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annotate man/mule.texi @ 36737:71af0a08c2cc
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author | Francesco Potortì <pot@gnu.org> |
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date | Mon, 12 Mar 2001 12:41:32 +0000 |
parents | 86322cde2e42 |
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rev | line source |
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25829 | 1 @c This is part of the Emacs manual. |
31077 | 2 @c Copyright (C) 1997, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
25829 | 3 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions. |
4 @node International, Major Modes, Frames, Top | |
5 @chapter International Character Set Support | |
6 @cindex MULE | |
7 @cindex international scripts | |
8 @cindex multibyte characters | |
9 @cindex encoding of characters | |
10 | |
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11 @cindex Celtic |
25829 | 12 @cindex Chinese |
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13 @cindex Cyrillic |
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14 @cindex Czech |
25829 | 15 @cindex Devanagari |
16 @cindex Hindi | |
17 @cindex Marathi | |
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18 @cindex Ethiopic |
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19 @cindex German |
25829 | 20 @cindex Greek |
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21 @cindex Hebrew |
25829 | 22 @cindex IPA |
23 @cindex Japanese | |
24 @cindex Korean | |
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 |
25829 | 31 @cindex Thai |
32 @cindex Tibetan | |
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33 @cindex Turkish |
25829 | 34 @cindex Vietnamese |
35163 | 35 @cindex Dutch |
36 @cindex Spanish | |
25829 | 37 Emacs supports a wide variety of international character sets, |
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 |
25829 | 41 have been merged from the modified version of Emacs known as MULE (for |
42 ``MULti-lingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs'') | |
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 |
25829 | 47 @menu |
48 * International Intro:: Basic concepts of multibyte characters. | |
49 * Enabling Multibyte:: Controlling whether to use multibyte characters. | |
50 * Language Environments:: Setting things up for the language you use. | |
51 * Input Methods:: Entering text characters not on your keyboard. | |
52 * Select Input Method:: Specifying your choice of input methods. | |
53 * Multibyte Conversion:: How single-byte characters convert to multibyte. | |
54 * Coding Systems:: Character set conversion when you read and | |
55 write files, and so on. | |
56 * Recognize Coding:: How Emacs figures out which conversion to use. | |
57 * Specify Coding:: Various ways to choose which conversion to use. | |
58 * Fontsets:: Fontsets are collections of fonts | |
59 that cover the whole spectrum of characters. | |
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:: |
25829 | 63 You can pick one European character set |
64 to use without multibyte characters. | |
65 @end menu | |
66 | |
67 @node International Intro | |
68 @section Introduction to International Character Sets | |
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}). |
25829 | 79 |
80 @kindex C-h h | |
81 @findex view-hello-file | |
35206 | 82 @cindex undisplayable characters |
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83 @cindex @samp{?} in display |
25829 | 84 The command @kbd{C-h h} (@code{view-hello-file}) displays the file |
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. |
25829 | 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 |
25829 | 120 |
121 @node Enabling Multibyte | |
122 @section Enabling Multibyte Characters | |
123 | |
124 You can enable or disable multibyte character support, either for | |
125 Emacs as a whole, or for a single buffer. When multibyte characters are | |
126 disabled in a buffer, then each byte in that buffer represents a | |
127 character, even codes 0200 through 0377. The old features for | |
128 supporting the European character sets, ISO Latin-1 and ISO Latin-2, | |
129 work as they did in Emacs 19 and also work for the other ISO 8859 | |
130 character sets. | |
131 | |
132 However, there is no need to turn off multibyte character support to | |
133 use ISO Latin; the Emacs multibyte character set includes all the | |
134 characters in these character sets, and Emacs can translate | |
135 automatically to and from the ISO codes. | |
136 | |
137 To edit a particular file in unibyte representation, visit it using | |
138 @code{find-file-literally}. @xref{Visiting}. To convert a buffer in | |
139 multibyte representation into a single-byte representation of the same | |
140 characters, the easiest way is to save the contents in a file, kill the | |
141 buffer, and find the file again with @code{find-file-literally}. You | |
142 can also use @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} | |
143 (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}) and specify @samp{raw-text} as | |
144 the coding system with which to find or save a file. @xref{Specify | |
145 Coding}. Finding a file as @samp{raw-text} doesn't disable format | |
146 conversion, uncompression and auto mode selection as | |
147 @code{find-file-literally} does. | |
148 | |
149 @vindex enable-multibyte-characters | |
150 @vindex default-enable-multibyte-characters | |
151 To turn off multibyte character support by default, start Emacs with | |
152 the @samp{--unibyte} option (@pxref{Initial Options}), or set the | |
29107 | 153 environment variable @env{EMACS_UNIBYTE}. You can also customize |
25829 | 154 @code{enable-multibyte-characters} or, equivalently, directly set the |
155 variable @code{default-enable-multibyte-characters} in your init file to | |
156 have basically the same effect as @samp{--unibyte}. | |
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. |
25829 | 179 |
180 The mode line indicates whether multibyte character support is enabled | |
181 in the current buffer. If it is, there are two or more characters (most | |
182 often two dashes) before the colon near the beginning of the mode line. | |
183 When multibyte characters are not enabled, just one dash precedes the | |
184 colon. | |
185 | |
186 @node Language Environments | |
187 @section Language Environments | |
188 @cindex language environments | |
189 | |
190 All supported character sets are supported in Emacs buffers whenever | |
191 multibyte characters are enabled; there is no need to select a | |
192 particular language in order to display its characters in an Emacs | |
193 buffer. However, it is important to select a @dfn{language environment} | |
194 in order to set various defaults. The language environment really | |
195 represents a choice of preferred script (more or less) rather than a | |
196 choice of language. | |
197 | |
198 The language environment controls which coding systems to recognize | |
199 when reading text (@pxref{Recognize Coding}). This applies to files, | |
200 incoming mail, netnews, and any other text you read into Emacs. It may | |
201 also specify the default coding system to use when you create a file. | |
202 Each language environment also specifies a default input method. | |
203 | |
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 |
25829 | 208 set-language-environment}. It makes no difference which buffer is |
209 current when you use this command, because the effects apply globally to | |
210 the Emacs session. The supported language environments include: | |
211 | |
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212 @cindex Euro sign |
25829 | 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 |
35163 | 218 sign), Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, |
219 Dutch, Spanish, and Vietnamese. | |
25829 | 220 @end quotation |
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 |
25829 | 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. |
25829 | 264 |
265 @kindex C-h L | |
266 @findex describe-language-environment | |
267 To display information about the effects of a certain language | |
268 environment @var{lang-env}, use the command @kbd{C-h L @var{lang-env} | |
269 @key{RET}} (@code{describe-language-environment}). This tells you which | |
270 languages this language environment is useful for, and lists the | |
271 character sets, coding systems, and input methods that go with it. It | |
