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annotate man/mule.texi @ 33971:c33b80a45f6a
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author | Jason Rumney <jasonr@gnu.org> |
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date | Tue, 28 Nov 2000 20:28:02 +0000 |
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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 |
35 Emacs supports a wide variety of international character sets, | |
36 including European variants of the Latin alphabet, as well as Chinese, | |
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37 Cyrillic, Devanagari (Hindi and Marathi), Ethiopic, Greek, Hebrew, IPA, |
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38 Japanese, Korean, Lao, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese scripts. These features |
25829 | 39 have been merged from the modified version of Emacs known as MULE (for |
40 ``MULti-lingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs'') | |
41 | |
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42 Emacs also supports various encodings of these characters used by |
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43 internationalized software, such as word processors, mailers, etc. |
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44 |
25829 | 45 @menu |
46 * International Intro:: Basic concepts of multibyte characters. | |
47 * Enabling Multibyte:: Controlling whether to use multibyte characters. | |
48 * Language Environments:: Setting things up for the language you use. | |
49 * Input Methods:: Entering text characters not on your keyboard. | |
50 * Select Input Method:: Specifying your choice of input methods. | |
51 * Multibyte Conversion:: How single-byte characters convert to multibyte. | |
52 * Coding Systems:: Character set conversion when you read and | |
53 write files, and so on. | |
54 * Recognize Coding:: How Emacs figures out which conversion to use. | |
55 * Specify Coding:: Various ways to choose which conversion to use. | |
56 * Fontsets:: Fontsets are collections of fonts | |
57 that cover the whole spectrum of characters. | |
58 * Defining Fontsets:: Defining a new fontset. | |
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59 * Undisplayable Characters:: When characters don't display. |
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60 * Single-Byte Character Support:: |
25829 | 61 You can pick one European character set |
62 to use without multibyte characters. | |
63 @end menu | |
64 | |
65 @node International Intro | |
66 @section Introduction to International Character Sets | |
67 | |
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68 The users of international character sets and scripts have established |
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69 many more-or-less standard coding systems for storing files. Emacs |
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70 internally uses a single multibyte character encoding, so that it can |
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71 intermix characters from all these scripts in a single buffer or string. |
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72 This encoding represents each non-ASCII character as a sequence of bytes |
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73 in the range 0200 through 0377. Emacs translates between the multibyte |
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74 character encoding and various other coding systems when reading and |
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75 writing files, when exchanging data with subprocesses, and (in some |
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76 cases) in the @kbd{C-q} command (@pxref{Multibyte Conversion}). |
25829 | 77 |
78 @kindex C-h h | |
79 @findex view-hello-file | |
80 The command @kbd{C-h h} (@code{view-hello-file}) displays the file | |
81 @file{etc/HELLO}, which shows how to say ``hello'' in many languages. | |
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82 This illustrates various scripts. If the font you're using doesn't have |
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83 characters for all those different languages, you will see some hollow |
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84 boxes instead of characters; see @ref{Fontsets}. On non-windowing |
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85 displays, @samp{?} is displayed in place of the hollow box. |
25829 | 86 |
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87 @findex list-charset-chars |
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88 @cindex characters in a certain charset |
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89 The command @kbd{M-x list-charset-chars} prompts for a name of a |
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90 character set, and displays all the characters in that character set. |
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91 |
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92 @findex describe-character-set |
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93 @cindex character set, description |
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94 The command @kbd{M-x describe-character-set} prompts for a character |
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95 set name and displays information about that character set, including |
