annotate man/mule.texi @ 36185:62cf166239f3

Change in quoting.
author Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
date Mon, 19 Feb 2001 04:15:26 +0000
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children 11db0318031d
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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 @cindex Dutch
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36 @cindex Spanish
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37 Emacs supports a wide variety of international character sets,
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38 including European variants of the Latin alphabet, as well as Chinese,
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39 Cyrillic, Devanagari (Hindi and Marathi), Ethiopic, Greek, Hebrew, IPA,
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40 Japanese, Korean, Lao, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese scripts. These features
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41 have been merged from the modified version of Emacs known as MULE (for
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42 ``MULti-lingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs'')
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43
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44 Emacs also supports various encodings of these characters used by
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45 other internationalized software, such as word processors and mailers.
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46
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47 @menu
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48 * International Intro:: Basic concepts of multibyte characters.
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49 * Enabling Multibyte:: Controlling whether to use multibyte characters.
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50 * Language Environments:: Setting things up for the language you use.
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51 * Input Methods:: Entering text characters not on your keyboard.
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52 * Select Input Method:: Specifying your choice of input methods.
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53 * Multibyte Conversion:: How single-byte characters convert to multibyte.
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54 * Coding Systems:: Character set conversion when you read and
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55 write files, and so on.
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56 * Recognize Coding:: How Emacs figures out which conversion to use.
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57 * Specify Coding:: Various ways to choose which conversion to use.
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58 * Fontsets:: Fontsets are collections of fonts
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59 that cover the whole spectrum of characters.
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60 * Defining Fontsets:: Defining a new fontset.
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61 * Undisplayable Characters:: When characters don't display.
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62 * Single-Byte Character Support::
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63 You can pick one European character set
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64 to use without multibyte characters.
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65 @end menu
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66
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67 @node International Intro
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68 @section Introduction to International Character Sets
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69
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70 The users of international character sets and scripts have established
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71 many more-or-less standard coding systems for storing files. Emacs
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72 internally uses a single multibyte character encoding, so that it can
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73 intermix characters from all these scripts in a single buffer or string.
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74 This encoding represents each non-ASCII character as a sequence of bytes
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75 in the range 0200 through 0377. Emacs translates between the multibyte
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76 character encoding and various other coding systems when reading and
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77 writing files, when exchanging data with subprocesses, and (in some
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78 cases) in the @kbd{C-q} command (@pxref{Multibyte Conversion}).
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79
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80 @kindex C-h h
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81 @findex view-hello-file
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82 @cindex undisplayable characters
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83 @cindex @samp{?} in display
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84 The command @kbd{C-h h} (@code{view-hello-file}) displays the file
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85 @file{etc/HELLO}, which shows how to say ``hello'' in many languages.
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86 This illustrates various scripts. If some characters can't be
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87 displayed on your terminal, they appear as @samp{?} or as hollow boxes
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88 (@pxref{Undisplayable Characters}).
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89
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90 Keyboards, even in the countries where these character sets are used,
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91 generally don't have keys for all the characters in them. So Emacs
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92 supports various @dfn{input methods}, typically one for each script or
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93 language, to make it convenient to type them.
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94
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95 @kindex C-x RET
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96 The prefix key @kbd{C-x @key{RET}} is used for commands that pertain
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97 to multibyte characters, coding systems, and input methods.
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98
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99 @ignore
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100 @c This is commented out because it doesn't fit here, or anywhere.
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101 @c This manual does not discuss "character sets" as they
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102 @c are used in Mule, and it makes no sense to mention these commands
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103 @c except as part of a larger discussion of the topic.
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104 @c But it is not clear that topic is worth mentioning here,
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105 @c since that is more of an implementation concept
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106 @c than a user-level concept. And when we switch to Unicode,
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107 @c character sets in the current sense may not even exist.
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108
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109 @findex list-charset-chars
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110 @cindex characters in a certain charset
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111 The command @kbd{M-x list-charset-chars} prompts for a name of a
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112 character set, and displays all the characters in that character set.
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113
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114 @findex describe-character-set
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115 @cindex character set, description
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116 The command @kbd{M-x describe-character-set} prompts for a character
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117 set name and displays information about that character set, including
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118 its internal representation within Emacs.
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119 @end ignore
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120
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121 @node Enabling Multibyte
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122 @section Enabling Multibyte Characters
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123
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124 You can enable or disable multibyte character support, either for
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125 Emacs as a whole, or for a single buffer. When multibyte characters are
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126 disabled in a buffer, then each byte in that buffer represents a
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127 character, even codes 0200 through 0377. The old features for
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128 supporting the European character sets, ISO Latin-1 and ISO Latin-2,
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129 work as they did in Emacs 19 and also work for the other ISO 8859
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130 character sets.
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131
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132 However, there is no need to turn off multibyte character support to
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133 use ISO Latin; the Emacs multibyte character set includes all the
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134 characters in these character sets, and Emacs can translate
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135 automatically to and from the ISO codes.
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136
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137 To edit a particular file in unibyte representation, visit it using
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138 @code{find-file-literally}. @xref{Visiting}. To convert a buffer in
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139 multibyte representation into a single-byte representation of the same
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140 characters, the easiest way is to save the contents in a file, kill the
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141 buffer, and find the file again with @code{find-file-literally}. You
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142 can also use @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c}
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143 (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}) and specify @samp{raw-text} as
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144 the coding system with which to find or save a file. @xref{Specify
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145 Coding}. Finding a file as @samp{raw-text} doesn't disable format
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146 conversion, uncompression and auto mode selection as
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147 @code{find-file-literally} does.
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148
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149 @vindex enable-multibyte-characters
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150 @vindex default-enable-multibyte-characters
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151 To turn off multibyte character support by default, start Emacs with
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152 the @samp{--unibyte} option (@pxref{Initial Options}), or set the
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153 environment variable @env{EMACS_UNIBYTE}. You can also customize
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154 @code{enable-multibyte-characters} or, equivalently, directly set the
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155 variable @code{default-enable-multibyte-characters} in your init file to
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156 have basically the same effect as @samp{--unibyte}.
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157
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158 @cindex Lisp files, and multibyte operation
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159 @cindex multibyte operation, and Lisp files
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160 @cindex unibyte operation, and Lisp files
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161 @cindex init file, and non-ASCII characters
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162 @cindex environment variables, and non-ASCII characters
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163 With @samp{--unibyte}, multibyte strings are not created during
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164 initialization from the values of environment variables,
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165 @file{/etc/passwd} entries etc.@: that contain non-ASCII 8-bit
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166 characters.
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167
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168 Emacs normally loads Lisp files as multibyte, regardless of whether
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169 you used @samp{--unibyte}. This includes the Emacs initialization
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170 file, @file{.emacs}, and the initialization files of Emacs packages
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171 such as Gnus. However, you can specify unibyte loading for a
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172 particular Lisp file, by putting @samp{-*-unibyte: t;-*-} in a comment
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173 on the first line. Then that file is always loaded as unibyte text,
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174 even if you did not start Emacs with @samp{--unibyte}. The motivation
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175 for these conventions is that it is more reliable to always load any
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176 particular Lisp file in the same way. However, you can load a Lisp
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177 file as unibyte, on any one occasion, by typing @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c
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178 raw-text @key{RET}} immediately before loading it.
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179
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180 The mode line indicates whether multibyte character support is enabled
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181 in the current buffer. If it is, there are two or more characters (most
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182 often two dashes) before the colon near the beginning of the mode line.
