Mercurial > emacs
annotate doc/lispref/nonascii.texi @ 99044:7c989edf1f9f
(Character Codes): Remove obsolete function char-valid-p, and document
characterp instead.
author | Chong Yidong <cyd@stupidchicken.com> |
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date | Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:37:07 +0000 |
parents | df0ee162b492 |
children | 175420e76f65 |
rev | line source |
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84090 | 1 @c -*-texinfo-*- |
2 @c This is part of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual. | |
3 @c Copyright (C) 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, | |
87649 | 4 @c 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
84090 | 5 @c See the file elisp.texi for copying conditions. |
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6 @setfilename ../../info/characters |
84090 | 7 @node Non-ASCII Characters, Searching and Matching, Text, Top |
8 @chapter Non-@acronym{ASCII} Characters | |
9 @cindex multibyte characters | |
10 @cindex characters, multi-byte | |
11 @cindex non-@acronym{ASCII} characters | |
12 | |
13 This chapter covers the special issues relating to non-@acronym{ASCII} | |
14 characters and how they are stored in strings and buffers. | |
15 | |
16 @menu | |
17 * Text Representations:: Unibyte and multibyte representations | |
18 * Converting Representations:: Converting unibyte to multibyte and vice versa. | |
19 * Selecting a Representation:: Treating a byte sequence as unibyte or multi. | |
20 * Character Codes:: How unibyte and multibyte relate to | |
21 codes of individual characters. | |
22 * Character Sets:: The space of possible character codes | |
23 is divided into various character sets. | |
24 * Chars and Bytes:: More information about multibyte encodings. | |
25 * Splitting Characters:: Converting a character to its byte sequence. | |
26 * Scanning Charsets:: Which character sets are used in a buffer? | |
27 * Translation of Characters:: Translation tables are used for conversion. | |
28 * Coding Systems:: Coding systems are conversions for saving files. | |
29 * Input Methods:: Input methods allow users to enter various | |
30 non-ASCII characters without special keyboards. | |
31 * Locales:: Interacting with the POSIX locale. | |
32 @end menu | |
33 | |
34 @node Text Representations | |
35 @section Text Representations | |
36 @cindex text representations | |
37 | |
38 Emacs has two @dfn{text representations}---two ways to represent text | |
39 in a string or buffer. These are called @dfn{unibyte} and | |
40 @dfn{multibyte}. Each string, and each buffer, uses one of these two | |
41 representations. For most purposes, you can ignore the issue of | |
42 representations, because Emacs converts text between them as | |
43 appropriate. Occasionally in Lisp programming you will need to pay | |
44 attention to the difference. | |
45 | |
46 @cindex unibyte text | |
47 In unibyte representation, each character occupies one byte and | |
48 therefore the possible character codes range from 0 to 255. Codes 0 | |
49 through 127 are @acronym{ASCII} characters; the codes from 128 through 255 | |
50 are used for one non-@acronym{ASCII} character set (you can choose which | |
51 character set by setting the variable @code{nonascii-insert-offset}). | |
52 | |
53 @cindex leading code | |
54 @cindex multibyte text | |
55 @cindex trailing codes | |
56 In multibyte representation, a character may occupy more than one | |
57 byte, and as a result, the full range of Emacs character codes can be | |
58 stored. The first byte of a multibyte character is always in the range | |
59 128 through 159 (octal 0200 through 0237). These values are called | |
60 @dfn{leading codes}. The second and subsequent bytes of a multibyte | |
61 character are always in the range 160 through 255 (octal 0240 through | |
62 0377); these values are @dfn{trailing codes}. | |
63 | |
64 Some sequences of bytes are not valid in multibyte text: for example, | |
65 a single isolated byte in the range 128 through 159 is not allowed. But | |
66 character codes 128 through 159 can appear in multibyte text, | |
67 represented as two-byte sequences. All the character codes 128 through | |
68 255 are possible (though slightly abnormal) in multibyte text; they | |
69 appear in multibyte buffers and strings when you do explicit encoding | |
70 and decoding (@pxref{Explicit Encoding}). | |
71 | |
72 In a buffer, the buffer-local value of the variable | |
73 @code{enable-multibyte-characters} specifies the representation used. | |
74 The representation for a string is determined and recorded in the string | |
75 when the string is constructed. | |
76 | |
77 @defvar enable-multibyte-characters | |
78 This variable specifies the current buffer's text representation. | |
79 If it is non-@code{nil}, the buffer contains multibyte text; otherwise, | |
80 it contains unibyte text. | |
81 | |
82 You cannot set this variable directly; instead, use the function | |
83 @code{set-buffer-multibyte} to change a buffer's representation. | |
84 @end defvar | |
85 | |
86 @defvar default-enable-multibyte-characters | |
87 This variable's value is entirely equivalent to @code{(default-value | |
88 'enable-multibyte-characters)}, and setting this variable changes that | |
89 default value. Setting the local binding of | |
90 @code{enable-multibyte-characters} in a specific buffer is not allowed, | |
91 but changing the default value is supported, and it is a reasonable | |
92 thing to do, because it has no effect on existing buffers. | |
93 | |
94 The @samp{--unibyte} command line option does its job by setting the | |
95 default value to @code{nil} early in startup. | |
96 @end defvar | |
97 | |
98 @defun position-bytes position | |
99 Return the byte-position corresponding to buffer position | |
100 @var{position} in the current buffer. This is 1 at the start of the | |
101 buffer, and counts upward in bytes. If @var{position} is out of | |
102 range, the value is @code{nil}. | |
103 @end defun | |
104 | |
105 @defun byte-to-position byte-position | |
106 Return the buffer position corresponding to byte-position | |
107 @var{byte-position} in the current buffer. If @var{byte-position} is | |
108 out of range, the value is @code{nil}. | |
109 @end defun | |
110 | |
111 @defun multibyte-string-p string | |
112 Return @code{t} if @var{string} is a multibyte string. | |
113 @end defun | |
114 | |
115 @defun string-bytes string | |
116 @cindex string, number of bytes | |
117 This function returns the number of bytes in @var{string}. | |
118 If @var{string} is a multibyte string, this can be greater than | |
119 @code{(length @var{string})}. | |
120 @end defun | |
121 | |
122 @node Converting Representations | |
123 @section Converting Text Representations | |
124 | |
125 Emacs can convert unibyte text to multibyte; it can also convert | |
126 multibyte text to unibyte, though this conversion loses information. In | |
127 general these conversions happen when inserting text into a buffer, or | |
128 when putting text from several strings together in one string. You can | |
129 also explicitly convert a string's contents to either representation. | |
130 | |
131 Emacs chooses the representation for a string based on the text that | |
132 it is constructed from. The general rule is to convert unibyte text to | |
133 multibyte text when combining it with other multibyte text, because the | |
134 multibyte representation is more general and can hold whatever | |
135 characters the unibyte text has. | |
136 | |
137 When inserting text into a buffer, Emacs converts the text to the | |
138 buffer's representation, as specified by | |
139 @code{enable-multibyte-characters} in that buffer. In particular, when | |
140 you insert multibyte text into a unibyte buffer, Emacs converts the text | |
141 to unibyte, even though this conversion cannot in general preserve all | |
142 the characters that might be in the multibyte text. The other natural | |
143 alternative, to convert the buffer contents to multibyte, is not | |
144 acceptable because the buffer's representation is a choice made by the | |
145 user that cannot be overridden automatically. | |
146 | |
147 Converting unibyte text to multibyte text leaves @acronym{ASCII} characters | |
148 unchanged, and likewise character codes 128 through 159. It converts | |
149 the non-@acronym{ASCII} codes 160 through 255 by adding the value | |
150 @code{nonascii-insert-offset} to each character code. By setting this | |
151 variable, you specify which character set the unibyte characters | |
152 correspond to (@pxref{Character Sets}). For example, if | |
153 @code{nonascii-insert-offset} is 2048, which is @code{(- (make-char | |
154 'latin-iso8859-1) 128)}, then the unibyte non-@acronym{ASCII} characters | |
155 correspond to Latin 1. If it is 2688, which is @code{(- (make-char | |
156 'greek-iso8859-7) 128)}, then they correspond to Greek letters. | |
157 | |
158 Converting multibyte text to unibyte is simpler: it discards all but | |
159 the low 8 bits of each character code. If @code{nonascii-insert-offset} | |
160 has a reasonable value, corresponding to the beginning of some character | |
161 set, this conversion is the inverse of the other: converting unibyte | |
162 text to multibyte and back to unibyte reproduces the original unibyte | |
163 text. | |
164 | |
165 @defvar nonascii-insert-offset | |
166 This variable specifies the amount to add to a non-@acronym{ASCII} character | |
167 when converting unibyte text to multibyte. It also applies when | |
168 @code{self-insert-command} inserts a character in the unibyte | |
