes. | |
1256 | |
1257 Each fontset has a name, like a font. However, while fonts are | |
1258 stored in the system and the available font names are defined by the | |
1259 system, fontsets are defined within Emacs itself. Once you have | |
1260 defined a fontset, you can use it within Emacs by specifying its name, | |
1261 anywhere that you could use a single font. Of course, Emacs fontsets | |
1262 can use only the fonts that the system supports; if certain characters | |
1263 appear on the screen as hollow boxes, this means that the fontset in | |
1264 use for them has no font for those characters.@footnote{The Emacs | |
1265 installation instructions have information on additional font | |
1266 support.} | |
1267 | |
1268 Emacs creates two fontsets automatically: the @dfn{standard fontset} | |
1269 and the @dfn{startup fontset}. The standard fontset is most likely to | |
1270 have fonts for a wide variety of non-@acronym{ASCII} characters; | |
1271 however, this is not the default for Emacs to use. (By default, Emacs | |
1272 tries to find a font that has bold and italic variants.) You can | |
1273 specify use of the standard fontset with the @samp{-fn} option. For | |
1274 example, | |
1275 | |
1276 @example | |
1277 emacs -fn fontset-standard | |
1278 @end example | |
1279 | |
1280 @noindent | |
1281 You can also specify a fontset with the @samp{Font} resource (@pxref{X | |
1282 Resources}). | |
1283 | |
1284 A fontset does not necessarily specify a font for every character | |
1285 code. If a fontset specifies no font for a certain character, or if it | |
1286 specifies a font that does not exist on your system, then it cannot | |
1287 display that character properly. It will display that character as an | |
1288 empty box instead. | |
1289 | |
1290 @node Defining Fontsets | |
1291 @section Defining fontsets | |
1292 | |
1293 @vindex standard-fontset-spec | |
1294 @cindex standard fontset | |
1295 Emacs creates a standard fontset automatically according to the value | |
1296 of @code{standard-fontset-spec}. This fontset's name is | |
1297 | |
1298 @example | |
1299 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-16-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-standard | |
1300 @end example | |
1301 | |
1302 @noindent | |
1303 or just @samp{fontset-standard} for short. | |
1304 | |
1305 Bold, italic, and bold-italic variants of the standard fontset are | |
1306 created automatically. Their names have @samp{bold} instead of | |
1307 @samp{medium}, or @samp{i} instead of @samp{r}, or both. | |
1308 | |
1309 @cindex startup fontset | |
1310 If you specify a default @acronym{ASCII} font with the @samp{Font} resource or | |
1311 the @samp{-fn} argument, Emacs generates a fontset from it | |
1312 automatically. This is the @dfn{startup fontset} and its name is | |
1313 @code{fontset-startup}. It does this by replacing the @var{foundry}, | |
1314 @var{family}, @var{add_style}, and @var{average_width} fields of the | |
1315 font name with @samp{*}, replacing @var{charset_registry} field with | |
1316 @samp{fontset}, and replacing @var{charset_encoding} field with | |
1317 @samp{startup}, then using the resulting string to specify a fontset. | |
1318 | |
1319 For instance, if you start Emacs this way, | |
1320 | |
1321 @example | |
1322 emacs -fn "*courier-medium-r-normal--14-140-*-iso8859-1" | |
1323 @end example | |
1324 | |
1325 @noindent | |
1326 Emacs generates the following fontset and uses it for the initial X | |
1327 window frame: | |
1328 | |
1329 @example | |
1330 -*-*-medium-r-normal-*-14-140-*-*-*-*-fontset-startup | |
1331 @end example | |
1332 | |
1333 With the X resource @samp{Emacs.Font}, you can specify a fontset name | |
1334 just like an actual font name. But be careful not to specify a fontset | |
1335 name in a wildcard resource like @samp{Emacs*Font}---that wildcard | |
1336 specification matches various other resources, such as for menus, and | |
1337 menus cannot handle fontsets. | |