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96 its internal representation within Emacs. |
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97 |
25829 | 98 Keyboards, even in the countries where these character sets are used, |
99 generally don't have keys for all the characters in them. So Emacs | |
100 supports various @dfn{input methods}, typically one for each script or | |
101 language, to make it convenient to type them. | |
102 | |
103 @kindex C-x RET | |
104 The prefix key @kbd{C-x @key{RET}} is used for commands that pertain | |
105 to multibyte characters, coding systems, and input methods. | |
106 | |
107 @node Enabling Multibyte | |
108 @section Enabling Multibyte Characters | |
109 | |
110 You can enable or disable multibyte character support, either for | |
111 Emacs as a whole, or for a single buffer. When multibyte characters are | |
112 disabled in a buffer, then each byte in that buffer represents a | |
113 character, even codes 0200 through 0377. The old features for | |
114 supporting the European character sets, ISO Latin-1 and ISO Latin-2, | |
115 work as they did in Emacs 19 and also work for the other ISO 8859 | |
116 character sets. | |
117 | |
118 However, there is no need to turn off multibyte character support to | |
119 use ISO Latin; the Emacs multibyte character set includes all the | |
120 characters in these character sets, and Emacs can translate | |
121 automatically to and from the ISO codes. | |
122 | |
123 To edit a particular file in unibyte representation, visit it using | |
124 @code{find-file-literally}. @xref{Visiting}. To convert a buffer in | |
125 multibyte representation into a single-byte representation of the same | |
126 characters, the easiest way is to save the contents in a file, kill the | |
127 buffer, and find the file again with @code{find-file-literally}. You | |
128 can also use @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} | |
129 (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}) and specify @samp{raw-text} as | |
130 the coding system with which to find or save a file. @xref{Specify | |
131 Coding}. Finding a file as @samp{raw-text} doesn't disable format | |
132 conversion, uncompression and auto mode selection as | |
133 @code{find-file-literally} does. | |
134 | |
135 @vindex enable-multibyte-characters | |
136 @vindex default-enable-multibyte-characters | |
137 To turn off multibyte character support by default, start Emacs with | |
138 the @samp{--unibyte} option (@pxref{Initial Options}), or set the | |
29107 | 139 environment variable @env{EMACS_UNIBYTE}. You can also customize |
25829 | 140 @code{enable-multibyte-characters} or, equivalently, directly set the |
141 variable @code{default-enable-multibyte-characters} in your init file to | |
142 have basically the same effect as @samp{--unibyte}. | |
143 | |
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144 @cindex Lisp files, and multibyte operation |
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145 @cindex multibyte operation, and Lisp files |
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146 @cindex unibyte operation, and Lisp files |
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147 @cindex init file, and non-ASCII characters |
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148 @cindex environment variables, and non-ASCII characters |
25829 | 149 Multibyte strings are not created during initialization from the |
150 values of environment variables, @file{/etc/passwd} entries etc.@: that | |
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151 contain non-ASCII 8-bit characters. However, Lisp files, when they are |
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152 loaded for running, and in particular the initialization file |
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153 @file{.emacs}, are normally read as multibyte---even with |
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154 @samp{--unibyte}. To avoid multibyte strings being generated by |
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155 non-ASCII characters in Lisp files, put @samp{-*-unibyte: t;-*-} in a |
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156 comment on the first line, or specify the coding system @samp{raw-text} |
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157 with @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c}. Do the same for initialization files for |
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158 packages like Gnus. |
25829 | 159 |
160 The mode line indicates whether multibyte character support is enabled | |
161 in the current buffer. If it is, there are two or more characters (most | |
162 often two dashes) before the colon near the beginning of the mode line. | |
163 When multibyte characters are not enabled, just one dash precedes the | |
164 colon. | |
165 | |
166 @node Language Environments | |
167 @section Language Environments | |
168 @cindex language environments | |
169 | |
170 All supported character sets are supported in Emacs buffers whenever | |
171 multibyte characters are enabled; there is no need to select a | |
172 particular language in order to display its characters in an Emacs | |
173 buffer. However, it is important to select a @dfn{language environment} | |
174 in order to set various defaults. The language environment really | |
175 represents a choice of preferred script (more or less) rather than a | |