169 non-@acronym{ASCII} range, 128 through 255. However, the functions | |
170 @code{insert} and @code{insert-char} do not perform this conversion. | |
171 | |
172 The right value to use to select character set @var{cs} is @code{(- | |
173 (make-char @var{cs}) 128)}. If the value of | |
174 @code{nonascii-insert-offset} is zero, then conversion actually uses the | |
175 value for the Latin 1 character set, rather than zero. | |
176 @end defvar | |
177 | |
178 @defvar nonascii-translation-table | |
179 This variable provides a more general alternative to | |
180 @code{nonascii-insert-offset}. You can use it to specify independently | |
181 how to translate each code in the range of 128 through 255 into a | |
182 multibyte character. The value should be a char-table, or @code{nil}. | |
183 If this is non-@code{nil}, it overrides @code{nonascii-insert-offset}. | |
184 @end defvar | |
185 | |
186 The next three functions either return the argument @var{string}, or a | |
187 newly created string with no text properties. | |
188 | |
189 @defun string-make-unibyte string | |
190 This function converts the text of @var{string} to unibyte | |
191 representation, if it isn't already, and returns the result. If | |
192 @var{string} is a unibyte string, it is returned unchanged. Multibyte | |
193 character codes are converted to unibyte according to | |
194 @code{nonascii-translation-table} or, if that is @code{nil}, using | |
195 @code{nonascii-insert-offset}. If the lookup in the translation table | |
196 fails, this function takes just the low 8 bits of each character. | |
197 @end defun | |
198 | |
199 @defun string-make-multibyte string | |
200 This function converts the text of @var{string} to multibyte | |
201 representation, if it isn't already, and returns the result. If | |
202 @var{string} is a multibyte string or consists entirely of | |
203 @acronym{ASCII} characters, it is returned unchanged. In particular, | |
204 if @var{string} is unibyte and entirely @acronym{ASCII}, the returned | |
205 string is unibyte. (When the characters are all @acronym{ASCII}, | |
206 Emacs primitives will treat the string the same way whether it is | |
207 unibyte or multibyte.) If @var{string} is unibyte and contains | |
208 non-@acronym{ASCII} characters, the function | |
209 @code{unibyte-char-to-multibyte} is used to convert each unibyte | |
210 character to a multibyte character. | |
211 @end defun | |
212 | |
213 @defun string-to-multibyte string | |
214 This function returns a multibyte string containing the same sequence | |
215 of character codes as @var{string}. Unlike | |
216 @code{string-make-multibyte}, this function unconditionally returns a | |
217 multibyte string. If @var{string} is a multibyte string, it is | |
218 returned unchanged. | |
219 @end defun | |
220 | |
221 @defun multibyte-char-to-unibyte char | |
222 This convert the multibyte character @var{char} to a unibyte | |
223 character, based on @code{nonascii-translation-table} and | |
224 @code{nonascii-insert-offset}. | |
225 @end defun | |
226 | |
227 @defun unibyte-char-to-multibyte char | |
228 This convert the unibyte character @var{char} to a multibyte | |
229 character, based on @code{nonascii-translation-table} and | |
230 @code{nonascii-insert-offset}. | |
231 @end defun | |
232 | |
233 @node Selecting a Representation | |
234 @section Selecting a Representation | |
235 | |
236 Sometimes it is useful to examine an existing buffer or string as | |
237 multibyte when it was unibyte, or vice versa. | |
238 | |
239 @defun set-buffer-multibyte multibyte | |
240 Set the representation type of the current buffer. If @var{multibyte} | |
241 is non-@code{nil}, the buffer becomes multibyte. If @var{multibyte} | |
242 is @code{nil}, the buffer becomes unibyte. | |
243 | |
244 This function leaves the buffer contents unchanged when viewed as a | |
245 sequence of bytes. As a consequence, it can change the contents viewed | |
246 as characters; a sequence of two bytes which is treated as one character | |
247 in multibyte representation will count as two characters in unibyte | |
248 representation. Character codes 128 through 159 are an exception. They | |
249 are represented by one byte in a unibyte buffer, but when the buffer is | |
250 set to multibyte, they are converted to two-byte sequences, and vice | |
251 versa. | |
252 | |
253 This function sets @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to record which | |
254 representation is in use. It also adjusts various data in the buffer | |
255 (including overlays, text properties and markers) so that they cover the | |
256 same text as they did before. | |
257 | |
258 You cannot use @code{set-buffer-multibyte} on an indirect buffer, | |
259 because indirect buffers always inherit the representation of the | |
260 base buffer. | |
261 @end defun | |
262 | |
263 @defun string-as-unibyte string | |
264 This function returns a string with the same bytes as @var{string} but | |
265 treating each byte as a character. This means that the value may have | |
266 more characters than @var{string} has. | |
267 | |
268 If @var{string} is already a unibyte string, then the value is | |
269 @var{string} itself. Otherwise it is a newly created string, with no | |
270 text properties. If @var{string} is multibyte, any characters it | |
271 contains of charset @code{eight-bit-control} or @code{eight-bit-graphic} | |
272 are converted to the corresponding single byte. | |
273 @end defun | |
274 | |
275 @defun string-as-multibyte string | |
276 This function returns a string with the same bytes as @var{string} but | |
277 treating each multibyte sequence as one character. This means that the | |
278 value may have fewer characters than @var{string} has. | |
279 | |
280 If @var{string} is already a multibyte string, then the value is | |
281 @var{string} itself. Otherwise it is a newly created string, with no | |
282 text properties. If @var{string} is unibyte and contains any individual | |
283 8-bit bytes (i.e.@: not part of a multibyte form), they are converted to | |
284 the corresponding multibyte character of charset @code{eight-bit-control} | |
285 or @code{eight-bit-graphic}. | |
286 @end defun | |
287 | |
288 @node Character Codes | |
289 @section Character Codes | |
290 @cindex character codes | |
291 | |
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292 The unibyte and multibyte text representations use different |
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293 character codes. The valid character codes for unibyte representation |
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294 range from 0 to 255---the values that can fit in one byte. The valid |
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295 character codes for multibyte representation range from 0 to 4194303, |
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296 but not all values in that range are valid. The values 128 through |
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297 255 do not usually show up in multibyte text, but they can occur if |
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298 you do explicit encoding and decoding (@pxref{Explicit Encoding}). |
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299 Some other character codes cannot occur at all in multibyte text. |
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300 Only the @acronym{ASCII} codes 0 through 127 are completely legitimate |
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301 in both representations. |
84090 | 302 |
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303 @defun characterp charcode |
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304 This returns @code{t} if @var{charcode} is a valid character, and |
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305 @code{nil} otherwise. |
84090 | 306 |
307 @example | |
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308 (characterp 65) |
84090 | 309 @result{} t |
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310 (characterp 256) |
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311 @result{} nil |
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312 (characterp 4194303) |
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313 @result{} t |
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314 (characterp 4194304) |
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315 @result{} nil |
84090 | 316 @end example |
317 @end defun | |
318 | |
319 @node Character Sets | |
320 @section Character Sets | |
321 @cindex character sets | |
322 | |
323 Emacs classifies characters into various @dfn{character sets}, each of | |
324 which has a name which is a symbol. Each character belongs to one and | |
325 only one character set. | |
326 | |
327 In general, there is one character set for each distinct script. For | |
328 example, @code{latin-iso8859-1} is one character set, | |
329 @code{greek-iso8859-7} is another, and @code{ascii} is another. An | |
330 Emacs character set can hold at most 9025 characters; therefore, in some | |
331 cases, characters that would logically be grouped together are split | |
332 into several character sets. For example, one set of Chinese | |
333 characters, generally known as Big 5, is divided into two Emacs | |
334 character sets, @code{chinese-big5-1} and @code{chinese-big5-2}. | |
335 | |
336 @acronym{ASCII} characters are in character set @code{ascii}. The | |
337 non-@acronym{ASCII} characters 128 through 159 are in character set | |
338 @code{eight-bit-control}, and codes 160 through 255 are in character set | |
339 @code{eight-bit-graphic}. | |