272 also shows some sample text to illustrate scripts used in this language | |
273 environment. By default, this command describes the chosen language | |
274 environment. | |
275 | |
276 @vindex set-language-environment-hook | |
277 You can customize any language environment with the normal hook | |
278 @code{set-language-environment-hook}. The command | |
279 @code{set-language-environment} runs that hook after setting up the new | |
280 language environment. The hook functions can test for a specific | |
281 language environment by checking the variable | |
282 @code{current-language-environment}. | |
283 | |
284 @vindex exit-language-environment-hook | |
285 Before it starts to set up the new language environment, | |
286 @code{set-language-environment} first runs the hook | |
287 @code{exit-language-environment-hook}. This hook is useful for undoing | |
288 customizations that were made with @code{set-language-environment-hook}. | |
289 For instance, if you set up a special key binding in a specific language | |
290 environment using @code{set-language-environment-hook}, you should set | |
291 up @code{exit-language-environment-hook} to restore the normal binding | |
292 for that key. | |
293 | |
294 @node Input Methods | |
295 @section Input Methods | |
296 | |
297 @cindex input methods | |
298 An @dfn{input method} is a kind of character conversion designed | |
299 specifically for interactive input. In Emacs, typically each language | |
300 has its own input method; sometimes several languages which use the same | |
301 characters can share one input method. A few languages support several | |
302 input methods. | |
303 | |
304 The simplest kind of input method works by mapping ASCII letters into | |
305 another alphabet. This is how the Greek and Russian input methods work. | |
306 | |
307 A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of | |
308 characters into one letter. Many European input methods use composition | |
309 to produce a single non-ASCII letter from a sequence that consists of a | |
310 letter followed by accent characters (or vice versa). For example, some | |
311 methods convert the sequence @kbd{a'} into a single accented letter. | |
312 These input methods have no special commands of their own; all they do | |
313 is compose sequences of printing characters. | |
314 | |
315 The input methods for syllabic scripts typically use mapping followed | |
316 by composition. The input methods for Thai and Korean work this way. | |
317 First, letters are mapped into symbols for particular sounds or tone | |
318 marks; then, sequences of these which make up a whole syllable are | |
319 mapped into one syllable sign. | |
320 | |
321 Chinese and Japanese require more complex methods. In Chinese input | |
322 methods, first you enter the phonetic spelling of a Chinese word (in | |
323 input method @code{chinese-py}, among others), or a sequence of portions | |
324 of the character (input methods @code{chinese-4corner} and | |
325 @code{chinese-sw}, and others). Since one phonetic spelling typically | |
326 corresponds to many different Chinese characters, you must select one of | |
327 the alternatives using special Emacs commands. Keys such as @kbd{C-f}, | |
328 @kbd{C-b}, @kbd{C-n}, @kbd{C-p}, and digits have special definitions in | |
329 this situation, used for selecting among the alternatives. @key{TAB} | |
330 displays a buffer showing all the possibilities. | |
331 | |
332 In Japanese input methods, first you input a whole word using | |
333 phonetic spelling; then, after the word is in the buffer, Emacs converts | |
334 it into one or more characters using a large dictionary. One phonetic | |
335 spelling corresponds to many differently written Japanese words, so you | |
336 must select one of them; use @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} to cycle through | |
337 the alternatives. | |
338 | |
339 Sometimes it is useful to cut off input method processing so that the | |
340 characters you have just entered will not combine with subsequent | |
341 characters. For example, in input method @code{latin-1-postfix}, the | |
342 sequence @kbd{e '} combines to form an @samp{e} with an accent. What if | |
343 you want to enter them as separate characters? | |
344 | |
345 One way is to type the accent twice; that is a special feature for | |
346 entering the separate letter and accent. For example, @kbd{e ' '} gives | |
347 you the two characters @samp{e'}. Another way is to type another letter | |
348 after the @kbd{e}---something that won't combine with that---and | |
349 immediately delete it. For example, you could type @kbd{e e @key{DEL} | |
350 '} to get separate @samp{e} and @samp{'}. | |
351 | |
352 Another method, more general but not quite as easy to type, is to use | |
353 @kbd{C-\ C-\} between two characters to stop them from combining. This | |
354 is the command @kbd{C-\} (@code{toggle-input-method}) used twice. | |
355 @ifinfo | |
356 @xref{Select Input Method}. | |
357 @end ifinfo | |
358 | |
359 @kbd{C-\ C-\} is especially useful inside an incremental search, | |
360 because it stops waiting for more characters to combine, and starts | |
361 searching for what you have already entered. | |
362 | |
363 @vindex input-method-verbose-flag | |
364 @vindex input-method-highlight-flag | |
365 The variables @code{input-method-highlight-flag} and | |
366 @code{input-method-verbose-flag} control how input methods explain what | |
367 is happening. If @code{input-method-highlight-flag} is non-@code{nil}, | |
368 the partial sequence is highlighted in the buffer. If | |
369 @code{input-method-verbose-flag} is non-@code{nil}, the list of possible | |
370 characters to type next is displayed in the echo area (but not when you | |
371 are in the minibuffer). | |
372 | |
31077 | 373 @cindex Leim package |
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374 Input methods are implemented in the separate Leim package: they are |
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375 available only if the system administrator used Leim when building |
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376 Emacs. If Emacs was built without Leim, you will find that no input |
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377 methods are defined. |
31077 | 378 |
25829 | 379 @node Select Input Method |
380 @section Selecting an Input Method | |
381 | |
382 @table @kbd | |
383 @item C-\ | |
384 Enable or disable use of the selected input method. | |
385 | |
386 @item C-x @key{RET} C-\ @var{method} @key{RET} | |
387 Select a new input method for the current buffer. | |
388 | |
389 @item C-h I @var{method} @key{RET} | |
390 @itemx C-h C-\ @var{method} @key{RET} | |
391 @findex describe-input-method | |
392 @kindex C-h I | |
393 @kindex C-h C-\ | |
394 Describe the input method @var{method} (@code{describe-input-method}). | |
31204 | 395 By default, it describes the current input method (if any). This |
396 description should give you the full details of how to use any | |
31270 | 397 particular input method. |
25829 | 398 |
399 @item M-x list-input-methods | |
400 Display a list of all the supported input methods. | |
401 @end table | |
402 | |
403 @findex set-input-method | |
404 @vindex current-input-method | |
405 @kindex C-x RET C-\ | |
406 To choose an input method for the current buffer, use @kbd{C-x | |
407 @key{RET} C-\} (@code{set-input-method}). This command reads the | |
408 input method name with the minibuffer; the name normally starts with the | |
409 language environment that it is meant to be used with. The variable | |
410 @code{current-input-method} records which input method is selected. | |
411 | |
412 @findex toggle-input-method | |
413 @kindex C-\ | |
414 Input methods use various sequences of ASCII characters to stand for | |
415 non-ASCII characters. Sometimes it is useful to turn off the input | |
416 method temporarily. To do this, type @kbd{C-\} | |
417 (@code{toggle-input-method}). To reenable the input method, type | |
418 @kbd{C-\} again. | |
419 | |
420 If you type @kbd{C-\} and you have not yet selected an input method, | |
421 it prompts for you to specify one. This has the same effect as using | |
422 @kbd{C-x @key{RET} C-\} to specify an input method. | |
423 | |
424 @vindex default-input-method | |
425 Selecting a language environment specifies a default input method for | |
426 use in various buffers. When you have a default input method, you can | |