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183 When multibyte characters are not enabled, just one dash precedes the
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184 colon.
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185
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186 @node Language Environments
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187 @section Language Environments
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188 @cindex language environments
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189
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190 All supported character sets are supported in Emacs buffers whenever
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191 multibyte characters are enabled; there is no need to select a
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192 particular language in order to display its characters in an Emacs
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193 buffer. However, it is important to select a @dfn{language environment}
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194 in order to set various defaults. The language environment really
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195 represents a choice of preferred script (more or less) rather than a
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196 choice of language.
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197
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198 The language environment controls which coding systems to recognize
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199 when reading text (@pxref{Recognize Coding}). This applies to files,
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200 incoming mail, netnews, and any other text you read into Emacs. It may
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201 also specify the default coding system to use when you create a file.
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202 Each language environment also specifies a default input method.
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203
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204 @findex set-language-environment
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205 @vindex current-language-environment
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206 To select a language environment, customize the option
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207 @code{current-language-environment} or use the command @kbd{M-x
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208 set-language-environment}. It makes no difference which buffer is
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209 current when you use this command, because the effects apply globally to
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210 the Emacs session. The supported language environments include:
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211
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212 @cindex Euro sign
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213 @quotation
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214 Chinese-BIG5, Chinese-CNS, Chinese-GB, Cyrillic-ALT, Cyrillic-ISO,
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215 Cyrillic-KOI8, Czech, Devanagari, English, Ethiopic, German, Greek,
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216 Hebrew, IPA, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Latin-1, Latin-2, Latin-3, Latin-4,
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217 Latin-5, Latin-8 (Celtic), Latin-9 (updated Latin-1, with the Euro
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218 sign), Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish,
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219 Dutch, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
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220 @end quotation
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221
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222 @cindex fonts for various scripts
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223 To display the script(s) used by your language environment on a
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224 graphical display, you need to have a suitable font. If some of the
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225 characters appear as empty boxes, you should install the GNU Intlfonts
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226 package, which includes fonts for all supported scripts.
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227 @xref{Fontsets}, for more details about setting up your fonts.
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228
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229 @findex set-locale-environment
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230 @vindex locale-language-names
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231 @vindex locale-charset-language-names
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232 @cindex locales
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233 Some operating systems let you specify the language you are using by
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234 setting the locale environment variables @env{LC_ALL}, @env{LC_CTYPE},
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235 or @env{LANG}.@footnote{If more than one of these is set, the first
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236 one that is nonempty specifies your locale for this purpose.} Emacs
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237 handles this during startup by matching your locale against entries in
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238 the value of the variables @code{locale-charset-language-names} and
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239 @code{locale-language-names} and selects the corresponding language
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240 environment if a match is found. (The former variable overrides the
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241 latter.) It also adjusts the display table and terminal coding
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242 system, the locale coding system, and the preferred coding system as
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243 needed for the locale.
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244
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245 If you modify the @env{LC_ALL}, @env{LC_CTYPE}, or @env{LANG}
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246 environment variables while running Emacs, you may want to invoke the
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247 @code{set-locale-environment} function afterwards to readjust the
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248 language environment from the new locale.
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249
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250 @vindex locale-preferred-coding-systems
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251 The @code{set-locale-environment} function normally uses the preferred
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252 coding system established by the language environment to decode system
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253 messages. But if your locale matches an entry in the variable
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254 @code{locale-preferred-coding-systems}, Emacs uses the corresponding
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255 coding system instead. For example, if the locale @samp{ja_JP.PCK}
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256 matches @code{japanese-shift-jis} in
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257 @code{locale-preferred-coding-systems}, Emacs uses that encoding even
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258 though it might normally use @code{japanese-iso-8bit}.
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259
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260 You can override the language environment chosen at startup with
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261 explicit use of the command @code{set-language-environment}, or with
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262 customization of @code{current-language-environment} in your init
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263 file.
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264
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265 @kindex C-h L
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266 @findex describe-language-environment
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267 To display information about the effects of a certain language
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268 environment @var{lang-env}, use the command @kbd{C-h L @var{lang-env}
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269 @key{RET}} (@code{describe-language-environment}). This tells you which
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270 languages this language environment is useful for, and lists the
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271 character sets, coding systems, and input methods that go with it. It
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272 also shows some sample text to illustrate scripts used in this language
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273 environment. By default, this command describes the chosen language
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274 environment.
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275
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276 @vindex set-language-environment-hook
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277 You can customize any language environment with the normal hook
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278 @code{set-language-environment-hook}. The command
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279 @code{set-language-environment} runs that hook after setting up the new
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280 language environment. The hook functions can test for a specific
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281 language environment by checking the variable
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282 @code{current-language-environment}.
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283
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284 @vindex exit-language-environment-hook
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285 Before it starts to set up the new language environment,
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286 @code{set-language-environment} first runs the hook
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287 @code{exit-language-environment-hook}. This hook is useful for undoing
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288 customizations that were made with @code{set-language-environment-hook}.
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289 For instance, if you set up a special key binding in a specific language
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290 environment using @code{set-language-environment-hook}, you should set
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291 up @code{exit-language-environment-hook} to restore the normal binding
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292 for that key.
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293
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294 @node Input Methods
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295 @section Input Methods
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296
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297 @cindex input methods
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298 An @dfn{input method} is a kind of character conversion designed
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299 specifically for interactive input. In Emacs, typically each language
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300 has its own input method; sometimes several languages which use the same
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301 characters can share one input method. A few languages support several
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302 input methods.
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303
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304 The simplest kind of input method works by mapping ASCII letters into
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305 another alphabet. This is how the Greek and Russian input methods work.
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306
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307 A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of
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308 characters into one letter. Many European input methods use composition
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309 to produce a single non-ASCII letter from a sequence that consists of a
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310 letter followed by accent characters (or vice versa). For example, some
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311 methods convert the sequence @kbd{a'} into a single accented letter.
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312 These input methods have no special commands of their own; all they do
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313 is compose sequences of printing characters.
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314
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315 The input methods for syllabic scripts typically use mapping followed
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316 by composition. The input methods for Thai and Korean work this way.
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317 First, letters are mapped into symbols for particular sounds or tone
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318 marks; then, sequences of these which make up a whole syllable are
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319 mapped into one syllable sign.
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320
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321 Chinese and Japanese require more complex methods. In Chinese input
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322 methods, first you enter the phonetic spelling of a Chinese word (in
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323 input method @code{chinese-py}, among others), or a sequence of portions
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324 of the character (input methods @code{chinese-4corner} and
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325 @code{chinese-sw}, and others). Since one phonetic spelling typically
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326 corresponds to many different Chinese characters, you must select one of
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327 the alternatives using special Emacs commands. Keys such as @kbd{C-f},
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328 @kbd{C-b}, @kbd{C-n}, @kbd{C-p}, and digits have special definitions in
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329 this situation, used for selecting among the alternatives. @key{TAB}
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330 displays a buffer showing all the possibilities.
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331
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332 In Japanese input methods, first you input a whole word using
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333 phonetic spelling; then, after the word is in the buffer, Emacs converts
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334 it into one or more characters using a large dictionary. One phonetic
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335 spelling corresponds to many differently written Japanese words, so you
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336 must select one of them; use @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} to cycle through
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337 the alternatives.