340 | |
341 @defun charsetp object | |
342 Returns @code{t} if @var{object} is a symbol that names a character set, | |
343 @code{nil} otherwise. | |
344 @end defun | |
345 | |
346 @defvar charset-list | |
347 The value is a list of all defined character set names. | |
348 @end defvar | |
349 | |
350 @defun charset-list | |
351 This function returns the value of @code{charset-list}. It is only | |
352 provided for backward compatibility. | |
353 @end defun | |
354 | |
355 @defun char-charset character | |
356 This function returns the name of the character set that @var{character} | |
357 belongs to, or the symbol @code{unknown} if @var{character} is not a | |
358 valid character. | |
359 @end defun | |
360 | |
361 @defun charset-plist charset | |
362 This function returns the charset property list of the character set | |
363 @var{charset}. Although @var{charset} is a symbol, this is not the same | |
364 as the property list of that symbol. Charset properties are used for | |
365 special purposes within Emacs. | |
366 @end defun | |
367 | |
368 @deffn Command list-charset-chars charset | |
369 This command displays a list of characters in the character set | |
370 @var{charset}. | |
371 @end deffn | |
372 | |
373 @node Chars and Bytes | |
374 @section Characters and Bytes | |
375 @cindex bytes and characters | |
376 | |
377 @cindex introduction sequence (of character) | |
378 @cindex dimension (of character set) | |
379 In multibyte representation, each character occupies one or more | |
380 bytes. Each character set has an @dfn{introduction sequence}, which is | |
381 normally one or two bytes long. (Exception: the @code{ascii} character | |
382 set and the @code{eight-bit-graphic} character set have a zero-length | |
383 introduction sequence.) The introduction sequence is the beginning of | |
384 the byte sequence for any character in the character set. The rest of | |
385 the character's bytes distinguish it from the other characters in the | |
386 same character set. Depending on the character set, there are either | |
387 one or two distinguishing bytes; the number of such bytes is called the | |
388 @dfn{dimension} of the character set. | |
389 | |
390 @defun charset-dimension charset | |
391 This function returns the dimension of @var{charset}; at present, the | |
392 dimension is always 1 or 2. | |
393 @end defun | |
394 | |
395 @defun charset-bytes charset | |
396 This function returns the number of bytes used to represent a character | |
397 in character set @var{charset}. | |
398 @end defun | |
399 | |
400 This is the simplest way to determine the byte length of a character | |
401 set's introduction sequence: | |
402 | |
403 @example | |
404 (- (charset-bytes @var{charset}) | |
405 (charset-dimension @var{charset})) | |
406 @end example | |
407 | |
408 @node Splitting Characters | |
409 @section Splitting Characters | |
410 @cindex character as bytes | |
411 | |
412 The functions in this section convert between characters and the byte | |
413 values used to represent them. For most purposes, there is no need to | |
414 be concerned with the sequence of bytes used to represent a character, | |
415 because Emacs translates automatically when necessary. | |
416 | |
417 @defun split-char character | |
418 Return a list containing the name of the character set of | |
419 @var{character}, followed by one or two byte values (integers) which | |
420 identify @var{character} within that character set. The number of byte | |
421 values is the character set's dimension. | |
422 | |
423 If @var{character} is invalid as a character code, @code{split-char} | |
424 returns a list consisting of the symbol @code{unknown} and @var{character}. | |
425 | |
426 @example | |
427 (split-char 2248) | |
428 @result{} (latin-iso8859-1 72) | |
429 (split-char 65) | |
430 @result{} (ascii 65) | |
431 (split-char 128) | |
432 @result{} (eight-bit-control 128) | |
433 @end example | |
434 @end defun | |
435 | |
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438 @defun make-char charset &optional code1 code2 | |
439 This function returns the character in character set @var{charset} whose | |
440 position codes are @var{code1} and @var{code2}. This is roughly the | |
441 inverse of @code{split-char}. Normally, you should specify either one | |
442 or both of @var{code1} and @var{code2} according to the dimension of | |
443 @var{charset}. For example, | |
444 | |
445 @example | |
446 (make-char 'latin-iso8859-1 72) | |
447 @result{} 2248 | |
448 @end example | |
449 | |
450 Actually, the eighth bit of both @var{code1} and @var{code2} is zeroed | |
451 before they are used to index @var{charset}. Thus you may use, for | |
452 instance, an ISO 8859 character code rather than subtracting 128, as | |
453 is necessary to index the corresponding Emacs charset. | |
454 @end defun | |
455 | |
456 @node Scanning Charsets | |
457 @section Scanning for Character Sets | |
458 | |
459 Sometimes it is useful to find out which character sets appear in a | |
460 part of a buffer or a string. One use for this is in determining which | |
461 coding systems (@pxref{Coding Systems}) are capable of representing all | |
462 of the text in question. | |
463 | |
464 @defun charset-after &optional pos | |
465 This function return the charset of a character in the current buffer | |
466 at position @var{pos}. If @var{pos} is omitted or @code{nil}, it | |
467 defaults to the current value of point. If @var{pos} is out of range, | |
468 the value is @code{nil}. | |
469 @end defun | |
470 | |
471 @defun find-charset-region beg end &optional translation | |
472 This function returns a list of the character sets that appear in the | |
473 current buffer between positions @var{beg} and @var{end}. | |
474 | |
475 The optional argument @var{translation} specifies a translation table to | |
476 be used in scanning the text (@pxref{Translation of Characters}). If it | |
477 is non-@code{nil}, then each character in the region is translated | |
478 through this table, and the value returned describes the translated | |
479 characters instead of the characters actually in the buffer. | |
480 @end defun | |
481 | |
482 @defun find-charset-string string &optional translation | |
483 This function returns a list of the character sets that appear in the | |
484 string @var{string}. It is just like @code{find-charset-region}, except | |
485 that it applies to the contents of @var{string} instead of part of the | |
486 current buffer. | |
487 @end defun | |
488 | |
489 @node Translation of Characters | |
490 @section Translation of Characters | |
491 @cindex character translation tables | |
492 @cindex translation tables | |
493 | |
494 A @dfn{translation table} is a char-table that specifies a mapping | |
495 of characters into characters. These tables are used in encoding and | |
496 decoding, and for other purposes. Some coding systems specify their | |
497 own particular translation tables; there are also default translation | |
498 tables which apply to all other coding systems. | |
499 | |
500 For instance, the coding-system @code{utf-8} has a translation table | |
501 that maps characters of various charsets (e.g., | |
502 @code{latin-iso8859-@var{x}}) into Unicode character sets. This way, | |
503 it can encode Latin-2 characters into UTF-8. Meanwhile, | |
504 @code{unify-8859-on-decoding-mode} operates by specifying | |
505 @code{standard-translation-table-for-decode} to translate | |
506 Latin-@var{x} characters into corresponding Unicode characters. | |
507 | |
508 @defun make-translation-table &rest translations | |
509 This function returns a translation table based on the argument | |
510 @var{translations}. Each element of @var{translations} should be a | |
511 list of elements of the form @code{(@var{from} . @var{to})}; this says | |
512 to translate the character @var{from} into @var{to}. | |
513 | |
514 The arguments and the forms in each argument are processed in order, | |
515 and if a previous form already translates @var{to} to some other | |
516 character, say @var{to-alt}, @var{from} is also translated to | |
517 @var{to-alt}. | |
518 @end defun | |
519 | |
520 In decoding, the translation table's translations are applied to the | |
521 characters that result from ordinary decoding. If a coding system has | |
522 property @code{translation-table-for-decode}, that specifies the | |
523 translation table to use. (This is a property of the coding system, | |
524 as returned by @code{coding-system-get}, not a property of the symbol | |
525 that is the coding system's name. @xref{Coding System Basics,, Basic | |
526 Concepts of Coding Systems}.) Otherwise, if | |
527 @code{standard-translation-table-for-decode} is non-@code{nil}, | |
528 decoding uses that table. | |
529 | |
530 In encoding, the translation table's translations are applied to the | |
531 characters in the buffer, and the result of translation is actually | |
532 encoded. If a coding system has property | |
533 @code{translation-table-for-encode}, that specifies the translation | |
534 table to use. Otherwise the variable | |
535 @code{standard-translation-table-for-encode} specifies the translation | |
536 table. | |
537 | |
538 @defvar standard-translation-table-for-decode | |
539 This is the default translation table for decoding, for | |
540 coding systems that don't specify any other translation table. | |
541 @end defvar | |
542 | |
543 @defvar standard-translation-table-for-encode | |
544 This is the default translation table for encoding, for | |
545 coding systems that don't specify any other translation table. | |
546 @end defvar | |
547 | |