427 select it in the current buffer by typing @kbd{C-\}. The variable | |
428 @code{default-input-method} specifies the default input method | |
429 (@code{nil} means there is none). | |
430 | |
431 @findex quail-set-keyboard-layout | |
432 Some input methods for alphabetic scripts work by (in effect) | |
433 remapping the keyboard to emulate various keyboard layouts commonly used | |
434 for those scripts. How to do this remapping properly depends on your | |
435 actual keyboard layout. To specify which layout your keyboard has, use | |
436 the command @kbd{M-x quail-set-keyboard-layout}. | |
437 | |
438 @findex list-input-methods | |
439 To display a list of all the supported input methods, type @kbd{M-x | |
440 list-input-methods}. The list gives information about each input | |
441 method, including the string that stands for it in the mode line. | |
442 | |
443 @node Multibyte Conversion | |
444 @section Unibyte and Multibyte Non-ASCII characters | |
445 | |
446 When multibyte characters are enabled, character codes 0240 (octal) | |
447 through 0377 (octal) are not really legitimate in the buffer. The valid | |
448 non-ASCII printing characters have codes that start from 0400. | |
449 | |
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450 If you type a self-inserting character in the range 0240 through |
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451 0377, or if you use @kbd{C-q} to insert one, Emacs assumes you |
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452 intended to use one of the ISO Latin-@var{n} character sets, and |
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453 converts it to the Emacs code representing that Latin-@var{n} |
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454 character. You select @emph{which} ISO Latin character set to use |
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455 through your choice of language environment |
25829 | 456 @iftex |
457 (see above). | |
458 @end iftex | |
459 @ifinfo | |
460 (@pxref{Language Environments}). | |
461 @end ifinfo | |
462 If you do not specify a choice, the default is Latin-1. | |
463 | |
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464 If you insert a character in the range 0200 through 0237, which |
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465 forms the @code{eight-bit-control} character set, it is inserted |
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466 literally. You should normally avoid doing this since buffers |
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467 containing such characters have to be written out in either the |
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468 @code{emacs-mule} or @code{raw-text} coding system, which is usually |
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469 not what you want. |
25829 | 470 |
471 @node Coding Systems | |
472 @section Coding Systems | |
473 @cindex coding systems | |
474 | |
475 Users of various languages have established many more-or-less standard | |
476 coding systems for representing them. Emacs does not use these coding | |
477 systems internally; instead, it converts from various coding systems to | |
478 its own system when reading data, and converts the internal coding | |
479 system to other coding systems when writing data. Conversion is | |
480 possible in reading or writing files, in sending or receiving from the | |
481 terminal, and in exchanging data with subprocesses. | |
482 | |
483 Emacs assigns a name to each coding system. Most coding systems are | |
484 used for one language, and the name of the coding system starts with the | |
485 language name. Some coding systems are used for several languages; | |
486 their names usually start with @samp{iso}. There are also special | |
487 coding systems @code{no-conversion}, @code{raw-text} and | |
488 @code{emacs-mule} which do not convert printing characters at all. | |
489 | |
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490 A special class of coding systems, collectively known as |
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491 @dfn{codepages}, is designed to support text encoded by MS-Windows and |
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492 MS-DOS software. To use any of these systems, you need to create it |
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493 with @kbd{M-x codepage-setup}. @xref{MS-DOS and MULE}. |
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494 |
25829 | 495 In addition to converting various representations of non-ASCII |
496 characters, a coding system can perform end-of-line conversion. Emacs | |
497 handles three different conventions for how to separate lines in a file: | |
498 newline, carriage-return linefeed, and just carriage-return. | |
499 | |
500 @table @kbd | |
501 @item C-h C @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
502 Describe coding system @var{coding}. | |
503 | |
504 @item C-h C @key{RET} | |
505 Describe the coding systems currently in use. | |
506 | |
507 @item M-x list-coding-systems | |
508 Display a list of all the supported coding systems. | |
509 @end table | |
510 | |
511 @kindex C-h C | |
512 @findex describe-coding-system | |
513 The command @kbd{C-h C} (@code{describe-coding-system}) displays | |
514 information about particular coding systems. You can specify a coding | |
515 system name as argument; alternatively, with an empty argument, it | |
516 describes the coding systems currently selected for various purposes, | |
517 both in the current buffer and as the defaults, and the priority list | |
518 for recognizing coding systems (@pxref{Recognize Coding}). | |
519 | |
520 @findex list-coding-systems | |
521 To display a list of all the supported coding systems, type @kbd{M-x | |
522 list-coding-systems}. The list gives information about each coding | |
523 system, including the letter that stands for it in the mode line | |
524 (@pxref{Mode Line}). | |
525 | |
526 @cindex end-of-line conversion | |
527 @cindex MS-DOS end-of-line conversion | |
528 @cindex Macintosh end-of-line conversion | |
529 Each of the coding systems that appear in this list---except for | |
530 @code{no-conversion}, which means no conversion of any kind---specifies | |
531 how and whether to convert printing characters, but leaves the choice of | |
532 end-of-line conversion to be decided based on the contents of each file. | |
533 For example, if the file appears to use the sequence carriage-return | |
534 linefeed to separate lines, DOS end-of-line conversion will be used. | |
535 | |
536 Each of the listed coding systems has three variants which specify | |
537 exactly what to do for end-of-line conversion: | |
538 | |
539 @table @code | |
540 @item @dots{}-unix | |
541 Don't do any end-of-line conversion; assume the file uses | |
542 newline to separate lines. (This is the convention normally used | |
543 on Unix and GNU systems.) | |
544 | |
545 @item @dots{}-dos | |
546 Assume the file uses carriage-return linefeed to separate lines, and do | |
547 the appropriate conversion. (This is the convention normally used on | |
36185 | 548 Microsoft systems.@footnote{It is also specified for MIME @samp{text/*} |
25829 | 549 bodies and in other network transport contexts. It is different |
550 from the SGML reference syntax record-start/record-end format which | |
551 Emacs doesn't support directly.}) | |
552 | |
553 @item @dots{}-mac | |
554 Assume the file uses carriage-return to separate lines, and do the | |
555 appropriate conversion. (This is the convention normally used on the | |
556 Macintosh system.) | |
557 @end table | |
558 | |
559 These variant coding systems are omitted from the | |
560 @code{list-coding-systems} display for brevity, since they are entirely | |
561 predictable. For example, the coding system @code{iso-latin-1} has | |
562 variants @code{iso-latin-1-unix}, @code{iso-latin-1-dos} and | |
563 @code{iso-latin-1-mac}. | |
564 | |
565 The coding system @code{raw-text} is good for a file which is mainly | |
566 ASCII text, but may contain byte values above 127 which are not meant to | |
567 encode non-ASCII characters. With @code{raw-text}, Emacs copies those | |
568 byte values unchanged, and sets @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to | |
569 @code{nil} in the current buffer so that they will be interpreted | |
570 properly. @code{raw-text} handles end-of-line conversion in the usual | |
571 way, based on the data encountered, and has the usual three variants to | |