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338
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339 Sometimes it is useful to cut off input method processing so that the
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340 characters you have just entered will not combine with subsequent
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341 characters. For example, in input method @code{latin-1-postfix}, the
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342 sequence @kbd{e '} combines to form an @samp{e} with an accent. What if
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343 you want to enter them as separate characters?
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344
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345 One way is to type the accent twice; that is a special feature for
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346 entering the separate letter and accent. For example, @kbd{e ' '} gives
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347 you the two characters @samp{e'}. Another way is to type another letter
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348 after the @kbd{e}---something that won't combine with that---and
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349 immediately delete it. For example, you could type @kbd{e e @key{DEL}
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350 '} to get separate @samp{e} and @samp{'}.
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351
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352 Another method, more general but not quite as easy to type, is to use
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353 @kbd{C-\ C-\} between two characters to stop them from combining. This
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
354 is the command @kbd{C-\} (@code{toggle-input-method}) used twice.
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parents:
diff changeset
355 @ifinfo
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diff changeset
356 @xref{Select Input Method}.
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diff changeset
357 @end ifinfo
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
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358
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parents:
diff changeset
359 @kbd{C-\ C-\} is especially useful inside an incremental search,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
360 because it stops waiting for more characters to combine, and starts
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
361 searching for what you have already entered.
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parents:
diff changeset
362
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parents:
diff changeset
363 @vindex input-method-verbose-flag
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parents:
diff changeset
364 @vindex input-method-highlight-flag
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parents:
diff changeset
365 The variables @code{input-method-highlight-flag} and
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parents:
diff changeset
366 @code{input-method-verbose-flag} control how input methods explain what
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
367 is happening. If @code{input-method-highlight-flag} is non-@code{nil},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
368 the partial sequence is highlighted in the buffer. If
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parents:
diff changeset
369 @code{input-method-verbose-flag} is non-@code{nil}, the list of possible
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
370 characters to type next is displayed in the echo area (but not when you
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
371 are in the minibuffer).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
372
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172cd577cca0 mention iso-acc. tweaks.
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parents: 31067
diff changeset
373 @cindex Leim package
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374 Input methods are implemented in the separate Leim package: they are
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Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
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diff changeset
375 available only if the system administrator used Leim when building
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
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diff changeset
376 Emacs. If Emacs was built without Leim, you will find that no input
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
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diff changeset
377 methods are defined.
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172cd577cca0 mention iso-acc. tweaks.
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diff changeset
378
25829
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diff changeset
379 @node Select Input Method
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diff changeset
380 @section Selecting an Input Method
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parents:
diff changeset
381
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parents:
diff changeset
382 @table @kbd
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parents:
diff changeset
383 @item C-\
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
384 Enable or disable use of the selected input method.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
385
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
386 @item C-x @key{RET} C-\ @var{method} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
387 Select a new input method for the current buffer.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
388
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
389 @item C-h I @var{method} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
390 @itemx C-h C-\ @var{method} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
391 @findex describe-input-method
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parents:
diff changeset
392 @kindex C-h I
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parents:
diff changeset
393 @kindex C-h C-\
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parents:
diff changeset
394 Describe the input method @var{method} (@code{describe-input-method}).
31204
130dd2c5797b *** empty log message ***
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parents: 31141
diff changeset
395 By default, it describes the current input method (if any). This
130dd2c5797b *** empty log message ***
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diff changeset
396 description should give you the full details of how to use any
31270
a45cbbc51e09 *** empty log message ***
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diff changeset
397 particular input method.
25829
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398
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399 @item M-x list-input-methods
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400 Display a list of all the supported input methods.
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parents:
diff changeset
401 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
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diff changeset
402
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parents:
diff changeset
403 @findex set-input-method
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parents:
diff changeset
404 @vindex current-input-method
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parents:
diff changeset
405 @kindex C-x RET C-\
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parents:
diff changeset
406 To choose an input method for the current buffer, use @kbd{C-x
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parents:
diff changeset
407 @key{RET} C-\} (@code{set-input-method}). This command reads the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
408 input method name with the minibuffer; the name normally starts with the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
409 language environment that it is meant to be used with. The variable
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
410 @code{current-input-method} records which input method is selected.
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parents:
diff changeset
411
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parents:
diff changeset
412 @findex toggle-input-method
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
413 @kindex C-\
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parents:
diff changeset
414 Input methods use various sequences of ASCII characters to stand for
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parents:
diff changeset
415 non-ASCII characters. Sometimes it is useful to turn off the input
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
416 method temporarily. To do this, type @kbd{C-\}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
417 (@code{toggle-input-method}). To reenable the input method, type
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
418 @kbd{C-\} again.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
419
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parents:
diff changeset
420 If you type @kbd{C-\} and you have not yet selected an input method,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
421 it prompts for you to specify one. This has the same effect as using
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
422 @kbd{C-x @key{RET} C-\} to specify an input method.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
423
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parents:
diff changeset
424 @vindex default-input-method
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
425 Selecting a language environment specifies a default input method for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
426 use in various buffers. When you have a default input method, you can
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
427 select it in the current buffer by typing @kbd{C-\}. The variable
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
428 @code{default-input-method} specifies the default input method
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
429 (@code{nil} means there is none).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
430
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
431 @findex quail-set-keyboard-layout
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
432 Some input methods for alphabetic scripts work by (in effect)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
433 remapping the keyboard to emulate various keyboard layouts commonly used
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
434 for those scripts. How to do this remapping properly depends on your
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
435 actual keyboard layout. To specify which layout your keyboard has, use
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
436 the command @kbd{M-x quail-set-keyboard-layout}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
437
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
438 @findex list-input-methods
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
439 To display a list of all the supported input methods, type @kbd{M-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
440 list-input-methods}. The list gives information about each input
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
441 method, including the string that stands for it in the mode line.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
442
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
443 @node Multibyte Conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
444 @section Unibyte and Multibyte Non-ASCII characters
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
445
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
446 When multibyte characters are enabled, character codes 0240 (octal)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
447 through 0377 (octal) are not really legitimate in the buffer. The valid
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
448 non-ASCII printing characters have codes that start from 0400.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
449
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Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
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diff changeset
450 If you type a self-inserting character in the range 0240 through
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
451 0377, or if you use @kbd{C-q} to insert one, Emacs assumes you
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
452 intended to use one of the ISO Latin-@var{n} character sets, and
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
453 converts it to the Emacs code representing that Latin-@var{n}
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
454 character. You select @emph{which} ISO Latin character set to use
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
455 through your choice of language environment
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
456 @iftex
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
457 (see above).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
458 @end iftex
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
459 @ifinfo
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
460 (@pxref{Language Environments}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
461 @end ifinfo
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
462 If you do not specify a choice, the default is Latin-1.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
463
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Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
464 If you insert a character in the range 0200 through 0237, which
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
465 forms the @code{eight-bit-control} character set, it is inserted
33745
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
466 literally. You should normally avoid doing this since buffers
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
467 containing such characters have to be written out in either the
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
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parents: 35206
diff changeset
468 @code{emacs-mule} or @code{raw-text} coding system, which is usually
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
469 not what you want.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
470
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
471 @node Coding Systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
472 @section Coding Systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
473 @cindex coding systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
474
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
475 Users of various languages have established many more-or-less standard
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
476 coding systems for representing them. Emacs does not use these coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
477 systems internally; instead, it converts from various coding systems to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
478 its own system when reading data, and converts the internal coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
479 system to other coding systems when writing data. Conversion is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
480 possible in reading or writing files, in sending or receiving from the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
481 terminal, and in exchanging data with subprocesses.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
482
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
483 Emacs assigns a name to each coding system. Most coding systems are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
484 used for one language, and the name of the coding system starts with the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
485 language name. Some coding systems are used for several languages;
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
486 their names usually start with @samp{iso}. There are also special
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
487 coding systems @code{no-conversion}, @code{raw-text} and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
488 @code{emacs-mule} which do not convert printing characters at all.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
489
32386
d65f9772ee72 Mention the cpNNNN coding systems, with an xref to msdog.texi.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 32275
diff changeset
490 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
491 @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
492 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