548 @node Coding Systems | |
549 @section Coding Systems | |
550 | |
551 @cindex coding system | |
552 When Emacs reads or writes a file, and when Emacs sends text to a | |
553 subprocess or receives text from a subprocess, it normally performs | |
554 character code conversion and end-of-line conversion as specified | |
555 by a particular @dfn{coding system}. | |
556 | |
557 How to define a coding system is an arcane matter, and is not | |
558 documented here. | |
559 | |
560 @menu | |
561 * Coding System Basics:: Basic concepts. | |
562 * Encoding and I/O:: How file I/O functions handle coding systems. | |
563 * Lisp and Coding Systems:: Functions to operate on coding system names. | |
564 * User-Chosen Coding Systems:: Asking the user to choose a coding system. | |
565 * Default Coding Systems:: Controlling the default choices. | |
566 * Specifying Coding Systems:: Requesting a particular coding system | |
567 for a single file operation. | |
568 * Explicit Encoding:: Encoding or decoding text without doing I/O. | |
569 * Terminal I/O Encoding:: Use of encoding for terminal I/O. | |
570 * MS-DOS File Types:: How DOS "text" and "binary" files | |
571 relate to coding systems. | |
572 @end menu | |
573 | |
574 @node Coding System Basics | |
575 @subsection Basic Concepts of Coding Systems | |
576 | |
577 @cindex character code conversion | |
578 @dfn{Character code conversion} involves conversion between the encoding | |
579 used inside Emacs and some other encoding. Emacs supports many | |
580 different encodings, in that it can convert to and from them. For | |
581 example, it can convert text to or from encodings such as Latin 1, Latin | |
582 2, Latin 3, Latin 4, Latin 5, and several variants of ISO 2022. In some | |
583 cases, Emacs supports several alternative encodings for the same | |
584 characters; for example, there are three coding systems for the Cyrillic | |
585 (Russian) alphabet: ISO, Alternativnyj, and KOI8. | |
586 | |
587 Most coding systems specify a particular character code for | |
588 conversion, but some of them leave the choice unspecified---to be chosen | |
589 heuristically for each file, based on the data. | |
590 | |
591 In general, a coding system doesn't guarantee roundtrip identity: | |
592 decoding a byte sequence using coding system, then encoding the | |
593 resulting text in the same coding system, can produce a different byte | |
594 sequence. However, the following coding systems do guarantee that the | |
595 byte sequence will be the same as what you originally decoded: | |
596 | |
597 @quotation | |
598 chinese-big5 chinese-iso-8bit cyrillic-iso-8bit emacs-mule | |
599 greek-iso-8bit hebrew-iso-8bit iso-latin-1 iso-latin-2 iso-latin-3 | |
600 iso-latin-4 iso-latin-5 iso-latin-8 iso-latin-9 iso-safe | |
601 japanese-iso-8bit japanese-shift-jis korean-iso-8bit raw-text | |
602 @end quotation | |
603 | |
604 Encoding buffer text and then decoding the result can also fail to | |
605 reproduce the original text. For instance, if you encode Latin-2 | |
606 characters with @code{utf-8} and decode the result using the same | |
607 coding system, you'll get Unicode characters (of charset | |
608 @code{mule-unicode-0100-24ff}). If you encode Unicode characters with | |
609 @code{iso-latin-2} and decode the result with the same coding system, | |
610 you'll get Latin-2 characters. | |
611 | |
612 @cindex EOL conversion | |
613 @cindex end-of-line conversion | |
614 @cindex line end conversion | |
615 @dfn{End of line conversion} handles three different conventions used | |
616 on various systems for representing end of line in files. The Unix | |
617 convention is to use the linefeed character (also called newline). The | |
618 DOS convention is to use a carriage-return and a linefeed at the end of | |
619 a line. The Mac convention is to use just carriage-return. | |
620 | |
621 @cindex base coding system | |
622 @cindex variant coding system | |
623 @dfn{Base coding systems} such as @code{latin-1} leave the end-of-line | |
624 conversion unspecified, to be chosen based on the data. @dfn{Variant | |
625 coding systems} such as @code{latin-1-unix}, @code{latin-1-dos} and | |
626 @code{latin-1-mac} specify the end-of-line conversion explicitly as | |
627 well. Most base coding systems have three corresponding variants whose | |
628 names are formed by adding @samp{-unix}, @samp{-dos} and @samp{-mac}. | |
629 | |
630 The coding system @code{raw-text} is special in that it prevents | |
631 character code conversion, and causes the buffer visited with that | |
632 coding system to be a unibyte buffer. It does not specify the | |
633 end-of-line conversion, allowing that to be determined as usual by the | |
634 data, and has the usual three variants which specify the end-of-line | |
635 conversion. @code{no-conversion} is equivalent to @code{raw-text-unix}: | |
636 it specifies no conversion of either character codes or end-of-line. | |
637 | |
638 The coding system @code{emacs-mule} specifies that the data is | |
639 represented in the internal Emacs encoding. This is like | |
640 @code{raw-text} in that no code conversion happens, but different in | |
641 that the result is multibyte data. | |
642 | |
643 @defun coding-system-get coding-system property | |
644 This function returns the specified property of the coding system | |
645 @var{coding-system}. Most coding system properties exist for internal | |
646 purposes, but one that you might find useful is @code{mime-charset}. | |
647 That property's value is the name used in MIME for the character coding | |
648 which this coding system can read and write. Examples: | |
649 | |
650 @example | |
651 (coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1 'mime-charset) | |
652 @result{} iso-8859-1 | |
653 (coding-system-get 'iso-2022-cn 'mime-charset) | |
654 @result{} iso-2022-cn | |
655 (coding-system-get 'cyrillic-koi8 'mime-charset) | |
656 @result{} koi8-r | |
657 @end example | |
658 | |
659 The value of the @code{mime-charset} property is also defined | |
660 as an alias for the coding system. | |
661 @end defun | |
662 | |
663 @node Encoding and I/O | |
664 @subsection Encoding and I/O | |
665 | |
666 The principal purpose of coding systems is for use in reading and | |
667 writing files. The function @code{insert-file-contents} uses | |
668 a coding system for decoding the file data, and @code{write-region} | |
669 uses one to encode the buffer contents. | |
670 | |
671 You can specify the coding system to use either explicitly | |
672 (@pxref{Specifying Coding Systems}), or implicitly using a default | |
673 mechanism (@pxref{Default Coding Systems}). But these methods may not | |
674 completely specify what to do. For example, they may choose a coding | |
675 system such as @code{undefined} which leaves the character code | |
676 conversion to be determined from the data. In these cases, the I/O | |
677 operation finishes the job of choosing a coding system. Very often | |
678 you will want to find out afterwards which coding system was chosen. | |
679 | |
680 @defvar buffer-file-coding-system | |
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681 This buffer-local variable records the coding system used for saving the |
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682 buffer and for writing part of the buffer with @code{write-region}. If |
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683 the text to be written cannot be safely encoded using the coding system |
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684 specified by this variable, these operations select an alternative |
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685 encoding by calling the function @code{select-safe-coding-system} |
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686 (@pxref{User-Chosen Coding Systems}). If selecting a different encoding |
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687 requires to ask the user to specify a coding system, |
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688 @code{buffer-file-coding-system} is updated to the newly selected coding |
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689 system. |
84090 | 690 |
691 @code{buffer-file-coding-system} does @emph{not} affect sending text | |
692 to a subprocess. | |
693 @end defvar | |
694 | |
695 @defvar save-buffer-coding-system | |
696 This variable specifies the coding system for saving the buffer (by | |
697 overriding @code{buffer-file-coding-system}). Note that it is not used | |
698 for @code{write-region}. | |
699 | |
700 When a command to save the buffer starts out to use | |
701 @code{buffer-file-coding-system} (or @code{save-buffer-coding-system}), | |
702 and that coding system cannot handle | |
703 the actual text in the buffer, the command asks the user to choose | |
704 another coding system (by calling @code{select-safe-coding-system}). | |
705 After that happens, the command also updates | |
706 @code{buffer-file-coding-system} to represent the coding system that | |
707 the user specified. | |
708 @end defvar | |
709 | |
710 @defvar last-coding-system-used | |
711 I/O operations for files and subprocesses set this variable to the | |
712 coding system name that was used. The explicit encoding and decoding | |
713 functions (@pxref{Explicit Encoding}) set it too. | |
714 | |
715 @strong{Warning:} Since receiving subprocess output sets this variable, | |
716 it can change whenever Emacs waits; therefore, you should copy the | |
717 value shortly after the function call that stores the value you are | |
718 interested in. | |
719 @end defvar | |
720 | |