572 specify the kind of end-of-line conversion to use. | |
573 | |
574 In contrast, the coding system @code{no-conversion} specifies no | |
575 character code conversion at all---none for non-ASCII byte values and | |
576 none for end of line. This is useful for reading or writing binary | |
577 files, tar files, and other files that must be examined verbatim. It, | |
578 too, sets @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{nil}. | |
579 | |
580 The easiest way to edit a file with no conversion of any kind is with | |
581 the @kbd{M-x find-file-literally} command. This uses | |
582 @code{no-conversion}, and also suppresses other Emacs features that | |
583 might convert the file contents before you see them. @xref{Visiting}. | |
584 | |
585 The coding system @code{emacs-mule} means that the file contains | |
586 non-ASCII characters stored with the internal Emacs encoding. It | |
587 handles end-of-line conversion based on the data encountered, and has | |
588 the usual three variants to specify the kind of end-of-line conversion. | |
589 | |
590 @node Recognize Coding | |
591 @section Recognizing Coding Systems | |
592 | |
593 Most of the time, Emacs can recognize which coding system to use for | |
594 any given file---once you have specified your preferences. | |
595 | |
596 Some coding systems can be recognized or distinguished by which byte | |
597 sequences appear in the data. However, there are coding systems that | |
598 cannot be distinguished, not even potentially. For example, there is no | |
599 way to distinguish between Latin-1 and Latin-2; they use the same byte | |
600 values with different meanings. | |
601 | |
602 Emacs handles this situation by means of a priority list of coding | |
603 systems. Whenever Emacs reads a file, if you do not specify the coding | |
604 system to use, Emacs checks the data against each coding system, | |
605 starting with the first in priority and working down the list, until it | |
606 finds a coding system that fits the data. Then it converts the file | |
607 contents assuming that they are represented in this coding system. | |
608 | |
609 The priority list of coding systems depends on the selected language | |
610 environment (@pxref{Language Environments}). For example, if you use | |
611 French, you probably want Emacs to prefer Latin-1 to Latin-2; if you use | |
612 Czech, you probably want Latin-2 to be preferred. This is one of the | |
613 reasons to specify a language environment. | |
614 | |
615 @findex prefer-coding-system | |
616 However, you can alter the priority list in detail with the command | |
617 @kbd{M-x prefer-coding-system}. This command reads the name of a coding | |
618 system from the minibuffer, and adds it to the front of the priority | |
619 list, so that it is preferred to all others. If you use this command | |
620 several times, each use adds one element to the front of the priority | |
621 list. | |
622 | |
623 If you use a coding system that specifies the end-of-line conversion | |
624 type, such as @code{iso-8859-1-dos}, what that means is that Emacs | |
625 should attempt to recognize @code{iso-8859-1} with priority, and should | |
626 use DOS end-of-line conversion in case it recognizes @code{iso-8859-1}. | |
627 | |
628 @vindex file-coding-system-alist | |
629 Sometimes a file name indicates which coding system to use for the | |
630 file. The variable @code{file-coding-system-alist} specifies this | |
631 correspondence. There is a special function | |
632 @code{modify-coding-system-alist} for adding elements to this list. For | |
633 example, to read and write all @samp{.txt} files using the coding system | |
634 @code{china-iso-8bit}, you can execute this Lisp expression: | |
635 | |
636 @smallexample | |
637 (modify-coding-system-alist 'file "\\.txt\\'" 'china-iso-8bit) | |
638 @end smallexample | |
639 | |
640 @noindent | |
641 The first argument should be @code{file}, the second argument should be | |
642 a regular expression that determines which files this applies to, and | |
643 the third argument says which coding system to use for these files. | |
644 | |
645 @vindex inhibit-eol-conversion | |
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646 @cindex DOS-style end-of-line display |
25829 | 647 Emacs recognizes which kind of end-of-line conversion to use based on |
648 the contents of the file: if it sees only carriage-returns, or only | |
649 carriage-return linefeed sequences, then it chooses the end-of-line | |
650 conversion accordingly. You can inhibit the automatic use of | |
651 end-of-line conversion by setting the variable @code{inhibit-eol-conversion} | |
652 to non-@code{nil}. | |
653 | |
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654 @vindex inhibit-iso-escape-detection |
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655 @cindex escape sequences in files |
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656 By default, the automatic detection of coding system is sensitive to |
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657 escape sequences. If Emacs sees a sequence of characters that begin |
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658 with an escape character, and the sequence is valid as an ISO-2022 |
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659 code, that tells Emacs to use one of the ISO-2022 encodings to decode |
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660 the file. |
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661 |
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662 However, there may be cases that you want to read escape sequences |
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663 in a file as is. In such a case, you can set the variable |
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664 @code{inhibit-iso-escape-detection} to non-@code{nil}. Then the code |
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665 detection ignores any escape sequences, and never uses an ISO-2022 |
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666 encoding. The result is that all escape sequences become visible in |
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667 the buffer. |
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668 |
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669 The default value of @code{inhibit-iso-escape-detection} is |
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670 @code{nil}. We recommend that you not change it permanently, only for |
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671 one specific operation. That's because many Emacs Lisp source files |
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672 that contain non-ASCII characters are encoded in the coding system |
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673 @code{iso-2022-7bit} in the Emacs distribution, and they won't be |
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674 decoded correctly when you visit those files if you suppress the |
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675 escape sequence detection. |
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676 |
25829 | 677 @vindex coding |
678 You can specify the coding system for a particular file using the | |
679 @samp{-*-@dots{}-*-} construct at the beginning of a file, or a local | |
680 variables list at the end (@pxref{File Variables}). You do this by | |
681 defining a value for the ``variable'' named @code{coding}. Emacs does | |
682 not really have a variable @code{coding}; instead of setting a variable, | |
683 it uses the specified coding system for the file. For example, | |
684 @samp{-*-mode: C; coding: latin-1;-*-} specifies use of the Latin-1 | |
685 coding system, as well as C mode. If you specify the coding explicitly | |
686 in the file, that overrides @code{file-coding-system-alist}. | |
687 | |
688 @vindex auto-coding-alist | |
689 The variable @code{auto-coding-alist} is the strongest way to specify | |
690 the coding system for certain patterns of file names; this variable even | |
691 overrides @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tags in the file itself. Emacs uses this | |
692 feature for tar and archive files, to prevent Emacs from being confused | |
693 by a @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tag in a member of the archive and thinking it | |
694 applies to the archive file as a whole. | |
695 | |
696 @vindex buffer-file-coding-system | |