176 choice of language. | |
177 | |
178 The language environment controls which coding systems to recognize | |
179 when reading text (@pxref{Recognize Coding}). This applies to files, | |
180 incoming mail, netnews, and any other text you read into Emacs. It may | |
181 also specify the default coding system to use when you create a file. | |
182 Each language environment also specifies a default input method. | |
183 | |
184 @findex set-language-environment | |
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185 @vindex current-language-environment |
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186 To select a language environment, customize the option |
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187 @code{current-language-environment} or use the command @kbd{M-x |
25829 | 188 set-language-environment}. It makes no difference which buffer is |
189 current when you use this command, because the effects apply globally to | |
190 the Emacs session. The supported language environments include: | |
191 | |
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192 @cindex Euro sign |
25829 | 193 @quotation |
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194 Chinese-BIG5, Chinese-CNS, Chinese-GB, Cyrillic-ALT, Cyrillic-ISO, |
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195 Cyrillic-KOI8, Czech, Devanagari, English, Ethiopic, German, Greek, |
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196 Hebrew, IPA, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Latin-1, Latin-2, Latin-3, Latin-4, |
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197 Latin-5, Latin-8 (Celtic), Latin-9 (updated Latin-1, with the Euro |
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198 sign), Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, and |
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199 Vietnamese. |
25829 | 200 @end quotation |
201 | |
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202 @cindex fonts, for displaying different languages |
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203 To be able to display the script(s) used by your language environment |
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204 on a windowed display, you need to have a suitable font installed. If |
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205 some of the characters appear as empty boxes, download and install the |
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206 GNU Intlfonts distribution, which includes fonts for all supported |
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207 scripts. @xref{Fontsets}, for more details about setting up your |
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208 fonts. |
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209 |
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210 @findex set-locale-environment |
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211 @vindex locale-language-names |
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212 @vindex locale-charset-language-names |
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213 @cindex locales |
25829 | 214 Some operating systems let you specify the language you are using by |
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215 setting the locale environment variables @env{LC_ALL}, @env{LC_CTYPE}, |
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216 and @env{LANG}; the first of these which is nonempty specifies your |
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217 locale. Emacs handles this during startup by invoking the |
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218 @code{set-locale-environment} function, which matches your locale |
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219 against entries in the value of the variable |
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220 @code{locale-language-names} and selects the corresponding language |
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221 environment if a match is found. But if your locale also matches an |
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222 entry in the variable @code{locale-charset-language-names}, this entry |
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223 is preferred if its character set disagrees. For example, suppose the |
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224 locale @samp{en_GB.ISO8859-15} matches @code{"Latin-1"} in |
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225 @code{locale-language-names} and @code{"Latin-9"} in |
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226 @code{locale-charset-language-names}; since these two language |
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227 environments' character sets disagree, Emacs uses @code{"Latin-9"}. |
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228 |
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229 If all goes well, the @code{set-locale-environment} function selects |
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230 the language environment, since language is part of locale. It also |
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231 adjusts the display table and terminal coding system, the locale coding |
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232 system, and the preferred coding system as needed for the locale. |
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233 |