721 The variable @code{selection-coding-system} specifies how to encode | |
722 selections for the window system. @xref{Window System Selections}. | |
723 | |
724 @defvar file-name-coding-system | |
725 The variable @code{file-name-coding-system} specifies the coding | |
726 system to use for encoding file names. Emacs encodes file names using | |
727 that coding system for all file operations. If | |
728 @code{file-name-coding-system} is @code{nil}, Emacs uses a default | |
729 coding system determined by the selected language environment. In the | |
730 default language environment, any non-@acronym{ASCII} characters in | |
731 file names are not encoded specially; they appear in the file system | |
732 using the internal Emacs representation. | |
733 @end defvar | |
734 | |
735 @strong{Warning:} if you change @code{file-name-coding-system} (or | |
736 the language environment) in the middle of an Emacs session, problems | |
737 can result if you have already visited files whose names were encoded | |
738 using the earlier coding system and are handled differently under the | |
739 new coding system. If you try to save one of these buffers under the | |
740 visited file name, saving may use the wrong file name, or it may get | |
741 an error. If such a problem happens, use @kbd{C-x C-w} to specify a | |
742 new file name for that buffer. | |
743 | |
744 @node Lisp and Coding Systems | |
745 @subsection Coding Systems in Lisp | |
746 | |
747 Here are the Lisp facilities for working with coding systems: | |
748 | |
749 @defun coding-system-list &optional base-only | |
750 This function returns a list of all coding system names (symbols). If | |
751 @var{base-only} is non-@code{nil}, the value includes only the | |
752 base coding systems. Otherwise, it includes alias and variant coding | |
753 systems as well. | |
754 @end defun | |
755 | |
756 @defun coding-system-p object | |
757 This function returns @code{t} if @var{object} is a coding system | |
758 name or @code{nil}. | |
759 @end defun | |
760 | |
761 @defun check-coding-system coding-system | |
762 This function checks the validity of @var{coding-system}. | |
763 If that is valid, it returns @var{coding-system}. | |
764 Otherwise it signals an error with condition @code{coding-system-error}. | |
765 @end defun | |
766 | |
767 @defun coding-system-eol-type coding-system | |
768 This function returns the type of end-of-line (a.k.a.@: @dfn{eol}) | |
769 conversion used by @var{coding-system}. If @var{coding-system} | |
770 specifies a certain eol conversion, the return value is an integer 0, | |
771 1, or 2, standing for @code{unix}, @code{dos}, and @code{mac}, | |
772 respectively. If @var{coding-system} doesn't specify eol conversion | |
773 explicitly, the return value is a vector of coding systems, each one | |
774 with one of the possible eol conversion types, like this: | |
775 | |
776 @lisp | |
777 (coding-system-eol-type 'latin-1) | |
778 @result{} [latin-1-unix latin-1-dos latin-1-mac] | |
779 @end lisp | |
780 | |
781 @noindent | |
782 If this function returns a vector, Emacs will decide, as part of the | |
783 text encoding or decoding process, what eol conversion to use. For | |
784 decoding, the end-of-line format of the text is auto-detected, and the | |
785 eol conversion is set to match it (e.g., DOS-style CRLF format will | |
786 imply @code{dos} eol conversion). For encoding, the eol conversion is | |
787 taken from the appropriate default coding system (e.g., | |
788 @code{default-buffer-file-coding-system} for | |
789 @code{buffer-file-coding-system}), or from the default eol conversion | |
790 appropriate for the underlying platform. | |
791 @end defun | |
792 | |
793 @defun coding-system-change-eol-conversion coding-system eol-type | |
794 This function returns a coding system which is like @var{coding-system} | |
795 except for its eol conversion, which is specified by @code{eol-type}. | |
796 @var{eol-type} should be @code{unix}, @code{dos}, @code{mac}, or | |
797 @code{nil}. If it is @code{nil}, the returned coding system determines | |
798 the end-of-line conversion from the data. | |
799 | |
800 @var{eol-type} may also be 0, 1 or 2, standing for @code{unix}, | |
801 @code{dos} and @code{mac}, respectively. | |
802 @end defun | |
803 | |
804 @defun coding-system-change-text-conversion eol-coding text-coding | |
805 This function returns a coding system which uses the end-of-line | |
806 conversion of @var{eol-coding}, and the text conversion of | |
807 @var{text-coding}. If @var{text-coding} is @code{nil}, it returns | |
808 @code{undecided}, or one of its variants according to @var{eol-coding}. | |
809 @end defun | |
810 | |
811 @defun find-coding-systems-region from to | |
812 This function returns a list of coding systems that could be used to | |
813 encode a text between @var{from} and @var{to}. All coding systems in | |
814 the list can safely encode any multibyte characters in that portion of | |
815 the text. | |
816 | |
817 If the text contains no multibyte characters, the function returns the | |
818 list @code{(undecided)}. | |
819 @end defun | |
820 | |
821 @defun find-coding-systems-string string | |
822 This function returns a list of coding systems that could be used to | |
823 encode the text of @var{string}. All coding systems in the list can | |
824 safely encode any multibyte characters in @var{string}. If the text | |
825 contains no multibyte characters, this returns the list | |
826 @code{(undecided)}. | |
827 @end defun | |
828 | |
829 @defun find-coding-systems-for-charsets charsets | |
830 This function returns a list of coding systems that could be used to | |
831 encode all the character sets in the list @var{charsets}. | |
832 @end defun | |
833 | |
834 @defun detect-coding-region start end &optional highest | |
835 This function chooses a plausible coding system for decoding the text | |
836 from @var{start} to @var{end}. This text should be a byte sequence | |
837 (@pxref{Explicit Encoding}). | |
838 | |
839 Normally this function returns a list of coding systems that could | |
840 handle decoding the text that was scanned. They are listed in order of | |
841 decreasing priority. But if @var{highest} is non-@code{nil}, then the | |
842 return value is just one coding system, the one that is highest in | |
843 priority. | |
844 | |
845 If the region contains only @acronym{ASCII} characters except for such | |
846 ISO-2022 control characters ISO-2022 as @code{ESC}, the value is | |
847 @code{undecided} or @code{(undecided)}, or a variant specifying | |
848 end-of-line conversion, if that can be deduced from the text. | |
849 @end defun | |
850 | |
851 @defun detect-coding-string string &optional highest | |
852 This function is like @code{detect-coding-region} except that it | |
853 operates on the contents of @var{string} instead of bytes in the buffer. | |
854 @end defun | |
855 | |
856 @xref{Coding systems for a subprocess,, Process Information}, in | |
857 particular the description of the functions | |
858 @code{process-coding-system} and @code{set-process-coding-system}, for | |
859 how to examine or set the coding systems used for I/O to a subprocess. | |
860 | |
861 @node User-Chosen Coding Systems | |
862 @subsection User-Chosen Coding Systems | |
863 | |
864 @cindex select safe coding system | |
865 @defun select-safe-coding-system from to &optional default-coding-system accept-default-p file | |
866 This function selects a coding system for encoding specified text, | |
867 asking the user to choose if necessary. Normally the specified text | |
868 is the text in the current buffer between @var{from} and @var{to}. If | |
869 @var{from} is a string, the string specifies the text to encode, and | |
870 @var{to} is ignored. | |
871 | |
872 If @var{default-coding-system} is non-@code{nil}, that is the first | |
873 coding system to try; if that can handle the text, | |
874 @code{select-safe-coding-system} returns that coding system. It can | |
875 also be a list of coding systems; then the function tries each of them | |
876 one by one. After trying all of them, it next tries the current | |
877 buffer's value of @code{buffer-file-coding-system} (if it is not | |
878 @code{undecided}), then the value of | |
879 @code{default-buffer-file-coding-system} and finally the user's most | |
880 preferred coding system, which the user can set using the command | |
881 @code{prefer-coding-system} (@pxref{Recognize Coding,, Recognizing | |
882 Coding Systems, emacs, The GNU Emacs Manual}). | |
883 | |
884 If one of those coding systems can safely encode all the specified | |
885 text, @code{select-safe-coding-system} chooses it and returns it. | |
886 Otherwise, it asks the user to choose from a list of coding systems | |
887 which can encode all the text, and returns the user's choice. | |
888 | |
889 @var{default-coding-system} can also be a list whose first element is | |
890 t and whose other elements are coding systems. Then, if no coding | |
891 system in the list can handle the text, @code{select-safe-coding-system} | |
892 queries the user immediately, without trying any of the three | |
893 alternatives described above. | |
894 | |
895 The optional argument @var{accept-default-p}, if non-@code{nil}, | |
896 should be a function to determine whether a coding system selected | |
897 without user interaction is acceptable. @code{select-safe-coding-system} | |
898 calls this function with one argument, the base coding system of the | |
899 selected coding system. If @var{accept-default-p} returns @code{nil}, | |
900 @code{select-safe-coding-system} rejects the silently selected coding | |