1338 | |
1339 You can specify additional fontsets using X resources named | |
1340 @samp{Fontset-@var{n}}, where @var{n} is an integer starting from 0. | |
1341 The resource value should have this form: | |
1342 | |
1343 @smallexample | |
1344 @var{fontpattern}, @r{[}@var{charset}:@var{font}@r{]@dots{}} | |
1345 @end smallexample | |
1346 | |
1347 @noindent | |
1348 @var{fontpattern} should have the form of a standard X font name, except | |
1349 for the last two fields. They should have the form | |
1350 @samp{fontset-@var{alias}}. | |
1351 | |
1352 The fontset has two names, one long and one short. The long name is | |
1353 @var{fontpattern}. The short name is @samp{fontset-@var{alias}}. You | |
1354 can refer to the fontset by either name. | |
1355 | |
1356 The construct @samp{@var{charset}:@var{font}} specifies which font to | |
1357 use (in this fontset) for one particular character set. Here, | |
1358 @var{charset} is the name of a character set, and @var{font} is the | |
1359 font to use for that character set. You can use this construct any | |
1360 number of times in defining one fontset. | |
1361 | |
1362 For the other character sets, Emacs chooses a font based on | |
1363 @var{fontpattern}. It replaces @samp{fontset-@var{alias}} with values | |
1364 that describe the character set. For the @acronym{ASCII} character font, | |
1365 @samp{fontset-@var{alias}} is replaced with @samp{ISO8859-1}. | |
1366 | |
1367 In addition, when several consecutive fields are wildcards, Emacs | |
1368 collapses them into a single wildcard. This is to prevent use of | |
1369 auto-scaled fonts. Fonts made by scaling larger fonts are not usable | |
1370 for editing, and scaling a smaller font is not useful because it is | |
1371 better to use the smaller font in its own size, which is what Emacs | |
1372 does. | |
1373 | |
1374 Thus if @var{fontpattern} is this, | |
1375 | |
1376 @example | |
1377 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24 | |
1378 @end example | |
1379 | |
1380 @noindent | |
1381 the font specification for @acronym{ASCII} characters would be this: | |
1382 | |
1383 @example | |
1384 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-ISO8859-1 | |
1385 @end example | |
1386 | |
1387 @noindent | |
1388 and the font specification for Chinese GB2312 characters would be this: | |
1389 | |
1390 @example | |
1391 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-gb2312*-* | |
1392 @end example | |
1393 | |
1394 You may not have any Chinese font matching the above font | |
1395 specification. Most X distributions include only Chinese fonts that | |
1396 have @samp{song ti} or @samp{fangsong ti} in @var{family} field. In | |
1397 such a case, @samp{Fontset-@var{n}} can be specified as below: | |
1398 | |
1399 @smallexample | |
1400 Emacs.Fontset-0: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24,\ | |
1401 chinese-gb2312:-*-*-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-gb2312*-* | |
1402 @end smallexample | |
1403 | |
1404 @noindent | |
1405 Then, the font specifications for all but Chinese GB2312 characters have | |
1406 @samp{fixed} in the @var{family} field, and the font specification for | |
1407 Chinese GB2312 characters has a wild card @samp{*} in the @var{family} | |
1408 field. | |
1409 | |
1410 @findex create-fontset-from-fontset-spec | |
1411 The function that processes the fontset resource value to create the | |
1412 fontset is called @code{create-fontset-from-fontset-spec}. You can also | |
1413 call this function explicitly to create a fontset. | |
1414 | |
1415 @xref{Font X}, for more information about font naming in X. | |
1416 | |
1417 @node Undisplayable Characters | |
1418 @section Undisplayable Characters | |
1419 | |
1420 There may be a some non-@acronym{ASCII} characters that your terminal cannot | |
1421 display. Most text-only terminals support just a single character | |
1422 set (use the variable @code{default-terminal-coding-system} | |