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234 Since the @code{set-locale-environment} function is automatically |
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235 invoked during startup, you normally do not need to invoke it yourself. |
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236 However, if you modify the @env{LC_ALL}, @env{LC_CTYPE}, or @env{LANG} |
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237 environment variables, you may want to invoke the |
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238 @code{set-locale-environment} function afterwards. |
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239 |
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240 @findex set-locale-environment |
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241 @vindex locale-preferred-coding-systems |
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242 The @code{set-locale-environment} function normally uses the preferred |
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243 coding system established by the language environment to decode system |
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244 messages. But if your locale matches an entry in the variable |
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245 @code{locale-preferred-coding-systems}, Emacs uses the corresponding |
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246 coding system instead. For example, if the locale @samp{ja_JP.PCK} |
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247 matches @code{japanese-shift-jis} in |
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248 @code{locale-preferred-coding-systems}, Emacs uses that encoding even |
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249 though it might normally use @code{japanese-iso-8bit}. |
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250 |
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251 The environment chosen from the locale when Emacs starts is |
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252 overidden by any explicit use of the command |
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253 @code{set-language-environment} or customization of |
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254 @code{current-language-environment} in your init file. |
25829 | 255 |
256 @kindex C-h L | |
257 @findex describe-language-environment | |
258 To display information about the effects of a certain language | |
259 environment @var{lang-env}, use the command @kbd{C-h L @var{lang-env} | |
260 @key{RET}} (@code{describe-language-environment}). This tells you which | |
261 languages this language environment is useful for, and lists the | |
262 character sets, coding systems, and input methods that go with it. It | |
263 also shows some sample text to illustrate scripts used in this language | |
264 environment. By default, this command describes the chosen language | |
265 environment. | |
266 | |
267 @vindex set-language-environment-hook | |
268 You can customize any language environment with the normal hook | |
269 @code{set-language-environment-hook}. The command | |
270 @code{set-language-environment} runs that hook after setting up the new | |
271 language environment. The hook functions can test for a specific | |
272 language environment by checking the variable | |
273 @code{current-language-environment}. | |
274 | |
275 @vindex exit-language-environment-hook | |
276 Before it starts to set up the new language environment, | |
277 @code{set-language-environment} first runs the hook | |
278 @code{exit-language-environment-hook}. This hook is useful for undoing | |
279 customizations that were made with @code{set-language-environment-hook}. | |
280 For instance, if you set up a special key binding in a specific language | |
281 environment using @code{set-language-environment-hook}, you should set | |
282 up @code{exit-language-environment-hook} to restore the normal binding | |
283 for that key. | |
284 | |
285 @node Input Methods | |
286 @section Input Methods | |
287 | |
288 @cindex input methods | |
289 An @dfn{input method} is a kind of character conversion designed | |
290 specifically for interactive input. In Emacs, typically each language | |
291 has its own input method; sometimes several languages which use the same | |
292 characters can share one input method. A few languages support several | |
293 input methods. | |
294 | |
295 The simplest kind of input method works by mapping ASCII letters into | |
296 another alphabet. This is how the Greek and Russian input methods work. | |
297 | |
298 A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of | |
299 characters into one letter. Many European input methods use composition | |
300 to produce a single non-ASCII letter from a sequence that consists of a | |
301 letter followed by accent characters (or vice versa). For example, some | |
302 methods convert the sequence @kbd{a'} into a single accented letter. | |
303 These input methods have no special commands of their own; all they do | |
304 is compose sequences of printing characters. | |
305 | |
306 The input methods for syllabic scripts typically use mapping followed | |
307 by composition. The input methods for Thai and Korean work this way. | |
308 First, letters are mapped into symbols for particular sounds or tone | |
309 marks; then, sequences of these which make up a whole syllable are | |