493 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
494
25829
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parents:
diff changeset
495 @cindex end-of-line conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
496 In addition to converting various representations of non-ASCII
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
497 characters, a coding system can perform end-of-line conversion. Emacs
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
498 handles three different conventions for how to separate lines in a file:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
499 newline, carriage-return linefeed, and just carriage-return.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
500
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
501 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
502 @item C-h C @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
503 Describe coding system @var{coding}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
504
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
505 @item C-h C @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
506 Describe the coding systems currently in use.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
507
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
508 @item M-x list-coding-systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
509 Display a list of all the supported coding systems.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
510 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
511
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
512 @kindex C-h C
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
513 @findex describe-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
514 The command @kbd{C-h C} (@code{describe-coding-system}) displays
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
515 information about particular coding systems. You can specify a coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
516 system name as argument; alternatively, with an empty argument, it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
517 describes the coding systems currently selected for various purposes,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
518 both in the current buffer and as the defaults, and the priority list
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
519 for recognizing coding systems (@pxref{Recognize Coding}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
520
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
521 @findex list-coding-systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
522 To display a list of all the supported coding systems, type @kbd{M-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
523 list-coding-systems}. The list gives information about each coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
524 system, including the letter that stands for it in the mode line
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
525 (@pxref{Mode Line}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
526
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
527 @cindex end-of-line conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
528 @cindex MS-DOS end-of-line conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
529 @cindex Macintosh end-of-line conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
530 Each of the coding systems that appear in this list---except for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
531 @code{no-conversion}, which means no conversion of any kind---specifies
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
532 how and whether to convert printing characters, but leaves the choice of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
533 end-of-line conversion to be decided based on the contents of each file.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
534 For example, if the file appears to use the sequence carriage-return
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
535 linefeed to separate lines, DOS end-of-line conversion will be used.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
536
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
537 Each of the listed coding systems has three variants which specify
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
538 exactly what to do for end-of-line conversion:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
539
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
540 @table @code
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
541 @item @dots{}-unix
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
542 Don't do any end-of-line conversion; assume the file uses
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
543 newline to separate lines. (This is the convention normally used
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
544 on Unix and GNU systems.)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
545
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
546 @item @dots{}-dos
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
547 Assume the file uses carriage-return linefeed to separate lines, and do
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
548 the appropriate conversion. (This is the convention normally used on
36185
62cf166239f3 Change in quoting.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36170
diff changeset
549 Microsoft systems.@footnote{It is also specified for MIME @samp{text/*}
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
550 bodies and in other network transport contexts. It is different
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
551 from the SGML reference syntax record-start/record-end format which
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
552 Emacs doesn't support directly.})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
553
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
554 @item @dots{}-mac
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
555 Assume the file uses carriage-return to separate lines, and do the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
556 appropriate conversion. (This is the convention normally used on the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
557 Macintosh system.)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
558 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
559
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
560 These variant coding systems are omitted from the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
561 @code{list-coding-systems} display for brevity, since they are entirely
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
562 predictable. For example, the coding system @code{iso-latin-1} has
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
563 variants @code{iso-latin-1-unix}, @code{iso-latin-1-dos} and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
564 @code{iso-latin-1-mac}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
565
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
566 The coding system @code{raw-text} is good for a file which is mainly
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
567 ASCII text, but may contain byte values above 127 which are not meant to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
568 encode non-ASCII characters. With @code{raw-text}, Emacs copies those
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
569 byte values unchanged, and sets @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
570 @code{nil} in the current buffer so that they will be interpreted
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
571 properly. @code{raw-text} handles end-of-line conversion in the usual
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
572 way, based on the data encountered, and has the usual three variants to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
573 specify the kind of end-of-line conversion to use.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
574
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
575 In contrast, the coding system @code{no-conversion} specifies no
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
576 character code conversion at all---none for non-ASCII byte values and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
577 none for end of line. This is useful for reading or writing binary
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
578 files, tar files, and other files that must be examined verbatim. It,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
579 too, sets @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{nil}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
580
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
581 The easiest way to edit a file with no conversion of any kind is with
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
582 the @kbd{M-x find-file-literally} command. This uses
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
583 @code{no-conversion}, and also suppresses other Emacs features that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
584 might convert the file contents before you see them. @xref{Visiting}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
585
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
586 The coding system @code{emacs-mule} means that the file contains
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
587 non-ASCII characters stored with the internal Emacs encoding. It
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
588 handles end-of-line conversion based on the data encountered, and has
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
589 the usual three variants to specify the kind of end-of-line conversion.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
590
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
591 @node Recognize Coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
592 @section Recognizing Coding Systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
593
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
594 Most of the time, Emacs can recognize which coding system to use for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
595 any given file---once you have specified your preferences.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
596
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
597 Some coding systems can be recognized or distinguished by which byte
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
598 sequences appear in the data. However, there are coding systems that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
599 cannot be distinguished, not even potentially. For example, there is no
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
600 way to distinguish between Latin-1 and Latin-2; they use the same byte
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
601 values with different meanings.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
602
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
603 Emacs handles this situation by means of a priority list of coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
604 systems. Whenever Emacs reads a file, if you do not specify the coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
605 system to use, Emacs checks the data against each coding system,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
606 starting with the first in priority and working down the list, until it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
607 finds a coding system that fits the data. Then it converts the file
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
608 contents assuming that they are represented in this coding system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
609
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
610 The priority list of coding systems depends on the selected language
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
611 environment (@pxref{Language Environments}). For example, if you use
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
612 French, you probably want Emacs to prefer Latin-1 to Latin-2; if you use
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
613 Czech, you probably want Latin-2 to be preferred. This is one of the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
614 reasons to specify a language environment.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
615
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
616 @findex prefer-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
617 However, you can alter the priority list in detail with the command
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
618 @kbd{M-x prefer-coding-system}. This command reads the name of a coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
619 system from the minibuffer, and adds it to the front of the priority
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
620 list, so that it is preferred to all others. If you use this command
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
621 several times, each use adds one element to the front of the priority
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
622 list.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
623
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
624 If you use a coding system that specifies the end-of-line conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
625 type, such as @code{iso-8859-1-dos}, what that means is that Emacs
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
626 should attempt to recognize @code{iso-8859-1} with priority, and should
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
627 use DOS end-of-line conversion in case it recognizes @code{iso-8859-1}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
628
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
629 @vindex file-coding-system-alist
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
630 Sometimes a file name indicates which coding system to use for the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
631 file. The variable @code{file-coding-system-alist} specifies this
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
632 correspondence. There is a special function
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
633 @code{modify-coding-system-alist} for adding elements to this list. For
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
634 example, to read and write all @samp{.txt} files using the coding system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
635 @code{china-iso-8bit}, you can execute this Lisp expression:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
636
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
637 @smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
638 (modify-coding-system-alist 'file "\\.txt\\'" 'china-iso-8bit)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
639 @end smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
640
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
641 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
642 The first argument should be @code{file}, the second argument should be
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
643 a regular expression that determines which files this applies to, and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
644 the third argument says which coding system to use for these files.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
645
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
646 @vindex inhibit-eol-conversion
30375
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
647 @cindex DOS-style end-of-line display
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
648 Emacs recognizes which kind of end-of-line conversion to use based on
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
649 the contents of the file: if it sees only carriage-returns, or only
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
650 carriage-return linefeed sequences, then it chooses the end-of-line
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
651 conversion accordingly. You can inhibit the automatic use of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
652 end-of-line conversion by setting the variable @code{inhibit-eol-conversion}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
653 to non-@code{nil}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
654
30375
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
655 @vindex inhibit-iso-escape-detection
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
656 @cindex escape sequences in files
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
657 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
658 escape sequences. If Emacs sees a sequence of characters that begin
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
659 with an escape character, and the sequence is valid as an ISO-2022
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
660 code, that tells Emacs to use one of the ISO-2022 encodings to decode
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
661 the file.