697 Once Emacs has chosen a coding system for a buffer, it stores that | |
698 coding system in @code{buffer-file-coding-system} and uses that coding | |
699 system, by default, for operations that write from this buffer into a | |
700 file. This includes the commands @code{save-buffer} and | |
701 @code{write-region}. If you want to write files from this buffer using | |
702 a different coding system, you can specify a different coding system for | |
703 the buffer using @code{set-buffer-file-coding-system} (@pxref{Specify | |
704 Coding}). | |
705 | |
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706 You can insert any possible character into any Emacs buffer, but |
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707 most coding systems can only handle some of the possible characters. |
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708 This means that you can insert characters that cannot be encoded with |
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709 the coding system that will be used to save the buffer. For example, |
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710 you could start with an ASCII file and insert a few Latin-1 characters |
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711 into it, or you could edit a text file in Polish encoded in |
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712 @code{iso-8859-2} and add to it translations of several Polish words |
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713 into Russian. When you save the buffer, Emacs cannot use the current |
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714 value of @code{buffer-file-coding-system}, because the characters you |
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715 added cannot be encoded by that coding system. |
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716 |
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717 When that happens, Emacs tries the most-preferred coding system (set |
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718 by @kbd{M-x prefer-coding-system} or @kbd{M-x |
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719 set-language-environment}), and if that coding system can safely |
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720 encode all of the characters in the buffer, Emacs uses it, and stores |
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721 its value in @code{buffer-file-coding-system}. Otherwise, Emacs |
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722 displays a list of coding systems suitable for encoding the buffer's |
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723 contents, and asks to choose one of those coding systems. |
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724 |
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725 If you insert the unsuitable characters in a mail message, Emacs |
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726 behaves a bit differently. It additionally checks whether the |
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727 most-preferred coding system is recommended for use in MIME messages; |
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728 if it isn't, Emacs tells you that the most-preferred coding system is |
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729 not recommended and prompts you for another coding system. This is so |
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730 you won't inadvertently send a message encoded in a way that your |
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731 recipient's mail software will have difficulty decoding. (If you do |
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732 want to use the most-preferred coding system, you can type its name to |
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733 Emacs prompt anyway.) |
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734 |
25829 | 735 @vindex sendmail-coding-system |
736 When you send a message with Mail mode (@pxref{Sending Mail}), Emacs has | |
737 four different ways to determine the coding system to use for encoding | |
738 the message text. It tries the buffer's own value of | |
739 @code{buffer-file-coding-system}, if that is non-@code{nil}. Otherwise, | |
740 it uses the value of @code{sendmail-coding-system}, if that is | |
741 non-@code{nil}. The third way is to use the default coding system for | |
742 new files, which is controlled by your choice of language environment, | |
743 if that is non-@code{nil}. If all of these three values are @code{nil}, | |
744 Emacs encodes outgoing mail using the Latin-1 coding system. | |
745 | |
746 @vindex rmail-decode-mime-charset | |
747 When you get new mail in Rmail, each message is translated | |
748 automatically from the coding system it is written in---as if it were a | |
749 separate file. This uses the priority list of coding systems that you | |
750 have specified. If a MIME message specifies a character set, Rmail | |
751 obeys that specification, unless @code{rmail-decode-mime-charset} is | |
752 @code{nil}. | |
753 | |
754 @vindex rmail-file-coding-system | |
755 For reading and saving Rmail files themselves, Emacs uses the coding | |
756 system specified by the variable @code{rmail-file-coding-system}. The | |
757 default value is @code{nil}, which means that Rmail files are not | |
758 translated (they are read and written in the Emacs internal character | |
759 code). | |
760 | |
761 @node Specify Coding | |
762 @section Specifying a Coding System | |
763 | |
764 In cases where Emacs does not automatically choose the right coding | |
765 system, you can use these commands to specify one: | |
766 | |
767 @table @kbd | |
768 @item C-x @key{RET} f @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
769 Use coding system @var{coding} for the visited file | |
770 in the current buffer. | |
771 | |
772 @item C-x @key{RET} c @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
773 Specify coding system @var{coding} for the immediately following | |
774 command. | |
775 | |
776 @item C-x @key{RET} k @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
777 Use coding system @var{coding} for keyboard input. | |
778 | |
779 @item C-x @key{RET} t @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
780 Use coding system @var{coding} for terminal output. | |
781 | |
782 @item C-x @key{RET} p @var{input-coding} @key{RET} @var{output-coding} @key{RET} | |
783 Use coding systems @var{input-coding} and @var{output-coding} for | |
784 subprocess input and output in the current buffer. | |
785 | |
786 @item C-x @key{RET} x @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
787 Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring selections to and from | |
788 other programs through the window system. | |
789 | |
790 @item C-x @key{RET} X @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
791 Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring @emph{one} | |
792 selection---the next one---to or from the window system. | |
793 @end table | |
794 | |
795 @kindex C-x RET f | |
796 @findex set-buffer-file-coding-system | |
797 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} f} (@code{set-buffer-file-coding-system}) | |
798 specifies the file coding system for the current buffer---in other | |
799 words, which coding system to use when saving or rereading the visited | |
800 file. You specify which coding system using the minibuffer. Since this | |
801 command applies to a file you have already visited, it affects only the | |
802 way the file is saved. | |
803 | |
804 @kindex C-x RET c | |
805 @findex universal-coding-system-argument | |
806 Another way to specify the coding system for a file is when you visit | |
807 the file. First use the command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} | |
808 (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}); this command uses the | |
809 minibuffer to read a coding system name. After you exit the minibuffer, | |
810 the specified coding system is used for @emph{the immediately following | |
811 command}. | |
812 | |
813 So if the immediately following command is @kbd{C-x C-f}, for example, | |
814 it reads the file using that coding system (and records the coding | |
815 system for when the file is saved). Or if the immediately following | |
816 command is @kbd{C-x C-w}, it writes the file using that coding system. | |
817 Other file commands affected by a specified coding system include | |