310 mapped into one syllable sign. | |
311 | |
312 Chinese and Japanese require more complex methods. In Chinese input | |
313 methods, first you enter the phonetic spelling of a Chinese word (in | |
314 input method @code{chinese-py}, among others), or a sequence of portions | |
315 of the character (input methods @code{chinese-4corner} and | |
316 @code{chinese-sw}, and others). Since one phonetic spelling typically | |
317 corresponds to many different Chinese characters, you must select one of | |
318 the alternatives using special Emacs commands. Keys such as @kbd{C-f}, | |
319 @kbd{C-b}, @kbd{C-n}, @kbd{C-p}, and digits have special definitions in | |
320 this situation, used for selecting among the alternatives. @key{TAB} | |
321 displays a buffer showing all the possibilities. | |
322 | |
323 In Japanese input methods, first you input a whole word using | |
324 phonetic spelling; then, after the word is in the buffer, Emacs converts | |
325 it into one or more characters using a large dictionary. One phonetic | |
326 spelling corresponds to many differently written Japanese words, so you | |
327 must select one of them; use @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} to cycle through | |
328 the alternatives. | |
329 | |
330 Sometimes it is useful to cut off input method processing so that the | |
331 characters you have just entered will not combine with subsequent | |
332 characters. For example, in input method @code{latin-1-postfix}, the | |
333 sequence @kbd{e '} combines to form an @samp{e} with an accent. What if | |
334 you want to enter them as separate characters? | |
335 | |
336 One way is to type the accent twice; that is a special feature for | |
337 entering the separate letter and accent. For example, @kbd{e ' '} gives | |
338 you the two characters @samp{e'}. Another way is to type another letter | |
339 after the @kbd{e}---something that won't combine with that---and | |
340 immediately delete it. For example, you could type @kbd{e e @key{DEL} | |
341 '} to get separate @samp{e} and @samp{'}. | |
342 | |
343 Another method, more general but not quite as easy to type, is to use | |
344 @kbd{C-\ C-\} between two characters to stop them from combining. This | |
345 is the command @kbd{C-\} (@code{toggle-input-method}) used twice. | |
346 @ifinfo | |
347 @xref{Select Input Method}. | |
348 @end ifinfo | |
349 | |
350 @kbd{C-\ C-\} is especially useful inside an incremental search, | |
351 because it stops waiting for more characters to combine, and starts | |
352 searching for what you have already entered. | |
353 | |
354 @vindex input-method-verbose-flag | |
355 @vindex input-method-highlight-flag | |
356 The variables @code{input-method-highlight-flag} and | |
357 @code{input-method-verbose-flag} control how input methods explain what | |
358 is happening. If @code{input-method-highlight-flag} is non-@code{nil}, | |
359 the partial sequence is highlighted in the buffer. If | |
360 @code{input-method-verbose-flag} is non-@code{nil}, the list of possible | |
361 characters to type next is displayed in the echo area (but not when you | |
362 are in the minibuffer). | |
363 | |
31077 | 364 @cindex Leim package |
365 Input methods are implemented in the separate Leim package, which must | |
366 be installed with Emacs. | |
367 | |
25829 | 368 @node Select Input Method |
369 @section Selecting an Input Method | |
370 | |
371 @table @kbd | |
372 @item C-\ | |
373 Enable or disable use of the selected input method. | |
374 | |
375 @item C-x @key{RET} C-\ @var{method} @key{RET} | |
376 Select a new input method for the current buffer. | |
377 | |
378 @item C-h I @var{method} @key{RET} | |
379 @itemx C-h C-\ @var{method} @key{RET} | |
380 @findex describe-input-method | |
381 @kindex C-h I | |
382 @kindex C-h C-\ | |
383 Describe the input method @var{method} (@code{describe-input-method}). | |
31204 | 384 By default, it describes the current input method (if any). This |
385 description should give you the full details of how to use any | |
31270 | 386 particular input method. |
25829 | 387 |
388 @item M-x list-input-methods | |
389 Display a list of all the supported input methods. | |
390 @end table | |
391 | |
392 @findex set-input-method | |
393 @vindex current-input-method | |
394 @kindex C-x RET C-\ | |
395 To choose an input method for the current buffer, use @kbd{C-x | |
396 @key{RET} C-\} (@code{set-input-method}). This command reads the | |
397 input method name with the minibuffer; the name normally starts with the | |
398 language environment that it is meant to be used with. The variable | |
399 @code{current-input-method} records which input method is selected. | |
400 | |
401 @findex toggle-input-method | |
402 @kindex C-\ | |
403 Input methods use various sequences of ASCII characters to stand for | |
404 non-ASCII characters. Sometimes it is useful to turn off the input | |
405 method temporarily. To do this, type @kbd{C-\} | |
406 (@code{toggle-input-method}). To reenable the input method, type | |
407 @kbd{C-\} again. | |
408 | |
409 If you type @kbd{C-\} and you have not yet selected an input method, | |
410 it prompts for you to specify one. This has the same effect as using | |
411 @kbd{C-x @key{RET} C-\} to specify an input method. | |
412 | |
413 @vindex default-input-method | |
414 Selecting a language environment specifies a default input method for | |
415 use in various buffers. When you have a default input method, you can | |