30375
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
662
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
663 However, there may be cases that you want to read escape sequences
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
664 in a file as is. In such a case, you can set the variable
30375
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
665 @code{inhibit-iso-escape-detection} to non-@code{nil}. Then the code
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
666 detection ignores any escape sequences, and never uses an ISO-2022
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
667 encoding. The result is that all escape sequences become visible in
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
668 the buffer.
30375
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
669
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
670 The default value of @code{inhibit-iso-escape-detection} is
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
671 @code{nil}. We recommend that you not change it permanently, only for
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
672 one specific operation. That's because many Emacs Lisp source files
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
673 that contain non-ASCII characters are encoded in the coding system
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
674 @code{iso-2022-7bit} in the Emacs distribution, and they won't be
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
675 decoded correctly when you visit those files if you suppress the
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
676 escape sequence detection.
30375
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
677
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
678 @vindex coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
679 You can specify the coding system for a particular file using the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
680 @samp{-*-@dots{}-*-} construct at the beginning of a file, or a local
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
681 variables list at the end (@pxref{File Variables}). You do this by
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
682 defining a value for the ``variable'' named @code{coding}. Emacs does
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
683 not really have a variable @code{coding}; instead of setting a variable,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
684 it uses the specified coding system for the file. For example,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
685 @samp{-*-mode: C; coding: latin-1;-*-} specifies use of the Latin-1
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
686 coding system, as well as C mode. If you specify the coding explicitly
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
687 in the file, that overrides @code{file-coding-system-alist}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
688
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
689 @vindex auto-coding-alist
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
690 The variable @code{auto-coding-alist} is the strongest way to specify
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
691 the coding system for certain patterns of file names; this variable even
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
692 overrides @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tags in the file itself. Emacs uses this
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
693 feature for tar and archive files, to prevent Emacs from being confused
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
694 by a @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tag in a member of the archive and thinking it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
695 applies to the archive file as a whole.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
696
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
697 @vindex buffer-file-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
698 Once Emacs has chosen a coding system for a buffer, it stores that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
699 coding system in @code{buffer-file-coding-system} and uses that coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
700 system, by default, for operations that write from this buffer into a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
701 file. This includes the commands @code{save-buffer} and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
702 @code{write-region}. If you want to write files from this buffer using
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
703 a different coding system, you can specify a different coding system for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
704 the buffer using @code{set-buffer-file-coding-system} (@pxref{Specify
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
705 Coding}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
706
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
707 You can insert any possible character into any Emacs buffer, but
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
708 most coding systems can only handle some of the possible characters.
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
709 This means that you can insert characters that cannot be encoded with
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
710 the coding system that will be used to save the buffer. For example,
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
711 you could start with an ASCII file and insert a few Latin-1 characters
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
712 into it, or or you could edit a text file in Polish encoded in
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
713 @code{iso-8859-2} and add to it translations of several Polish words
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
714 into Russian. When you save the buffer, Emacs cannot use the current
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
715 value of @code{buffer-file-coding-system}, because the characters you
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
716 added cannot be encoded by that coding system.
31021
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
717
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
718 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
719 by @kbd{M-x prefer-coding-system} or @kbd{M-x
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
720 set-language-environment}), and if that coding system can safely
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
721 encode all of the characters in the buffer, Emacs uses it, and stores
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
722 its value in @code{buffer-file-coding-system}. Otherwise, Emacs
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
723 displays a list of coding systems suitable for encoding the buffer's
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
724 contents, and asks to choose one of those coding systems.
31021
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
725
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
726 If you insert the unsuitable characters in a mail message, Emacs
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
727 behaves a bit differently. It additionally checks whether the
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
728 most-preferred coding system is recommended for use in MIME messages;