901 system, and asks the user to select a coding system from a list of | |
902 possible candidates. | |
903 | |
904 @vindex select-safe-coding-system-accept-default-p | |
905 If the variable @code{select-safe-coding-system-accept-default-p} is | |
906 non-@code{nil}, its value overrides the value of | |
907 @var{accept-default-p}. | |
908 | |
909 As a final step, before returning the chosen coding system, | |
910 @code{select-safe-coding-system} checks whether that coding system is | |
911 consistent with what would be selected if the contents of the region | |
912 were read from a file. (If not, this could lead to data corruption in | |
913 a file subsequently re-visited and edited.) Normally, | |
914 @code{select-safe-coding-system} uses @code{buffer-file-name} as the | |
915 file for this purpose, but if @var{file} is non-@code{nil}, it uses | |
916 that file instead (this can be relevant for @code{write-region} and | |
917 similar functions). If it detects an apparent inconsistency, | |
918 @code{select-safe-coding-system} queries the user before selecting the | |
919 coding system. | |
920 @end defun | |
921 | |
922 Here are two functions you can use to let the user specify a coding | |
923 system, with completion. @xref{Completion}. | |
924 | |
925 @defun read-coding-system prompt &optional default | |
926 This function reads a coding system using the minibuffer, prompting with | |
927 string @var{prompt}, and returns the coding system name as a symbol. If | |
928 the user enters null input, @var{default} specifies which coding system | |
929 to return. It should be a symbol or a string. | |
930 @end defun | |
931 | |
932 @defun read-non-nil-coding-system prompt | |
933 This function reads a coding system using the minibuffer, prompting with | |
934 string @var{prompt}, and returns the coding system name as a symbol. If | |
935 the user tries to enter null input, it asks the user to try again. | |
936 @xref{Coding Systems}. | |
937 @end defun | |
938 | |
939 @node Default Coding Systems | |
940 @subsection Default Coding Systems | |
941 | |
942 This section describes variables that specify the default coding | |
943 system for certain files or when running certain subprograms, and the | |
944 function that I/O operations use to access them. | |
945 | |
946 The idea of these variables is that you set them once and for all to the | |
947 defaults you want, and then do not change them again. To specify a | |
948 particular coding system for a particular operation in a Lisp program, | |
949 don't change these variables; instead, override them using | |
950 @code{coding-system-for-read} and @code{coding-system-for-write} | |
951 (@pxref{Specifying Coding Systems}). | |
952 | |
953 @defvar auto-coding-regexp-alist | |
954 This variable is an alist of text patterns and corresponding coding | |
955 systems. Each element has the form @code{(@var{regexp} | |
956 . @var{coding-system})}; a file whose first few kilobytes match | |
957 @var{regexp} is decoded with @var{coding-system} when its contents are | |
958 read into a buffer. The settings in this alist take priority over | |
959 @code{coding:} tags in the files and the contents of | |
960 @code{file-coding-system-alist} (see below). The default value is set | |
961 so that Emacs automatically recognizes mail files in Babyl format and | |
962 reads them with no code conversions. | |
963 @end defvar | |
964 | |
965 @defvar file-coding-system-alist | |
966 This variable is an alist that specifies the coding systems to use for | |
967 reading and writing particular files. Each element has the form | |
968 @code{(@var{pattern} . @var{coding})}, where @var{pattern} is a regular | |
969 expression that matches certain file names. The element applies to file | |
970 names that match @var{pattern}. | |
971 | |
972 The @sc{cdr} of the element, @var{coding}, should be either a coding | |
973 system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or a function name (a | |
974 symbol with a function definition). If @var{coding} is a coding system, | |
975 that coding system is used for both reading the file and writing it. If | |
976 @var{coding} is a cons cell containing two coding systems, its @sc{car} | |
977 specifies the coding system for decoding, and its @sc{cdr} specifies the | |
978 coding system for encoding. | |
979 | |
980 If @var{coding} is a function name, the function should take one | |
981 argument, a list of all arguments passed to | |
982 @code{find-operation-coding-system}. It must return a coding system | |
983 or a cons cell containing two coding systems. This value has the same | |
984 meaning as described above. | |
985 | |
986 If @var{coding} (or what returned by the above function) is | |
987 @code{undecided}, the normal code-detection is performed. | |
988 @end defvar | |
989 | |
990 @defvar process-coding-system-alist | |
991 This variable is an alist specifying which coding systems to use for a | |
992 subprocess, depending on which program is running in the subprocess. It | |
993 works like @code{file-coding-system-alist}, except that @var{pattern} is | |
994 matched against the program name used to start the subprocess. The coding | |
995 system or systems specified in this alist are used to initialize the | |
996 coding systems used for I/O to the subprocess, but you can specify | |
997 other coding systems later using @code{set-process-coding-system}. | |
998 @end defvar | |
999 | |
1000 @strong{Warning:} Coding systems such as @code{undecided}, which | |
1001 determine the coding system from the data, do not work entirely reliably | |
1002 with asynchronous subprocess output. This is because Emacs handles | |
1003 asynchronous subprocess output in batches, as it arrives. If the coding | |
1004 system leaves the character code conversion unspecified, or leaves the | |
1005 end-of-line conversion unspecified, Emacs must try to detect the proper | |
1006 conversion from one batch at a time, and this does not always work. | |
1007 | |
1008 Therefore, with an asynchronous subprocess, if at all possible, use a | |
1009 coding system which determines both the character code conversion and | |
1010 the end of line conversion---that is, one like @code{latin-1-unix}, | |
1011 rather than @code{undecided} or @code{latin-1}. | |
1012 | |
1013 @defvar network-coding-system-alist | |
1014 This variable is an alist that specifies the coding system to use for | |
1015 network streams. It works much like @code{file-coding-system-alist}, | |
1016 with the difference that the @var{pattern} in an element may be either a | |
1017 port number or a regular expression. If it is a regular expression, it | |
1018 is matched against the network service name used to open the network | |
1019 stream. | |
1020 @end defvar | |
1021 | |
1022 @defvar default-process-coding-system | |
1023 This variable specifies the coding systems to use for subprocess (and | |
1024 network stream) input and output, when nothing else specifies what to | |
1025 do. | |
1026 | |
1027 The value should be a cons cell of the form @code{(@var{input-coding} | |
1028 . @var{output-coding})}. Here @var{input-coding} applies to input from | |
1029 the subprocess, and @var{output-coding} applies to output to it. | |
1030 @end defvar | |
1031 | |
1032 @defvar auto-coding-functions | |
1033 This variable holds a list of functions that try to determine a | |
1034 coding system for a file based on its undecoded contents. | |
1035 | |
1036 Each function in this list should be written to look at text in the | |
1037 current buffer, but should not modify it in any way. The buffer will | |
1038 contain undecoded text of parts of the file. Each function should | |
1039 take one argument, @var{size}, which tells it how many characters to | |
1040 look at, starting from point. If the function succeeds in determining | |
1041 a coding system for the file, it should return that coding system. | |
1042 Otherwise, it should return @code{nil}. | |
1043 | |
1044 If a file has a @samp{coding:} tag, that takes precedence, so these | |
1045 functions won't be called. | |
1046 @end defvar | |
1047 | |
1048 @defun find-operation-coding-system operation &rest arguments | |
1049 This function returns the coding system to use (by default) for | |
1050 performing @var{operation} with @var{arguments}. The value has this | |
1051 form: | |
1052 | |
1053 @example | |
1054 (@var{decoding-system} . @var{encoding-system}) | |
1055 @end example | |
1056 | |
1057 The first element, @var{decoding-system}, is the coding system to use | |
1058 for decoding (in case @var{operation} does decoding), and | |
1059 @var{encoding-system} is the coding system for encoding (in case | |
1060 @var{operation} does encoding). | |
1061 | |
1062 The argument @var{operation} is a symbol, one of @code{write-region}, | |
1063 @code{start-process}, @code{call-process}, @code{call-process-region}, | |
1064 @code{insert-file-contents}, or @code{open-network-stream}. These are | |
1065 the names of the Emacs I/O primitives that can do character code and | |
1066 eol conversion. | |
1067 | |
1068 The remaining arguments should be the same arguments that might be given | |
1069 to the corresponding I/O primitive. Depending on the primitive, one | |
1070 of those arguments is selected as the @dfn{target}. For example, if | |
1071 @var{operation} does file I/O, whichever argument specifies the file | |
1072 name is the target. For subprocess primitives, the process name is the | |
1073 target. For @code{open-network-stream}, the target is the service name | |
1074 or port number. | |
1075 | |
1076 Depending on @var{operation}, this function looks up the target in | |