416 select it in the current buffer by typing @kbd{C-\}. The variable | |
417 @code{default-input-method} specifies the default input method | |
418 (@code{nil} means there is none). | |
419 | |
420 @findex quail-set-keyboard-layout | |
421 Some input methods for alphabetic scripts work by (in effect) | |
422 remapping the keyboard to emulate various keyboard layouts commonly used | |
423 for those scripts. How to do this remapping properly depends on your | |
424 actual keyboard layout. To specify which layout your keyboard has, use | |
425 the command @kbd{M-x quail-set-keyboard-layout}. | |
426 | |
427 @findex list-input-methods | |
428 To display a list of all the supported input methods, type @kbd{M-x | |
429 list-input-methods}. The list gives information about each input | |
430 method, including the string that stands for it in the mode line. | |
431 | |
432 @node Multibyte Conversion | |
433 @section Unibyte and Multibyte Non-ASCII characters | |
434 | |
435 When multibyte characters are enabled, character codes 0240 (octal) | |
436 through 0377 (octal) are not really legitimate in the buffer. The valid | |
437 non-ASCII printing characters have codes that start from 0400. | |
438 | |
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439 If you type a self-inserting character in the range 0240 |
25829 | 440 through 0377, Emacs assumes you intended to use one of the ISO |
441 Latin-@var{n} character sets, and converts it to the Emacs code | |
442 representing that Latin-@var{n} character. You select @emph{which} ISO | |
443 Latin character set to use through your choice of language environment | |
444 @iftex | |
445 (see above). | |
446 @end iftex | |
447 @ifinfo | |
448 (@pxref{Language Environments}). | |
449 @end ifinfo | |
450 If you do not specify a choice, the default is Latin-1. | |
451 | |
452 The same thing happens when you use @kbd{C-q} to enter an octal code | |
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453 in this range. If you enter a code in the range 0200 through 0237, |
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454 which forms the @code{eight-bit-control} character set, it is inserted |
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455 literally. You should normally avoid doing this since buffers |
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456 containing such characters have to be written out in either the |
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457 @code{emacs-mule} or @code{raw-text} coding system, which is usually not |
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458 what you want. |
25829 | 459 |
460 @node Coding Systems | |
461 @section Coding Systems | |
462 @cindex coding systems | |
463 | |
464 Users of various languages have established many more-or-less standard | |
465 coding systems for representing them. Emacs does not use these coding | |
466 systems internally; instead, it converts from various coding systems to | |
467 its own system when reading data, and converts the internal coding | |
468 system to other coding systems when writing data. Conversion is | |
469 possible in reading or writing files, in sending or receiving from the | |
470 terminal, and in exchanging data with subprocesses. | |
471 | |
472 Emacs assigns a name to each coding system. Most coding systems are | |
473 used for one language, and the name of the coding system starts with the | |
474 language name. Some coding systems are used for several languages; | |
475 their names usually start with @samp{iso}. There are also special | |
476 coding systems @code{no-conversion}, @code{raw-text} and | |
477 @code{emacs-mule} which do not convert printing characters at all. | |
478 | |
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479 A special class of coding systems, collectively known as |
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480 @dfn{codepages}, is designed to support text encoded by MS-Windows and |
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481 MS-DOS software. To use any of these systems, you need to create it |
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482 with @kbd{M-x codepage-setup}. @xref{MS-DOS and MULE}. |
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483 |
25829 | 484 @cindex end-of-line conversion |
485 In addition to converting various representations of non-ASCII | |
486 characters, a coding system can perform end-of-line conversion. Emacs | |
487 handles three different conventions for how to separate lines in a file: | |
488 newline, carriage-return linefeed, and just carriage-return. | |
489 | |
490 @table @kbd | |
491 @item C-h C @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
492 Describe coding system @var{coding}. | |
493 | |
494 @item C-h C @key{RET} | |
495 Describe the coding systems currently in use. | |
496 | |
497 @item M-x list-coding-systems | |
498 Display a list of all the supported coding systems. | |
499 @end table | |
500 | |
501 @kindex C-h C | |
502 @findex describe-coding-system | |
503 The command @kbd{C-h C} (@code{describe-coding-system}) displays | |
504 information about particular coding systems. You can specify a coding | |
505 system name as argument; alternatively, with an empty argument, it | |
506 describes the coding systems currently selected for various purposes, | |
507 both in the current buffer and as the defaults, and the priority list | |