818 @kbd{C-x C-i} and @kbd{C-x C-v}, as well as the other-window variants of | |
819 @kbd{C-x C-f}. | |
820 | |
821 @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} also affects commands that start subprocesses, | |
822 including @kbd{M-x shell} (@pxref{Shell}). | |
823 | |
824 However, if the immediately following command does not use the coding | |
825 system, then @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} ultimately has no effect. | |
826 | |
827 An easy way to visit a file with no conversion is with the @kbd{M-x | |
828 find-file-literally} command. @xref{Visiting}. | |
829 | |
830 @vindex default-buffer-file-coding-system | |
831 The variable @code{default-buffer-file-coding-system} specifies the | |
832 choice of coding system to use when you create a new file. It applies | |
833 when you find a new file, and when you create a buffer and then save it | |
834 in a file. Selecting a language environment typically sets this | |
835 variable to a good choice of default coding system for that language | |
836 environment. | |
837 | |
838 @kindex C-x RET t | |
839 @findex set-terminal-coding-system | |
840 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} t} (@code{set-terminal-coding-system}) | |
841 specifies the coding system for terminal output. If you specify a | |
842 character code for terminal output, all characters output to the | |
843 terminal are translated into that coding system. | |
844 | |
845 This feature is useful for certain character-only terminals built to | |
846 support specific languages or character sets---for example, European | |
847 terminals that support one of the ISO Latin character sets. You need to | |
848 specify the terminal coding system when using multibyte text, so that | |
849 Emacs knows which characters the terminal can actually handle. | |
850 | |
851 By default, output to the terminal is not translated at all, unless | |
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852 Emacs can deduce the proper coding system from your terminal type or |
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853 your locale specification (@pxref{Language Environments}). |
25829 | 854 |
855 @kindex C-x RET k | |
856 @findex set-keyboard-coding-system | |
34691 | 857 @vindex keyboard-coding-system |
25829 | 858 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} k} (@code{set-keyboard-coding-system}) |
34691 | 859 or the Custom option @code{keyboard-coding-system} |
25829 | 860 specifies the coding system for keyboard input. Character-code |
861 translation of keyboard input is useful for terminals with keys that | |
862 send non-ASCII graphic characters---for example, some terminals designed | |
863 for ISO Latin-1 or subsets of it. | |
864 | |
865 By default, keyboard input is not translated at all. | |
866 | |
867 There is a similarity between using a coding system translation for | |
868 keyboard input, and using an input method: both define sequences of | |
869 keyboard input that translate into single characters. However, input | |
870 methods are designed to be convenient for interactive use by humans, and | |
871 the sequences that are translated are typically sequences of ASCII | |
872 printing characters. Coding systems typically translate sequences of | |
873 non-graphic characters. | |
874 | |
875 @kindex C-x RET x | |
876 @kindex C-x RET X | |
877 @findex set-selection-coding-system | |
878 @findex set-next-selection-coding-system | |
879 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} x} (@code{set-selection-coding-system}) | |
880 specifies the coding system for sending selected text to the window | |
881 system, and for receiving the text of selections made in other | |
882 applications. This command applies to all subsequent selections, until | |
883 you override it by using the command again. The command @kbd{C-x | |
884 @key{RET} X} (@code{set-next-selection-coding-system}) specifies the | |
885 coding system for the next selection made in Emacs or read by Emacs. | |
886 | |
887 @kindex C-x RET p | |
888 @findex set-buffer-process-coding-system | |
889 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} p} (@code{set-buffer-process-coding-system}) | |
890 specifies the coding system for input and output to a subprocess. This | |
891 command applies to the current buffer; normally, each subprocess has its | |
892 own buffer, and thus you can use this command to specify translation to | |
893 and from a particular subprocess by giving the command in the | |
894 corresponding buffer. | |
895 | |
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896 The default for translation of process input and output depends on the |
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897 current language environment. |
25829 | 898 |
899 @vindex file-name-coding-system | |
900 The variable @code{file-name-coding-system} specifies a coding system | |
901 to use for encoding file names. If you set the variable to a coding | |
902 system name (as a Lisp symbol or a string), Emacs encodes file names | |
903 using that coding system for all file operations. This makes it | |
904 possible to use non-ASCII characters in file names---or, at least, those | |
905 non-ASCII characters which the specified coding system can encode. | |
906 | |
907 If @code{file-name-coding-system} is @code{nil}, Emacs uses a default | |
908 coding system determined by the selected language environment. In the | |
909 default language environment, any non-ASCII characters in file names are | |
910 not encoded specially; they appear in the file system using the internal | |
911 Emacs representation. | |
912 | |
913 @strong{Warning:} if you change @code{file-name-coding-system} (or the | |
914 language environment) in the middle of an Emacs session, problems can | |
915 result if you have already visited files whose names were encoded using | |
916 the earlier coding system and cannot be encoded (or are encoded | |
917 differently) under the new coding system. If you try to save one of | |
918 these buffers under the visited file name, saving may use the wrong file | |
919 name, or it may get an error. If such a problem happens, use @kbd{C-x | |
920 C-w} to specify a new file name for that buffer. | |
921 | |
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922 @vindex locale-coding-system |
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923 The variable @code{locale-coding-system} specifies a coding system |
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924 to use when encoding and decoding system strings such as system error |
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925 messages and @code{format-time-string} formats and time stamps. You |
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926 should choose a coding system that is compatible with the underlying |
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927 system's text representation, which is normally specified by one of |
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928 the environment variables @env{LC_ALL}, @env{LC_CTYPE}, and |
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929 @env{LANG}. (The first one whose value is nonempty is the one that |
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930 determines the text representation.) |
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931 |
25829 | 932 @node Fontsets |
933 @section Fontsets | |
934 @cindex fontsets | |
935 | |
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936 A font for X typically defines shapes for one alphabet or script. |
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937 Therefore, displaying the entire range of scripts that Emacs supports |
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938 requires a collection of many fonts. In Emacs, such a collection is |
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939 called a @dfn{fontset}. A fontset is defined by a list of fonts, each |
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940 assigned to handle a range of character codes. |
25829 | 941 |
942 Each fontset has a name, like a font. The available X fonts are | |
943 defined by the X server; fontsets, however, are defined within Emacs | |
944 itself. Once you have defined a fontset, you can use it within Emacs by | |
945 specifying its name, anywhere that you could use a single font. Of | |
946 course, Emacs fontsets can use only the fonts that the X server | |