1077 @code{file-coding-system-alist}, @code{process-coding-system-alist}, | |
1078 or @code{network-coding-system-alist}. If the target is found in the | |
1079 alist, @code{find-operation-coding-system} returns its association in | |
1080 the alist; otherwise it returns @code{nil}. | |
1081 | |
1082 If @var{operation} is @code{insert-file-contents}, the argument | |
1083 corresponding to the target may be a cons cell of the form | |
1084 @code{(@var{filename} . @var{buffer})}). In that case, @var{filename} | |
1085 is a file name to look up in @code{file-coding-system-alist}, and | |
1086 @var{buffer} is a buffer that contains the file's contents (not yet | |
1087 decoded). If @code{file-coding-system-alist} specifies a function to | |
1088 call for this file, and that function needs to examine the file's | |
1089 contents (as it usually does), it should examine the contents of | |
1090 @var{buffer} instead of reading the file. | |
1091 @end defun | |
1092 | |
1093 @node Specifying Coding Systems | |
1094 @subsection Specifying a Coding System for One Operation | |
1095 | |
1096 You can specify the coding system for a specific operation by binding | |
1097 the variables @code{coding-system-for-read} and/or | |
1098 @code{coding-system-for-write}. | |
1099 | |
1100 @defvar coding-system-for-read | |
1101 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it specifies the coding system to | |
1102 use for reading a file, or for input from a synchronous subprocess. | |
1103 | |
1104 It also applies to any asynchronous subprocess or network stream, but in | |
1105 a different way: the value of @code{coding-system-for-read} when you | |
1106 start the subprocess or open the network stream specifies the input | |
1107 decoding method for that subprocess or network stream. It remains in | |
1108 use for that subprocess or network stream unless and until overridden. | |
1109 | |
1110 The right way to use this variable is to bind it with @code{let} for a | |
1111 specific I/O operation. Its global value is normally @code{nil}, and | |
1112 you should not globally set it to any other value. Here is an example | |
1113 of the right way to use the variable: | |
1114 | |
1115 @example | |
1116 ;; @r{Read the file with no character code conversion.} | |
1117 ;; @r{Assume @acronym{crlf} represents end-of-line.} | |
1118 (let ((coding-system-for-read 'emacs-mule-dos)) | |
1119 (insert-file-contents filename)) | |
1120 @end example | |
1121 | |
1122 When its value is non-@code{nil}, this variable takes precedence over | |
1123 all other methods of specifying a coding system to use for input, | |
1124 including @code{file-coding-system-alist}, | |
1125 @code{process-coding-system-alist} and | |
1126 @code{network-coding-system-alist}. | |
1127 @end defvar | |
1128 | |
1129 @defvar coding-system-for-write | |
1130 This works much like @code{coding-system-for-read}, except that it | |
1131 applies to output rather than input. It affects writing to files, | |
1132 as well as sending output to subprocesses and net connections. | |
1133 | |
1134 When a single operation does both input and output, as do | |
1135 @code{call-process-region} and @code{start-process}, both | |
1136 @code{coding-system-for-read} and @code{coding-system-for-write} | |
1137 affect it. | |
1138 @end defvar | |
1139 | |
1140 @defvar inhibit-eol-conversion | |
1141 When this variable is non-@code{nil}, no end-of-line conversion is done, | |
1142 no matter which coding system is specified. This applies to all the | |
1143 Emacs I/O and subprocess primitives, and to the explicit encoding and | |
1144 decoding functions (@pxref{Explicit Encoding}). | |
1145 @end defvar | |
1146 | |
1147 @node Explicit Encoding | |
1148 @subsection Explicit Encoding and Decoding | |
1149 @cindex encoding in coding systems | |
1150 @cindex decoding in coding systems | |
1151 | |
1152 All the operations that transfer text in and out of Emacs have the | |
1153 ability to use a coding system to encode or decode the text. | |
1154 You can also explicitly encode and decode text using the functions | |
1155 in this section. | |
1156 | |
1157 The result of encoding, and the input to decoding, are not ordinary | |
1158 text. They logically consist of a series of byte values; that is, a | |
1159 series of characters whose codes are in the range 0 through 255. In a | |
1160 multibyte buffer or string, character codes 128 through 159 are | |
1161 represented by multibyte sequences, but this is invisible to Lisp | |
1162 programs. | |
1163 | |
1164 The usual way to read a file into a buffer as a sequence of bytes, so | |
1165 you can decode the contents explicitly, is with | |
1166 @code{insert-file-contents-literally} (@pxref{Reading from Files}); | |
1167 alternatively, specify a non-@code{nil} @var{rawfile} argument when | |
1168 visiting a file with @code{find-file-noselect}. These methods result in | |
1169 a unibyte buffer. | |
1170 | |
1171 The usual way to use the byte sequence that results from explicitly | |
1172 encoding text is to copy it to a file or process---for example, to write | |
1173 it with @code{write-region} (@pxref{Writing to Files}), and suppress | |
1174 encoding by binding @code{coding-system-for-write} to | |
1175 @code{no-conversion}. | |
1176 | |
1177 Here are the functions to perform explicit encoding or decoding. The | |
1178 encoding functions produce sequences of bytes; the decoding functions | |
1179 are meant to operate on sequences of bytes. All of these functions | |
1180 discard text properties. | |
1181 | |
1182 @deffn Command encode-coding-region start end coding-system | |
1183 This command encodes the text from @var{start} to @var{end} according | |
1184 to coding system @var{coding-system}. The encoded text replaces the | |
1185 original text in the buffer. The result of encoding is logically a | |
1186 sequence of bytes, but the buffer remains multibyte if it was multibyte | |
1187 before. | |
1188 | |
1189 This command returns the length of the encoded text. | |
1190 @end deffn | |
1191 | |
1192 @defun encode-coding-string string coding-system &optional nocopy | |
1193 This function encodes the text in @var{string} according to coding | |
1194 system @var{coding-system}. It returns a new string containing the | |
1195 encoded text, except when @var{nocopy} is non-@code{nil}, in which | |
1196 case the function may return @var{string} itself if the encoding | |
1197 operation is trivial. The result of encoding is a unibyte string. | |
1198 @end defun | |
1199 | |
1200 @deffn Command decode-coding-region start end coding-system | |
1201 This command decodes the text from @var{start} to @var{end} according | |
1202 to coding system @var{coding-system}. The decoded text replaces the | |
1203 original text in the buffer. To make explicit decoding useful, the text | |
1204 before decoding ought to be a sequence of byte values, but both | |
1205 multibyte and unibyte buffers are acceptable. | |
1206 | |
1207 This command returns the length of the decoded text. | |
1208 @end deffn | |
1209 | |
1210 @defun decode-coding-string string coding-system &optional nocopy | |
1211 This function decodes the text in @var{string} according to coding | |
1212 system @var{coding-system}. It returns a new string containing the | |
1213 decoded text, except when @var{nocopy} is non-@code{nil}, in which | |
1214 case the function may return @var{string} itself if the decoding | |
1215 operation is trivial. To make explicit decoding useful, the contents | |
1216 of @var{string} ought to be a sequence of byte values, but a multibyte | |
1217 string is acceptable. | |
1218 @end defun | |
1219 | |
1220 @defun decode-coding-inserted-region from to filename &optional visit beg end replace | |
1221 This function decodes the text from @var{from} to @var{to} as if | |
1222 it were being read from file @var{filename} using @code{insert-file-contents} | |
1223 using the rest of the arguments provided. | |
1224 | |
1225 The normal way to use this function is after reading text from a file | |
1226 without decoding, if you decide you would rather have decoded it. | |
1227 Instead of deleting the text and reading it again, this time with | |
1228 decoding, you can call this function. | |
1229 @end defun | |
1230 | |
1231 @node Terminal I/O Encoding | |
1232 @subsection Terminal I/O Encoding | |
1233 | |
1234 Emacs can decode keyboard input using a coding system, and encode | |
1235 terminal output. This is useful for terminals that transmit or display | |
1236 text using a particular encoding such as Latin-1. Emacs does not set | |
1237 @code{last-coding-system-used} for encoding or decoding for the | |
1238 terminal. | |
1239 | |
1240 @defun keyboard-coding-system | |
1241 This function returns the coding system that is in use for decoding | |
1242 keyboard input---or @code{nil} if no coding system is to be used. | |
1243 @end defun | |
1244 | |
1245 @deffn Command set-keyboard-coding-system coding-system | |
1246 This command specifies @var{coding-system} as the coding system to | |
1247 use for decoding keyboard input. If @var{coding-system} is @code{nil}, | |
1248 that means do not decode keyboard input. | |
1249 @end deffn | |
1250 | |
1251 @defun terminal-coding-system | |
1252 This function returns the coding system that is in use for encoding | |
1253 terminal output---or @code{nil} for no encoding. | |
1254 @end defun | |
1255 | |
1256 @deffn Command set-terminal-coding-system coding-system | |
1257 This command specifies @var{coding-system} as the coding system to use | |
1258 for encoding terminal output. If @var{coding-system} is @code{nil}, | |