508 for recognizing coding systems (@pxref{Recognize Coding}). | |
509 | |
510 @findex list-coding-systems | |
511 To display a list of all the supported coding systems, type @kbd{M-x | |
512 list-coding-systems}. The list gives information about each coding | |
513 system, including the letter that stands for it in the mode line | |
514 (@pxref{Mode Line}). | |
515 | |
516 @cindex end-of-line conversion | |
517 @cindex MS-DOS end-of-line conversion | |
518 @cindex Macintosh end-of-line conversion | |
519 Each of the coding systems that appear in this list---except for | |
520 @code{no-conversion}, which means no conversion of any kind---specifies | |
521 how and whether to convert printing characters, but leaves the choice of | |
522 end-of-line conversion to be decided based on the contents of each file. | |
523 For example, if the file appears to use the sequence carriage-return | |
524 linefeed to separate lines, DOS end-of-line conversion will be used. | |
525 | |
526 Each of the listed coding systems has three variants which specify | |
527 exactly what to do for end-of-line conversion: | |
528 | |
529 @table @code | |
530 @item @dots{}-unix | |
531 Don't do any end-of-line conversion; assume the file uses | |
532 newline to separate lines. (This is the convention normally used | |
533 on Unix and GNU systems.) | |
534 | |
535 @item @dots{}-dos | |
536 Assume the file uses carriage-return linefeed to separate lines, and do | |
537 the appropriate conversion. (This is the convention normally used on | |
538 Microsoft systems.@footnote{It is also specified for MIME `text/*' | |
539 bodies and in other network transport contexts. It is different | |
540 from the SGML reference syntax record-start/record-end format which | |
541 Emacs doesn't support directly.}) | |
542 | |
543 @item @dots{}-mac | |
544 Assume the file uses carriage-return to separate lines, and do the | |
545 appropriate conversion. (This is the convention normally used on the | |
546 Macintosh system.) | |
547 @end table | |
548 | |
549 These variant coding systems are omitted from the | |
550 @code{list-coding-systems} display for brevity, since they are entirely | |
551 predictable. For example, the coding system @code{iso-latin-1} has | |
552 variants @code{iso-latin-1-unix}, @code{iso-latin-1-dos} and | |
553 @code{iso-latin-1-mac}. | |
554 | |
555 The coding system @code{raw-text} is good for a file which is mainly | |
556 ASCII text, but may contain byte values above 127 which are not meant to | |
557 encode non-ASCII characters. With @code{raw-text}, Emacs copies those | |
558 byte values unchanged, and sets @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to | |
559 @code{nil} in the current buffer so that they will be interpreted | |
560 properly. @code{raw-text} handles end-of-line conversion in the usual | |
561 way, based on the data encountered, and has the usual three variants to | |
562 specify the kind of end-of-line conversion to use. | |
563 | |
564 In contrast, the coding system @code{no-conversion} specifies no | |
565 character code conversion at all---none for non-ASCII byte values and | |
566 none for end of line. This is useful for reading or writing binary | |
567 files, tar files, and other files that must be examined verbatim. It, | |
568 too, sets @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{nil}. | |
569 | |
570 The easiest way to edit a file with no conversion of any kind is with | |
571 the @kbd{M-x find-file-literally} command. This uses | |
572 @code{no-conversion}, and also suppresses other Emacs features that | |
573 might convert the file contents before you see them. @xref{Visiting}. | |
574 | |
575 The coding system @code{emacs-mule} means that the file contains | |
576 non-ASCII characters stored with the internal Emacs encoding. It | |
577 handles end-of-line conversion based on the data encountered, and has | |
578 the usual three variants to specify the kind of end-of-line conversion. | |
579 | |
580 @node Recognize Coding | |
581 @section Recognizing Coding Systems | |
582 | |
583 Most of the time, Emacs can recognize which coding system to use for | |
584 any given file---once you have specified your preferences. | |
585 | |
586 Some coding systems can be recognized or distinguished by which byte | |
587 sequences appear in the data. However, there are coding systems that | |
588 cannot be distinguished, not even potentially. For example, there is no | |
589 way to distinguish between Latin-1 and Latin-2; they use the same byte | |
590 values with different meanings. | |
591 | |
592 Emacs handles this situation by means of a priority list of coding | |
593 systems. Whenever Emacs reads a file, if you do not specify the coding | |
594 system to use, Emacs checks the data against each coding system, | |
595 starting with the first in priority and working down the list, until it | |
596 finds a coding system that fits the data. Then it converts the file | |
597 contents assuming that they are represented in this coding system. | |
598 | |
599 The priority list of coding systems depends on the selected language | |
600 environment (@pxref{Language Environments}). For example, if you use | |
601 French, you probably want Emacs to prefer Latin-1 to Latin-2; if you use | |
602 Czech, you probably want Latin-2 to be preferred. This is one of the | |
603 reasons to specify a language environment. | |
604 | |