947 supports; if certain characters appear on the screen as hollow boxes, | |
948 this means that the fontset in use for them has no font for those | |
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949 characters.@footnote{The Emacs installation instructions have information on |
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950 additional font support.} |
25829 | 951 |
952 Emacs creates two fontsets automatically: the @dfn{standard fontset} | |
953 and the @dfn{startup fontset}. The standard fontset is most likely to | |
954 have fonts for a wide variety of non-ASCII characters; however, this is | |
955 not the default for Emacs to use. (By default, Emacs tries to find a | |
956 font which has bold and italic variants.) You can specify use of the | |
957 standard fontset with the @samp{-fn} option, or with the @samp{Font} X | |
958 resource (@pxref{Font X}). For example, | |
959 | |
960 @example | |
961 emacs -fn fontset-standard | |
962 @end example | |
963 | |
964 A fontset does not necessarily specify a font for every character | |
965 code. If a fontset specifies no font for a certain character, or if it | |
966 specifies a font that does not exist on your system, then it cannot | |
967 display that character properly. It will display that character as an | |
968 empty box instead. | |
969 | |
970 @vindex highlight-wrong-size-font | |
971 The fontset height and width are determined by the ASCII characters | |
972 (that is, by the font used for ASCII characters in that fontset). If | |
973 another font in the fontset has a different height, or a different | |
974 width, then characters assigned to that font are clipped to the | |
975 fontset's size. If @code{highlight-wrong-size-font} is non-@code{nil}, | |
976 a box is displayed around these wrong-size characters as well. | |
977 | |
978 @node Defining Fontsets | |
979 @section Defining fontsets | |
980 | |
981 @vindex standard-fontset-spec | |
982 @cindex standard fontset | |
983 Emacs creates a standard fontset automatically according to the value | |
984 of @code{standard-fontset-spec}. This fontset's name is | |
985 | |
986 @example | |
987 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-16-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-standard | |
988 @end example | |
989 | |
990 @noindent | |
991 or just @samp{fontset-standard} for short. | |
992 | |
993 Bold, italic, and bold-italic variants of the standard fontset are | |
994 created automatically. Their names have @samp{bold} instead of | |
995 @samp{medium}, or @samp{i} instead of @samp{r}, or both. | |
996 | |
997 @cindex startup fontset | |
998 If you specify a default ASCII font with the @samp{Font} resource or | |
999 the @samp{-fn} argument, Emacs generates a fontset from it | |
1000 automatically. This is the @dfn{startup fontset} and its name is | |
1001 @code{fontset-startup}. It does this by replacing the @var{foundry}, | |
1002 @var{family}, @var{add_style}, and @var{average_width} fields of the | |
1003 font name with @samp{*}, replacing @var{charset_registry} field with | |
1004 @samp{fontset}, and replacing @var{charset_encoding} field with | |
1005 @samp{startup}, then using the resulting string to specify a fontset. | |
1006 | |
1007 For instance, if you start Emacs this way, | |
1008 | |
1009 @example | |
1010 emacs -fn "*courier-medium-r-normal--14-140-*-iso8859-1" | |
1011 @end example | |
1012 | |
1013 @noindent | |
1014 Emacs generates the following fontset and uses it for the initial X | |
1015 window frame: | |
1016 | |
1017 @example | |
1018 -*-*-medium-r-normal-*-14-140-*-*-*-*-fontset-startup | |
1019 @end example | |
1020 | |
1021 With the X resource @samp{Emacs.Font}, you can specify a fontset name | |
1022 just like an actual font name. But be careful not to specify a fontset | |
1023 name in a wildcard resource like @samp{Emacs*Font}---that wildcard | |
1024 specification applies to various other purposes, such as menus, and | |
1025 menus cannot handle fontsets. | |
1026 | |
1027 You can specify additional fontsets using X resources named | |
1028 @samp{Fontset-@var{n}}, where @var{n} is an integer starting from 0. | |
1029 The resource value should have this form: | |
1030 | |
1031 @smallexample | |
1032 @var{fontpattern}, @r{[}@var{charsetname}:@var{fontname}@r{]@dots{}} | |
1033 @end smallexample | |
1034 | |
1035 @noindent | |
1036 @var{fontpattern} should have the form of a standard X font name, except | |
1037 for the last two fields. They should have the form | |
1038 @samp{fontset-@var{alias}}. | |
1039 | |
1040 The fontset has two names, one long and one short. The long name is | |
1041 @var{fontpattern}. The short name is @samp{fontset-@var{alias}}. You | |
1042 can refer to the fontset by either name. | |
1043 | |
1044 The construct @samp{@var{charset}:@var{font}} specifies which font to | |
1045 use (in this fontset) for one particular character set. Here, | |
1046 @var{charset} is the name of a character set, and @var{font} is the | |
1047 font to use for that character set. You can use this construct any | |
1048 number of times in defining one fontset. | |
1049 | |
1050 For the other character sets, Emacs chooses a font based on | |
1051 @var{fontpattern}. It replaces @samp{fontset-@var{alias}} with values | |
1052 that describe the character set. For the ASCII character font, | |
1053 @samp{fontset-@var{alias}} is replaced with @samp{ISO8859-1}. | |
1054 | |
1055 In addition, when several consecutive fields are wildcards, Emacs | |
1056 collapses them into a single wildcard. This is to prevent use of | |
1057 auto-scaled fonts. Fonts made by scaling larger fonts are not usable | |
1058 for editing, and scaling a smaller font is not useful because it is | |
1059 better to use the smaller font in its own size, which Emacs does. | |
1060 | |
1061 Thus if @var{fontpattern} is this, | |
1062 | |
1063 @example | |
1064 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24 | |
1065 @end example | |
1066 | |
1067 @noindent | |
1068 the font specification for ASCII characters would be this: | |
1069 | |
1070 @example | |
1071 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-ISO8859-1 | |
1072 @end example | |
1073 | |
1074 @noindent | |
1075 and the font specification for Chinese GB2312 characters would be this: | |
1076 | |
1077 @example | |
1078 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-gb2312*-* | |
1079 @end example | |
1080 | |
1081 You may not have any Chinese font matching the above font | |
1082 specification. Most X distributions include only Chinese fonts that | |
1083 have @samp{song ti} or @samp{fangsong ti} in @var{family} field. In | |
1084 such a case, @samp{Fontset-@var{n}} can be specified as below: | |
1085 | |
1086 @smallexample | |
1087 Emacs.Fontset-0: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24,\ | |
1088 chinese-gb2312:-*-*-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-gb2312*-* | |
1089 @end smallexample | |
1090 | |
1091 @noindent | |
1092 Then, the font specifications for all but Chinese GB2312 characters have | |
1093 @samp{fixed} in the @var{family} field, and the font specification for | |
1094 Chinese GB2312 characters has a wild card @samp{*} in the @var{family} | |
1095 field. | |
1096 | |
1097 @findex create-fontset-from-fontset-spec | |
1098 The function that processes the fontset resource value to create the | |
1099 fontset is called @code{create-fontset-from-fontset-spec}. You can also | |
1100 call this function explicitly to create a fontset. | |
1101 | |
1102 @xref{Font X}, for more information about font naming in X. | |
1103 | |
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1104 @node Undisplayable Characters |
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1105 @section Undisplayable Characters |
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1106 |
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1107 Your terminal may be unable to display some non-@sc{ascii} |
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1108 characters. Most non-windowing terminals can only use a single |
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1109 character set (use the variable @code{default-terminal-coding-system} |
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1110 (@pxref{Specify Coding}) to tell Emacs which one); characters which |
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1111 can't be encoded in that coding system are displayed as @samp{?} by |