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
729 if it isn't, Emacs tells you that the most-preferred coding system is
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
730 not recommended and prompts you for another coding system. This is so
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
731 you won't inadvertently send a message encoded in a way that your
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
732 recipient's mail software will have difficulty decoding. (If you do
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
733 want to use the most-preferred coding system, you can type its name to
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
734 Emacs prompt anyway.)
31021
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
735
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
736 @vindex sendmail-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
737 When you send a message with Mail mode (@pxref{Sending Mail}), Emacs has
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
738 four different ways to determine the coding system to use for encoding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
739 the message text. It tries the buffer's own value of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
740 @code{buffer-file-coding-system}, if that is non-@code{nil}. Otherwise,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
741 it uses the value of @code{sendmail-coding-system}, if that is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
742 non-@code{nil}. The third way is to use the default coding system for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
743 new files, which is controlled by your choice of language environment,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
744 if that is non-@code{nil}. If all of these three values are @code{nil},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
745 Emacs encodes outgoing mail using the Latin-1 coding system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
746
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
747 @vindex rmail-decode-mime-charset
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
748 When you get new mail in Rmail, each message is translated
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
749 automatically from the coding system it is written in---as if it were a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
750 separate file. This uses the priority list of coding systems that you
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
751 have specified. If a MIME message specifies a character set, Rmail
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
752 obeys that specification, unless @code{rmail-decode-mime-charset} is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
753 @code{nil}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
754
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
755 @vindex rmail-file-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
756 For reading and saving Rmail files themselves, Emacs uses the coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
757 system specified by the variable @code{rmail-file-coding-system}. The
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
758 default value is @code{nil}, which means that Rmail files are not
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
759 translated (they are read and written in the Emacs internal character
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
760 code).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
761
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
762 @node Specify Coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
763 @section Specifying a Coding System
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
764
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
765 In cases where Emacs does not automatically choose the right coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
766 system, you can use these commands to specify one:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
767
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
768 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
769 @item C-x @key{RET} f @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
770 Use coding system @var{coding} for the visited file
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
771 in the current buffer.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
772
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
773 @item C-x @key{RET} c @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
774 Specify coding system @var{coding} for the immediately following
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
775 command.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
776
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
777 @item C-x @key{RET} k @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
778 Use coding system @var{coding} for keyboard input.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
779
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
780 @item C-x @key{RET} t @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
781 Use coding system @var{coding} for terminal output.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
782
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
783 @item C-x @key{RET} p @var{input-coding} @key{RET} @var{output-coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
784 Use coding systems @var{input-coding} and @var{output-coding} for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
785 subprocess input and output in the current buffer.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
786
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
787 @item C-x @key{RET} x @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
788 Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring selections to and from
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
789 other programs through the window system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
790
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
791 @item C-x @key{RET} X @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
792 Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring @emph{one}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
793 selection---the next one---to or from the window system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
794 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
795
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
796 @kindex C-x RET f
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
797 @findex set-buffer-file-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
798 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} f} (@code{set-buffer-file-coding-system})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
799 specifies the file coding system for the current buffer---in other
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
800 words, which coding system to use when saving or rereading the visited
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
801 file. You specify which coding system using the minibuffer. Since this
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
802 command applies to a file you have already visited, it affects only the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
803 way the file is saved.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
804
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
805 @kindex C-x RET c
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
806 @findex universal-coding-system-argument
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
807 Another way to specify the coding system for a file is when you visit
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
808 the file. First use the command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
809 (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}); this command uses the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
810 minibuffer to read a coding system name. After you exit the minibuffer,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
811 the specified coding system is used for @emph{the immediately following
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
812 command}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
813
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
814 So if the immediately following command is @kbd{C-x C-f}, for example,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
815 it reads the file using that coding system (and records the coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
816 system for when the file is saved). Or if the immediately following
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
817 command is @kbd{C-x C-w}, it writes the file using that coding system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
818 Other file commands affected by a specified coding system include
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
819 @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
820 @kbd{C-x C-f}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
821
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
822 @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} also affects commands that start subprocesses,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
823 including @kbd{M-x shell} (@pxref{Shell}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
824
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
825 However, if the immediately following command does not use the coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
826 system, then @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} ultimately has no effect.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
827
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
828 An easy way to visit a file with no conversion is with the @kbd{M-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
829 find-file-literally} command. @xref{Visiting}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
830
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
831 @vindex default-buffer-file-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
832 The variable @code{default-buffer-file-coding-system} specifies the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
833 choice of coding system to use when you create a new file. It applies
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
834 when you find a new file, and when you create a buffer and then save it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
835 in a file. Selecting a language environment typically sets this
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
836 variable to a good choice of default coding system for that language
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
837 environment.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
838
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
839 @kindex C-x RET t
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
840 @findex set-terminal-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
841 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} t} (@code{set-terminal-coding-system})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
842 specifies the coding system for terminal output. If you specify a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
843 character code for terminal output, all characters output to the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
844 terminal are translated into that coding system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
845
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
846 This feature is useful for certain character-only terminals built to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
847 support specific languages or character sets---for example, European
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
848 terminals that support one of the ISO Latin character sets. You need to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
849 specify the terminal coding system when using multibyte text, so that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
850 Emacs knows which characters the terminal can actually handle.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
851
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
852 By default, output to the terminal is not translated at all, unless
33745
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
853 Emacs can deduce the proper coding system from your terminal type or
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
854 your locale specification (@pxref{Language Environments}).
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
855
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
856 @kindex C-x RET k
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
857 @findex set-keyboard-coding-system
34691
a80251dea213 keyboard-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 33745
diff changeset
858 @vindex keyboard-coding-system
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
859 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} k} (@code{set-keyboard-coding-system})
34691
a80251dea213 keyboard-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 33745
diff changeset
860 or the Custom option @code{keyboard-coding-system}
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
861 specifies the coding system for keyboard input. Character-code
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
862 translation of keyboard input is useful for terminals with keys that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
863 send non-ASCII graphic characters---for example, some terminals designed
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
864 for ISO Latin-1 or subsets of it.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
865
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
866 By default, keyboard input is not translated at all.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
867
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
868 There is a similarity between using a coding system translation for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
869 keyboard input, and using an input method: both define sequences of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
870 keyboard input that translate into single characters. However, input
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
871 methods are designed to be convenient for interactive use by humans, and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
872 the sequences that are translated are typically sequences of ASCII
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
873 printing characters. Coding systems typically translate sequences of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
874 non-graphic characters.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
875
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
876 @kindex C-x RET x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
877 @kindex C-x RET X
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
878 @findex set-selection-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
879 @findex set-next-selection-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
880 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} x} (@code{set-selection-coding-system})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
881 specifies the coding system for sending selected text to the window
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
882 system, and for receiving the text of selections made in other
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
883 applications. This command applies to all subsequent selections, until
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
884 you override it by using the command again. The command @kbd{C-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
885 @key{RET} X} (@code{set-next-selection-coding-system}) specifies the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
886 coding system for the next selection made in Emacs or read by Emacs.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
887
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
888 @kindex C-x RET p
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
889 @findex set-buffer-process-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
890 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} p} (@code{set-buffer-process-coding-system})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
891 specifies the coding system for input and output to a subprocess. This
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
892 command applies to the current buffer; normally, each subprocess has its
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
893 own buffer, and thus you can use this command to specify translation to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
894 and from a particular subprocess by giving the command in the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
895 corresponding buffer.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
896
29826
05c0499d035a (set-buffer-process-coding-system): Documentation fixed.
Kenichi Handa <handa@m17n.org>
parents: 29107
diff changeset
897 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
898 current language environment.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
899
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
900 @vindex file-name-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
901 The variable @code{file-name-coding-system} specifies a coding system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
902 to use for encoding file names. If you set the variable to a coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
903 system name (as a Lisp symbol or a string), Emacs encodes file names
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
904 using that coding system for all file operations. This makes it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
905 possible to use non-ASCII characters in file names---or, at least, those
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
906 non-ASCII characters which the specified coding system can encode.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
907
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
908 If @code{file-name-coding-system} is @code{nil}, Emacs uses a default
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
909 coding system determined by the selected language environment. In the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
910 default language environment, any non-ASCII characters in file names are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
911 not encoded specially; they appear in the file system using the internal
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
912 Emacs representation.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
913
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
914 @strong{Warning:} if you change @code{file-name-coding-system} (or the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
915 language environment) in the middle of an Emacs session, problems can
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
916 result if you have already visited files whose names were encoded using
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
917 the earlier coding system and cannot be encoded (or are encoded
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
918 differently) under the new coding system. If you try to save one of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
919 these buffers under the visited file name, saving may use the wrong file
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
920 name, or it may get an error. If such a problem happens, use @kbd{C-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
921 C-w} to specify a new file name for that buffer.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
922
26140
068f7ad41d40 Describe new functions and variables for locales.
Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
923 @vindex locale-coding-system
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
924 The variable @code{locale-coding-system} specifies a coding system
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
925 to use when encoding and decoding system strings such as system error
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
926 messages and @code{format-time-string} formats and time stamps. You
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
927 should choose a coding system that is compatible with the underlying
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
928 system's text representation, which is normally specified by one of
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
929 the environment variables @env{LC_ALL}, @env{LC_CTYPE}, and
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
930 @env{LANG}. (The first one whose value is nonempty is the one that
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
931 determines the text representation.)
26140
068f7ad41d40 Describe new functions and variables for locales.
Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
932
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
933 @node Fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
934 @section Fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
935 @cindex fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
936
35188
94d46968a93f Don't say "X Windows". From Colin Walters <walters@cis.ohio-state.edu>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35163
diff changeset
937 A font for X typically defines shapes for one alphabet or script.
94d46968a93f Don't say "X Windows". From Colin Walters <walters@cis.ohio-state.edu>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35163
diff changeset
938 Therefore, displaying the entire range of scripts that Emacs supports
94d46968a93f Don't say "X Windows". From Colin Walters <walters@cis.ohio-state.edu>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35163
diff changeset
939 requires a collection of many fonts. In Emacs, such a collection is
94d46968a93f Don't say "X Windows". From Colin Walters <walters@cis.ohio-state.edu>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35163
diff changeset
940 called a @dfn{fontset}. A fontset is defined by a list of fonts, each
94d46968a93f Don't say "X Windows". From Colin Walters <walters@cis.ohio-state.edu>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35163
diff changeset
941 assigned to handle a range of character codes.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
942
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
943 Each fontset has a name, like a font. The available X fonts are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
944 defined by the X server; fontsets, however, are defined within Emacs
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
945 itself. Once you have defined a fontset, you can use it within Emacs by
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
946 specifying its name, anywhere that you could use a single font. Of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
947 course, Emacs fontsets can use only the fonts that the X server
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
948 supports; if certain characters appear on the screen as hollow boxes,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
949 this means that the fontset in use for them has no font for those
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
950 characters.@footnote{The Emacs installation instructions have information on
33745
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
951 additional font support.}
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
952
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
953 Emacs creates two fontsets automatically: the @dfn{standard fontset}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
954 and the @dfn{startup fontset}. The standard fontset is most likely to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
955 have fonts for a wide variety of non-ASCII characters; however, this is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
956 not the default for Emacs to use. (By default, Emacs tries to find a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
957 font which has bold and italic variants.) You can specify use of the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
958 standard fontset with the @samp{-fn} option, or with the @samp{Font} X
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
959 resource (@pxref{Font X}). For example,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
960
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
961 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
962 emacs -fn fontset-standard
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
963 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
964
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
965 A fontset does not necessarily specify a font for every character
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
966 code. If a fontset specifies no font for a certain character, or if it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
967 specifies a font that does not exist on your system, then it cannot
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
968 display that character properly. It will display that character as an
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
969 empty box instead.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
970
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
971 @vindex highlight-wrong-size-font
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
972 The fontset height and width are determined by the ASCII characters
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
973 (that is, by the font used for ASCII characters in that fontset). If
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
974 another font in the fontset has a different height, or a different
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
975 width, then characters assigned to that font are clipped to the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
976 fontset's size. If @code{highlight-wrong-size-font} is non-@code{nil},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
977 a box is displayed around these wrong-size characters as well.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
978
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
979 @node Defining Fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
980 @section Defining fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
981
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
982 @vindex standard-fontset-spec
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
983 @cindex standard fontset
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
984 Emacs creates a standard fontset automatically according to the value
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
985 of @code{standard-fontset-spec}. This fontset's name is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
986
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
987 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
988 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-16-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-standard
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
989 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
990
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
991 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
992 or just @samp{fontset-standard} for short.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
993
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
994 Bold, italic, and bold-italic variants of the standard fontset are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
995 created automatically. Their names have @samp{bold} instead of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
996 @samp{medium}, or @samp{i} instead of @samp{r}, or both.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
997
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
998 @cindex startup fontset
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
999 If you specify a default ASCII font with the @samp{Font} resource or
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1000 the @samp{-fn} argument, Emacs generates a fontset from it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1001 automatically. This is the @dfn{startup fontset} and its name is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1002 @code{fontset-startup}. It does this by replacing the @var{foundry},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1003 @var{family}, @var{add_style}, and @var{average_width} fields of the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1004 font name with @samp{*}, replacing @var{charset_registry} field with
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1005 @samp{fontset}, and replacing @var{charset_encoding} field with
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1006 @samp{startup}, then using the resulting string to specify a fontset.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1007
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1008 For instance, if you start Emacs this way,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1009
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1010 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1011 emacs -fn "*courier-medium-r-normal--14-140-*-iso8859-1"
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1012 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1013
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1014 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1015 Emacs generates the following fontset and uses it for the initial X
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1016 window frame:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1017
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1018 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1019 -*-*-medium-r-normal-*-14-140-*-*-*-*-fontset-startup
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1020 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1021
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1022 With the X resource @samp{Emacs.Font}, you can specify a fontset name
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1023 just like an actual font name. But be careful not to specify a fontset
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1024 name in a wildcard resource like @samp{Emacs*Font}---that wildcard
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1025 specification applies to various other purposes, such as menus, and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1026 menus cannot handle fontsets.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1027
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1028 You can specify additional fontsets using X resources named
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1029 @samp{Fontset-@var{n}}, where @var{n} is an integer starting from 0.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1030 The resource value should have this form:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1031
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1032 @smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1033 @var{fontpattern}, @r{[}@var{charsetname}:@var{fontname}@r{]@dots{}}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1034 @end smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1035
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1036 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1037 @var{fontpattern} should have the form of a standard X font name, except
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1038 for the last two fields. They should have the form
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1039 @samp{fontset-@var{alias}}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1040
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1041 The fontset has two names, one long and one short. The long name is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1042 @var{fontpattern}. The short name is @samp{fontset-@var{alias}}. You
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1043 can refer to the fontset by either name.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1044
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1045 The construct @samp{@var{charset}:@var{font}} specifies which font to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1046 use (in this fontset) for one particular character set. Here,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1047 @var{charset} is the name of a character set, and @var{font} is the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1048 font to use for that character set. You can use this construct any
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1049 number of times in defining one fontset.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1050
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1051 For the other character sets, Emacs chooses a font based on
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1052 @var{fontpattern}. It replaces @samp{fontset-@var{alias}} with values
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1053 that describe the character set. For the ASCII character font,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1054 @samp{fontset-@var{alias}} is replaced with @samp{ISO8859-1}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1055
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1056 In addition, when several consecutive fields are wildcards, Emacs
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1057 collapses them into a single wildcard. This is to prevent use of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1058 auto-scaled fonts. Fonts made by scaling larger fonts are not usable
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1059 for editing, and scaling a smaller font is not useful because it is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1060 better to use the smaller font in its own size, which Emacs does.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1061
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1062 Thus if @var{fontpattern} is this,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1063
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1064 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1065 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1066 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1067
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1068 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1069 the font specification for ASCII characters would be this:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1070
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1071 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1072 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-ISO8859-1
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1073 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1074
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1075 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1076 and the font specification for Chinese GB2312 characters would be this:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1077
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1078 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1079 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-gb2312*-*
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1080 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1081
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1082 You may not have any Chinese font matching the above font
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1083 specification. Most X distributions include only Chinese fonts that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1084 have @samp{song ti} or @samp{fangsong ti} in @var{family} field. In
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1085 such a case, @samp{Fontset-@var{n}} can be specified as below:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1086
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1087 @smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1088 Emacs.Fontset-0: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24,\
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1089 chinese-gb2312:-*-*-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-gb2312*-*
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1090 @end smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1091
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1092 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1093 Then, the font specifications for all but Chinese GB2312 characters have
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1094 @samp{fixed} in the @var{family} field, and the font specification for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1095 Chinese GB2312 characters has a wild card @samp{*} in the @var{family}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1096 field.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1097
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1098 @findex create-fontset-from-fontset-spec
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1099 The function that processes the fontset resource value to create the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1100 fontset is called @code{create-fontset-from-fontset-spec}. You can also
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1101 call this function explicitly to create a fontset.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1102
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1103 @xref{Font X}, for more information about font naming in X.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1104
33745
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1105 @node Undisplayable Characters
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1106 @section Undisplayable Characters
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1107
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1108 Your terminal may be unable to display some non-@sc{ascii}
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1109 characters. Most non-windowing terminals can only use a single
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1110 character set (use the variable @code{default-terminal-coding-system}
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1111 (@pxref{Specify Coding}) to tell Emacs which one); characters which
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1112 can't be encoded in that coding system are displayed as @samp{?} by
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1113 default.