1423 (@pxref{Terminal Coding}) to tell Emacs which one); characters which | |
1424 can't be encoded in that coding system are displayed as @samp{?} by | |
1425 default. | |
1426 | |
1427 Graphical displays can display a broader range of characters, but | |
1428 you may not have fonts installed for all of them; characters that have | |
1429 no font appear as a hollow box. | |
1430 | |
1431 If you use Latin-1 characters but your terminal can't display | |
1432 Latin-1, you can arrange to display mnemonic @acronym{ASCII} sequences | |
1433 instead, e.g.@: @samp{"o} for o-umlaut. Load the library | |
1434 @file{iso-ascii} to do this. | |
1435 | |
1436 @vindex latin1-display | |
1437 If your terminal can display Latin-1, you can display characters | |
1438 from other European character sets using a mixture of equivalent | |
1439 Latin-1 characters and @acronym{ASCII} mnemonics. Customize the variable | |
1440 @code{latin1-display} to enable this. The mnemonic @acronym{ASCII} | |
1441 sequences mostly correspond to those of the prefix input methods. | |
1442 | |
1443 @node Unibyte Mode | |
1444 @section Unibyte Editing Mode | |
1445 | |
1446 @cindex European character sets | |
1447 @cindex accented characters | |
1448 @cindex ISO Latin character sets | |
1449 @cindex Unibyte operation | |
1450 The ISO 8859 Latin-@var{n} character sets define character codes in | |
1451 the range 0240 to 0377 octal (160 to 255 decimal) to handle the | |
1452 accented letters and punctuation needed by various European languages | |
1453 (and some non-European ones). If you disable multibyte characters, | |
1454 Emacs can still handle @emph{one} of these character codes at a time. | |
1455 To specify @emph{which} of these codes to use, invoke @kbd{M-x | |
1456 set-language-environment} and specify a suitable language environment | |
1457 such as @samp{Latin-@var{n}}. | |
1458 | |
1459 For more information about unibyte operation, see @ref{Enabling | |
1460 Multibyte}. Note particularly that you probably want to ensure that | |
1461 your initialization files are read as unibyte if they contain | |
1462 non-@acronym{ASCII} characters. | |
1463 | |
1464 @vindex unibyte-display-via-language-environment | |
1465 Emacs can also display those characters, provided the terminal or font | |
1466 in use supports them. This works automatically. Alternatively, on a | |
1467 graphical display, Emacs can also display single-byte characters | |
1468 through fontsets, in effect by displaying the equivalent multibyte | |
1469 characters according to the current language environment. To request | |
1470 this, set the variable @code{unibyte-display-via-language-environment} | |
1471 to a non-@code{nil} value. | |
1472 | |
1473 @cindex @code{iso-ascii} library | |
1474 If your terminal does not support display of the Latin-1 character | |
1475 set, Emacs can display these characters as @acronym{ASCII} sequences which at | |
1476 least give you a clear idea of what the characters are. To do this, | |
1477 load the library @code{iso-ascii}. Similar libraries for other | |
1478 Latin-@var{n} character sets could be implemented, but we don't have | |
1479 them yet. | |
1480 | |
1481 @findex standard-display-8bit | |
1482 @cindex 8-bit display | |
1483 Normally non-ISO-8859 characters (decimal codes between 128 and 159 | |
1484 inclusive) are displayed as octal escapes. You can change this for | |
1485 non-standard ``extended'' versions of ISO-8859 character sets by using the | |
1486 function @code{standard-display-8bit} in the @code{disp-table} library. | |
1487 | |
1488 There are two ways to input single-byte non-@acronym{ASCII} | |
1489 characters: | |
1490 | |
1491 @itemize @bullet | |
1492 @cindex 8-bit input | |
1493 @item | |
1494 You can use an input method for the selected language environment. | |
1495 @xref{Input Methods}. When you use an input method in a unibyte buffer, | |
1496 the non-@acronym{ASCII} character you specify with it is converted to unibyte. | |