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1112 default. |
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1113 |
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1114 Windowing terminals can display a broader range of characters, but |
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1115 you may not have fonts installed for all of them; characters that have |
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1116 no font appear as a hollow box. |
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1117 |
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1118 If you use Latin-1 characters but your terminal can't display |
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1119 Latin-1, you can arrange to display mnemonic @sc{ascii} sequences |
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1120 instead, e.g.@: @samp{"o} for o-umlaut. Load the library |
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1121 @file{iso-ascii} to do this. |
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1122 |
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1123 If your terminal can display Latin-1, you can display characters |
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1124 from other European character sets using a mixture of equivalent |
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1125 Latin-1 characters and @sc{ascii} mnemonics. Use the Custom option |
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1126 @code{latin1-display} to enable this. The mnemonic @sc{ascii} |
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1127 sequences mostly correspond to those of the prefix input methods. |
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1128 |
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1129 @node Single-Byte Character Support |
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1130 @section Single-byte Character Set Support |
25829 | 1131 |
1132 @cindex European character sets | |
1133 @cindex accented characters | |
1134 @cindex ISO Latin character sets | |
1135 @cindex Unibyte operation | |
1136 The ISO 8859 Latin-@var{n} character sets define character codes in | |
1137 the range 160 to 255 to handle the accented letters and punctuation | |
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1138 needed by various European languages (and some non-European ones). |
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1139 If you disable multibyte |
25829 | 1140 characters, Emacs can still handle @emph{one} of these character codes |
1141 at a time. To specify @emph{which} of these codes to use, invoke | |
1142 @kbd{M-x set-language-environment} and specify a suitable language | |
1143 environment such as @samp{Latin-@var{n}}. | |
1144 | |
1145 For more information about unibyte operation, see @ref{Enabling | |
1146 Multibyte}. Note particularly that you probably want to ensure that | |
1147 your initialization files are read as unibyte if they contain non-ASCII | |
1148 characters. | |
1149 | |
1150 @vindex unibyte-display-via-language-environment | |
1151 Emacs can also display those characters, provided the terminal or font | |
1152 in use supports them. This works automatically. Alternatively, if you | |
1153 are using a window system, Emacs can also display single-byte characters | |
1154 through fontsets, in effect by displaying the equivalent multibyte | |
1155 characters according to the current language environment. To request | |
1156 this, set the variable @code{unibyte-display-via-language-environment} | |
1157 to a non-@code{nil} value. | |
1158 | |
1159 @cindex @code{iso-ascii} library | |
1160 If your terminal does not support display of the Latin-1 character | |
1161 set, Emacs can display these characters as ASCII sequences which at | |
1162 least give you a clear idea of what the characters are. To do this, | |
1163 load the library @code{iso-ascii}. Similar libraries for other | |
1164 Latin-@var{n} character sets could be implemented, but we don't have | |
1165 them yet. | |
1166 | |
1167 @findex standard-display-8bit | |
1168 @cindex 8-bit display | |
1169 Normally non-ISO-8859 characters (between characters 128 and 159 | |
1170 inclusive) are displayed as octal escapes. You can change this for | |
36185 | 1171 non-standard ``extended'' versions of ISO-8859 character sets by using the |
25829 | 1172 function @code{standard-display-8bit} in the @code{disp-table} library. |
1173 | |
28552 | 1174 There are several ways you can input single-byte non-ASCII |
25829 | 1175 characters: |
1176 | |
1177 @itemize @bullet | |
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1178 @cindex 8-bit input |
25829 | 1179 @item |
1180 If your keyboard can generate character codes 128 and up, representing | |
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1181 non-ASCII you can type those character codes directly. |
25829 | 1182 |
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1183 On a windowing terminal, you should not need to do anything special to |
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1184 use these keys; they should simply work. On a text-only terminal, you |
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1185 should use the command @code{M-x set-keyboard-coding-system} or the |
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1186 Custom option @code{keyboard-coding-system} to specify which coding |
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1187 system your keyboard uses (@pxref{Specify Coding}). Enabling this |
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1188 feature will probably require you to use @kbd{ESC} to type Meta |
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1189 characters; however, on a Linux console or in @code{xterm}, you can |
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1190 arrange for Meta to be converted to @kbd{ESC} and still be able type |
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1191 8-bit characters present directly on the keyboard or using |
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1192 @kbd{Compose} or @kbd{AltGr} keys. @xref{User Input}. |
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1193 |
25829 | 1194 @item |
1195 You can use an input method for the selected language environment. | |
1196 @xref{Input Methods}. When you use an input method in a unibyte buffer, | |
1197 the non-ASCII character you specify with it is converted to unibyte. | |
1198 | |
1199 @kindex C-x 8 | |
1200 @cindex @code{iso-transl} library | |
31077 | 1201 @cindex compose character |
1202 @cindex dead character | |
25829 | 1203 @item |
1204 For Latin-1 only, you can use the | |
1205 key @kbd{C-x 8} as a ``compose character'' prefix for entry of | |
1206 non-ASCII Latin-1 printing characters. @kbd{C-x 8} is good for | |
1207 insertion (in the minibuffer as well as other buffers), for searching, | |
1208 and in any other context where a key sequence is allowed. | |
1209 | |
1210 @kbd{C-x 8} works by loading the @code{iso-transl} library. Once that | |
1211 library is loaded, the @key{ALT} modifier key, if you have one, serves | |
1212 the same purpose as @kbd{C-x 8}; use @key{ALT} together with an accent | |
1213 character to modify the following letter. In addition, if you have keys | |
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1214 for the Latin-1 ``dead accent characters,'' they too are defined to |
25829 | 1215 compose with the following character, once @code{iso-transl} is loaded. |
28552 | 1216 Use @kbd{C-x 8 C-h} to list the available translations as mnemonic |
1217 command names. | |
1218 | |
31077 | 1219 @item |
28552 | 1220 @cindex @code{iso-acc} library |
31077 | 1221 @cindex ISO Accents mode |
1222 @findex iso-accents-mode | |
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1223 @cindex Latin-1, Latin-2 and Latin-3 input mode |
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1224 For Latin-1, Latin-2 and Latin-3, @kbd{M-x iso-accents-mode} installs |
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1225 a minor mode which works much like the @code{latin-1-prefix} input |
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1226 method does not depend on having the input methods installed. This |
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1227 mode is buffer-local. It can be customized for various languages with |
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1228 @kbd{M-x iso-accents-customize}. |
25829 | 1229 @end itemize |