1259 that means do not encode terminal output. | |
1260 @end deffn | |
1261 | |
1262 @node MS-DOS File Types | |
1263 @subsection MS-DOS File Types | |
1264 @cindex DOS file types | |
1265 @cindex MS-DOS file types | |
1266 @cindex Windows file types | |
1267 @cindex file types on MS-DOS and Windows | |
1268 @cindex text files and binary files | |
1269 @cindex binary files and text files | |
1270 | |
1271 On MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows, Emacs guesses the appropriate | |
1272 end-of-line conversion for a file by looking at the file's name. This | |
1273 feature classifies files as @dfn{text files} and @dfn{binary files}. By | |
1274 ``binary file'' we mean a file of literal byte values that are not | |
1275 necessarily meant to be characters; Emacs does no end-of-line conversion | |
1276 and no character code conversion for them. On the other hand, the bytes | |
1277 in a text file are intended to represent characters; when you create a | |
1278 new file whose name implies that it is a text file, Emacs uses DOS | |
1279 end-of-line conversion. | |
1280 | |
1281 @defvar buffer-file-type | |
1282 This variable, automatically buffer-local in each buffer, records the | |
1283 file type of the buffer's visited file. When a buffer does not specify | |
1284 a coding system with @code{buffer-file-coding-system}, this variable is | |
1285 used to determine which coding system to use when writing the contents | |
1286 of the buffer. It should be @code{nil} for text, @code{t} for binary. | |
1287 If it is @code{t}, the coding system is @code{no-conversion}. | |
1288 Otherwise, @code{undecided-dos} is used. | |
1289 | |
1290 Normally this variable is set by visiting a file; it is set to | |
1291 @code{nil} if the file was visited without any actual conversion. | |
1292 @end defvar | |
1293 | |
1294 @defopt file-name-buffer-file-type-alist | |
1295 This variable holds an alist for recognizing text and binary files. | |
1296 Each element has the form (@var{regexp} . @var{type}), where | |
1297 @var{regexp} is matched against the file name, and @var{type} may be | |
1298 @code{nil} for text, @code{t} for binary, or a function to call to | |
1299 compute which. If it is a function, then it is called with a single | |
1300 argument (the file name) and should return @code{t} or @code{nil}. | |
1301 | |
1302 When running on MS-DOS or MS-Windows, Emacs checks this alist to decide | |
1303 which coding system to use when reading a file. For a text file, | |
1304 @code{undecided-dos} is used. For a binary file, @code{no-conversion} | |
1305 is used. | |
1306 | |
1307 If no element in this alist matches a given file name, then | |
1308 @code{default-buffer-file-type} says how to treat the file. | |
1309 @end defopt | |
1310 | |
1311 @defopt default-buffer-file-type | |
1312 This variable says how to handle files for which | |
1313 @code{file-name-buffer-file-type-alist} says nothing about the type. | |
1314 | |
1315 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, then these files are treated as | |
1316 binary: the coding system @code{no-conversion} is used. Otherwise, | |
1317 nothing special is done for them---the coding system is deduced solely | |
1318 from the file contents, in the usual Emacs fashion. | |
1319 @end defopt | |
1320 | |
1321 @node Input Methods | |
1322 @section Input Methods | |
1323 @cindex input methods | |
1324 | |
1325 @dfn{Input methods} provide convenient ways of entering non-@acronym{ASCII} | |
1326 characters from the keyboard. Unlike coding systems, which translate | |
1327 non-@acronym{ASCII} characters to and from encodings meant to be read by | |
1328 programs, input methods provide human-friendly commands. (@xref{Input | |
1329 Methods,,, emacs, The GNU Emacs Manual}, for information on how users | |
1330 use input methods to enter text.) How to define input methods is not | |
1331 yet documented in this manual, but here we describe how to use them. | |
1332 | |
1333 Each input method has a name, which is currently a string; | |
1334 in the future, symbols may also be usable as input method names. | |
1335 | |
1336 @defvar current-input-method | |
1337 This variable holds the name of the input method now active in the | |
1338 current buffer. (It automatically becomes local in each buffer when set | |
1339 in any fashion.) It is @code{nil} if no input method is active in the | |
1340 buffer now. | |
1341 @end defvar | |
1342 | |
1343 @defopt default-input-method | |
1344 This variable holds the default input method for commands that choose an | |
1345 input method. Unlike @code{current-input-method}, this variable is | |
1346 normally global. | |
1347 @end defopt | |
1348 | |
1349 @deffn Command set-input-method input-method | |
1350 This command activates input method @var{input-method} for the current | |
1351 buffer. It also sets @code{default-input-method} to @var{input-method}. | |
1352 If @var{input-method} is @code{nil}, this command deactivates any input | |
1353 method for the current buffer. | |
1354 @end deffn | |
1355 | |
1356 @defun read-input-method-name prompt &optional default inhibit-null | |
1357 This function reads an input method name with the minibuffer, prompting | |
1358 with @var{prompt}. If @var{default} is non-@code{nil}, that is returned | |
1359 by default, if the user enters empty input. However, if | |
1360 @var{inhibit-null} is non-@code{nil}, empty input signals an error. | |
1361 | |
1362 The returned value is a string. | |
1363 @end defun | |
1364 | |
1365 @defvar input-method-alist | |
1366 This variable defines all the supported input methods. | |
1367 Each element defines one input method, and should have the form: | |
1368 | |
1369 @example | |
1370 (@var{input-method} @var{language-env} @var{activate-func} | |
1371 @var{title} @var{description} @var{args}...) | |
1372 @end example | |
1373 | |
1374 Here @var{input-method} is the input method name, a string; | |
1375 @var{language-env} is another string, the name of the language | |
1376 environment this input method is recommended for. (That serves only for | |
1377 documentation purposes.) | |
1378 | |
1379 @var{activate-func} is a function to call to activate this method. The | |
1380 @var{args}, if any, are passed as arguments to @var{activate-func}. All | |
1381 told, the arguments to @var{activate-func} are @var{input-method} and | |
1382 the @var{args}. | |
1383 | |
1384 @var{title} is a string to display in the mode line while this method is | |
1385 active. @var{description} is a string describing this method and what | |
1386 it is good for. | |
1387 @end defvar | |
1388 | |
1389 The fundamental interface to input methods is through the | |
1390 variable @code{input-method-function}. @xref{Reading One Event}, | |
1391 and @ref{Invoking the Input Method}. | |
1392 | |
1393 @node Locales | |
1394 @section Locales | |
1395 @cindex locale | |
1396 | |
1397 POSIX defines a concept of ``locales'' which control which language | |
1398 to use in language-related features. These Emacs variables control | |
1399 how Emacs interacts with these features. | |
1400 | |
1401 @defvar locale-coding-system | |
1402 @cindex keyboard input decoding on X | |
1403 This variable specifies the coding system to use for decoding system | |
1404 error messages and---on X Window system only---keyboard input, for | |
1405 encoding the format argument to @code{format-time-string}, and for | |
1406 decoding the return value of @code{format-time-string}. | |
1407 @end defvar | |
1408 | |
1409 @defvar system-messages-locale | |
1410 This variable specifies the locale to use for generating system error | |
1411 messages. Changing the locale can cause messages to come out in a | |
1412 different language or in a different orthography. If the variable is | |
1413 @code{nil}, the locale is specified by environment variables in the | |
1414 usual POSIX fashion. | |
1415 @end defvar | |
1416 | |
1417 @defvar system-time-locale | |
1418 This variable specifies the locale to use for formatting time values. | |
1419 Changing the locale can cause messages to appear according to the | |
1420 conventions of a different language. If the variable is @code{nil}, the | |
1421 locale is specified by environment variables in the usual POSIX fashion. | |
1422 @end defvar | |
1423 | |
1424 @defun locale-info item | |
1425 This function returns locale data @var{item} for the current POSIX | |
1426 locale, if available. @var{item} should be one of these symbols: | |
1427 | |
1428 @table @code | |
1429 @item codeset | |
1430 Return the character set as a string (locale item @code{CODESET}). | |
1431 | |
1432 @item days | |
1433 Return a 7-element vector of day names (locale items | |
1434 @code{DAY_1} through @code{DAY_7}); | |
1435 | |
1436 @item months | |
1437 Return a 12-element vector of month names (locale items @code{MON_1} | |
1438 through @code{MON_12}). | |
1439 | |
1440 @item paper | |
1441 Return a list @code{(@var{width} @var{height})} for the default paper | |
1442 size measured in millimeters (locale items @code{PAPER_WIDTH} and | |
1443 @code{PAPER_HEIGHT}). | |
1444 @end table | |
1445 | |
1446 If the system can't provide the requested information, or if | |
1447 @var{item} is not one of those symbols, the value is @code{nil}. All | |
1448 strings in the return value are decoded using | |
1449 @code{locale-coding-system}. @xref{Locales,,, libc, The GNU Libc Manual}, | |
1450 for more information about locales and locale items. | |
1451 @end defun | |
1452 | |
1453 @ignore | |
1454 arch-tag: be705bf8-941b-4c35-84fc-ad7d20ddb7cb | |
1455 @end ignore |