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1114
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1115 Windowing terminals can display a broader range of characters, but
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1116 you may not have fonts installed for all of them; characters that have
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1117 no font appear as a hollow box.
33745
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1118
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1119 If you use Latin-1 characters but your terminal can't display
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1120 Latin-1, you can arrange to display mnemonic @sc{ascii} sequences
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1121 instead, e.g.@: @samp{"o} for o-umlaut. Load the library
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1122 @file{iso-ascii} to do this.
33745
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1123
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1124 If your terminal can display Latin-1, you can display characters
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1125 from other European character sets using a mixture of equivalent
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1126 Latin-1 characters and @sc{ascii} mnemonics. Use the Custom option
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1127 @code{latin1-display} to enable this. The mnemonic @sc{ascii}
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1128 sequences mostly correspond to those of the prefix input methods.
33745
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1129
27211
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1130 @node Single-Byte Character Support
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1131 @section Single-byte Character Set Support
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1132
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1133 @cindex European character sets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1134 @cindex accented characters
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1135 @cindex ISO Latin character sets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1136 @cindex Unibyte operation
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1137 @vindex enable-multibyte-characters
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1138 The ISO 8859 Latin-@var{n} character sets define character codes in
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1139 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
1140 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
1141 If you disable multibyte
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1142 characters, Emacs can still handle @emph{one} of these character codes
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1143 at a time. To specify @emph{which} of these codes to use, invoke
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1144 @kbd{M-x set-language-environment} and specify a suitable language
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1145 environment such as @samp{Latin-@var{n}}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1146
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1147 For more information about unibyte operation, see @ref{Enabling
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1148 Multibyte}. Note particularly that you probably want to ensure that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1149 your initialization files are read as unibyte if they contain non-ASCII
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1150 characters.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1151
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1152 @vindex unibyte-display-via-language-environment
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1153 Emacs can also display those characters, provided the terminal or font
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1154 in use supports them. This works automatically. Alternatively, if you
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1155 are using a window system, Emacs can also display single-byte characters
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1156 through fontsets, in effect by displaying the equivalent multibyte
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1157 characters according to the current language environment. To request
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1158 this, set the variable @code{unibyte-display-via-language-environment}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1159 to a non-@code{nil} value.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1160
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1161 @cindex @code{iso-ascii} library
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1162 If your terminal does not support display of the Latin-1 character
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1163 set, Emacs can display these characters as ASCII sequences which at
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1164 least give you a clear idea of what the characters are. To do this,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1165 load the library @code{iso-ascii}. Similar libraries for other
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1166 Latin-@var{n} character sets could be implemented, but we don't have
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1167 them yet.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1168
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1169 @findex standard-display-8bit
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1170 @cindex 8-bit display
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1171 Normally non-ISO-8859 characters (between characters 128 and 159
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1172 inclusive) are displayed as octal escapes. You can change this for
36185
62cf166239f3 Change in quoting.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36170
diff changeset
1173 non-standard ``extended'' versions of ISO-8859 character sets by using the
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1174 function @code{standard-display-8bit} in the @code{disp-table} library.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1175
28552
ccadb68eaefd iso-acc
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27211
diff changeset
1176 There are several ways you can input single-byte non-ASCII
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1177 characters:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1178
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1179 @itemize @bullet
27211
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
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parents: 27156
diff changeset
1180 @cindex 8-bit input
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1181 @item
34691
a80251dea213 keyboard-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 33745
diff changeset
1182 @findex set-keyboard-coding-system
a80251dea213 keyboard-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 33745
diff changeset
1183 @vindex keyboard-coding-system
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Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
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1184 If your keyboard can generate character codes 128 and up, representing
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1185 non-ASCII you can type those character codes directly.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1186
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1187 On a windowing terminal, you should not need to do anything special to
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1188 use these keys; they should simply work. On a text-only terminal, you
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1189 should use the command @code{M-x set-keyboard-coding-system} or the
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1190 Custom option @code{keyboard-coding-system} to specify which coding
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1191 system your keyboard uses (@pxref{Specify Coding}). Enabling this
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1192 feature will probably require you to use @kbd{ESC} to type Meta
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Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1193 characters; however, on a Linux console or in @code{xterm}, you can
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1194 arrange for Meta to be converted to @kbd{ESC} and still be able type
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1195 8-bit characters present directly on the keyboard or using
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1196 @kbd{Compose} or @kbd{AltGr} keys. @xref{User Input}.
27211
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1197
25829
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parents:
diff changeset
1198 @item
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
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1199 You can use an input method for the selected language environment.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1200 @xref{Input Methods}. When you use an input method in a unibyte buffer,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1201 the non-ASCII character you specify with it is converted to unibyte.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1202
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1203 @kindex C-x 8
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1204 @cindex @code{iso-transl} library
31077
172cd577cca0 mention iso-acc. tweaks.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31067
diff changeset
1205 @cindex compose character
172cd577cca0 mention iso-acc. tweaks.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31067
diff changeset
1206 @cindex dead character
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1207 @item
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1208 For Latin-1 only, you can use the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1209 key @kbd{C-x 8} as a ``compose character'' prefix for entry of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1210 non-ASCII Latin-1 printing characters. @kbd{C-x 8} is good for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1211 insertion (in the minibuffer as well as other buffers), for searching,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1212 and in any other context where a key sequence is allowed.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1213
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1214 @kbd{C-x 8} works by loading the @code{iso-transl} library. Once that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1215 library is loaded, the @key{ALT} modifier key, if you have one, serves
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1216 the same purpose as @kbd{C-x 8}; use @key{ALT} together with an accent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1217 character to modify the following letter. In addition, if you have keys
36170
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Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1218 for the Latin-1 ``dead accent characters,'' they too are defined to
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1219 compose with the following character, once @code{iso-transl} is loaded.
28552
ccadb68eaefd iso-acc
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27211
diff changeset
1220 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
1221 command names.
ccadb68eaefd iso-acc
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27211
diff changeset
1222
31077
172cd577cca0 mention iso-acc. tweaks.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31067
diff changeset
1223 @item
28552
ccadb68eaefd iso-acc
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27211
diff changeset
1224 @cindex @code{iso-acc} library
31077
172cd577cca0 mention iso-acc. tweaks.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31067
diff changeset
1225 @cindex ISO Accents mode
172cd577cca0 mention iso-acc. tweaks.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 31067
diff changeset
1226 @findex iso-accents-mode
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55ce1d116cc7 (Single-Byte Character Support): Modify iso-accents-mode index entry.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 31277
diff changeset
1227 @cindex Latin-1, Latin-2 and Latin-3 input mode
36170
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Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1228 For Latin-1, Latin-2 and Latin-3, @kbd{M-x iso-accents-mode} installs
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1229 a minor mode which works much like the @code{latin-1-prefix} input
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1230 method does not depend on having the input methods installed. This
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1231 mode is buffer-local. It can be customized for various languages with
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1232 @kbd{M-x iso-accents-customize}.
25829
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parents:
diff changeset
1233 @end itemize