1497 | |
1498 @item | |
1499 If your keyboard can generate character codes 128 (decimal) and up, | |
1500 representing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters, you can type those character codes | |
1501 directly. | |
1502 | |
1503 On a graphical display, you should not need to do anything special to use | |
1504 these keys; they should simply work. On a text-only terminal, you | |
1505 should use the command @code{M-x set-keyboard-coding-system} or the | |
1506 variable @code{keyboard-coding-system} to specify which coding system | |
1507 your keyboard uses (@pxref{Terminal Coding}). Enabling this feature | |
1508 will probably require you to use @kbd{ESC} to type Meta characters; | |
1509 however, on a console terminal or in @code{xterm}, you can arrange for | |
1510 Meta to be converted to @kbd{ESC} and still be able type 8-bit | |
1511 characters present directly on the keyboard or using @kbd{Compose} or | |
1512 @kbd{AltGr} keys. @xref{User Input}. | |
1513 | |
1514 @kindex C-x 8 | |
1515 @cindex @code{iso-transl} library | |
1516 @cindex compose character | |
1517 @cindex dead character | |
1518 @item | |
1519 For Latin-1 only, you can use the key @kbd{C-x 8} as a ``compose | |
1520 character'' prefix for entry of non-@acronym{ASCII} Latin-1 printing | |
1521 characters. @kbd{C-x 8} is good for insertion (in the minibuffer as | |
1522 well as other buffers), for searching, and in any other context where | |
1523 a key sequence is allowed. | |
1524 | |
1525 @kbd{C-x 8} works by loading the @code{iso-transl} library. Once that | |
1526 library is loaded, the @key{ALT} modifier key, if the keyboard has | |
1527 one, serves the same purpose as @kbd{C-x 8}: use @key{ALT} together | |
1528 with an accent character to modify the following letter. In addition, | |
1529 if the keyboard has keys for the Latin-1 ``dead accent characters,'' | |
1530 they too are defined to compose with the following character, once | |
1531 @code{iso-transl} is loaded. | |
1532 | |
1533 Use @kbd{C-x 8 C-h} to list all the available @kbd{C-x 8} translations. | |
1534 @end itemize | |
1535 | |
1536 @node Charsets | |
1537 @section Charsets | |
1538 @cindex charsets | |
1539 | |
1540 Emacs groups all supported characters into disjoint @dfn{charsets}. | |
1541 Each character code belongs to one and only one charset. For | |
1542 historical reasons, Emacs typically divides an 8-bit character code | |
1543 for an extended version of @acronym{ASCII} into two charsets: | |
1544 @acronym{ASCII}, which covers the codes 0 through 127, plus another | |
1545 charset which covers the ``right-hand part'' (the codes 128 and up). | |
1546 For instance, the characters of Latin-1 include the Emacs charset | |
1547 @code{ascii} plus the Emacs charset @code{latin-iso8859-1}. | |
1548 | |
1549 Emacs characters belonging to different charsets may look the same, | |
1550 but they are still different characters. For example, the letter | |
1551 @samp{o} with acute accent in charset @code{latin-iso8859-1}, used for | |
1552 Latin-1, is different from the letter @samp{o} with acute accent in | |
1553 charset @code{latin-iso8859-2}, used for Latin-2. | |
1554 | |
1555 @findex list-charset-chars | |
1556 @cindex characters in a certain charset | |
1557 @findex describe-character-set | |
1558 There are two commands for obtaining information about Emacs | |
1559 charsets. The command @kbd{M-x list-charset-chars} prompts for a name | |
1560 of a character set, and displays all the characters in that character | |
1561 set. The command @kbd{M-x describe-character-set} prompts for a | |
1562 charset name and displays information about that charset, including | |
1563 its internal representation within Emacs. | |
1564 | |
1565 To find out which charset a character in the buffer belongs to, | |
1566 put point before it and type @kbd{C-u C-x =}. | |
1567 | |
1568 @ignore | |
1569 arch-tag: 310ba60d-31ef-4ce7-91f1-f282dd57b6b3 | |
1570 @end ignore |