605 @findex prefer-coding-system | |
606 However, you can alter the priority list in detail with the command | |
607 @kbd{M-x prefer-coding-system}. This command reads the name of a coding | |
608 system from the minibuffer, and adds it to the front of the priority | |
609 list, so that it is preferred to all others. If you use this command | |
610 several times, each use adds one element to the front of the priority | |
611 list. | |
612 | |
613 If you use a coding system that specifies the end-of-line conversion | |
614 type, such as @code{iso-8859-1-dos}, what that means is that Emacs | |
615 should attempt to recognize @code{iso-8859-1} with priority, and should | |
616 use DOS end-of-line conversion in case it recognizes @code{iso-8859-1}. | |
617 | |
618 @vindex file-coding-system-alist | |
619 Sometimes a file name indicates which coding system to use for the | |
620 file. The variable @code{file-coding-system-alist} specifies this | |
621 correspondence. There is a special function | |
622 @code{modify-coding-system-alist} for adding elements to this list. For | |
623 example, to read and write all @samp{.txt} files using the coding system | |
624 @code{china-iso-8bit}, you can execute this Lisp expression: | |
625 | |
626 @smallexample | |
627 (modify-coding-system-alist 'file "\\.txt\\'" 'china-iso-8bit) | |
628 @end smallexample | |
629 | |
630 @noindent | |
631 The first argument should be @code{file}, the second argument should be | |
632 a regular expression that determines which files this applies to, and | |
633 the third argument says which coding system to use for these files. | |
634 | |
635 @vindex inhibit-eol-conversion | |
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636 @cindex DOS-style end-of-line display |
25829 | 637 Emacs recognizes which kind of end-of-line conversion to use based on |
638 the contents of the file: if it sees only carriage-returns, or only | |
639 carriage-return linefeed sequences, then it chooses the end-of-line | |
640 conversion accordingly. You can inhibit the automatic use of | |
641 end-of-line conversion by setting the variable @code{inhibit-eol-conversion} | |
642 to non-@code{nil}. | |
643 | |
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644 @vindex inhibit-iso-escape-detection |
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645 @cindex escape sequences in files |
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646 By default, the automatic detection of coding system is sensitive to |
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647 escape sequences. If Emacs sees a sequence of characters that begin |
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648 with an @key{ESC} character, and the sequence is valid as an ISO-2022 |
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649 code, the code is determined as one of ISO-2022 encoding, and the file |
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650 is decoded by the corresponding coding system |
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651 (e.g. @code{iso-2022-7bit}). |
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652 |
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653 However, there may be cases that you want to read escape sequences in |
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654 a file as is. In such a case, you can set th variable |
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655 @code{inhibit-iso-escape-detection} to non-@code{nil}. Then the code |
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656 detection will ignore any escape sequences, and so no file is detected |
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657 as being encoded in some of ISO-2022 encoding. The result is that all |
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658 escape sequences become visible in a buffer. |
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659 |
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660 The default value of @code{inhibit-iso-escape-detection} is |
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661 @code{nil}, and it is strongly recommended not to change it. That's |
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662 because many Emacs Lisp source files that contain non-ASCII characters |
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663 are encoded in the coding system @code{iso-2022-7bit} in the Emacs |
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664 distribution, and they won't be decoded correctly when you visit those |
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665 files if you suppress the escape sequence detection. |
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666 |
25829 | 667 @vindex coding |
668 You can specify the coding system for a particular file using the | |
669 @samp{-*-@dots{}-*-} construct at the beginning of a file, or a local | |
670 variables list at the end (@pxref{File Variables}). You do this by | |
671 defining a value for the ``variable'' named @code{coding}. Emacs does | |
672 not really have a variable @code{coding}; instead of setting a variable, | |
673 it uses the specified coding system for the file. For example, | |
674 @samp{-*-mode: C; coding: latin-1;-*-} specifies use of the Latin-1 | |
675 coding system, as well as C mode. If you specify the coding explicitly | |
676 in the file, that overrides @code{file-coding-system-alist}. | |
677 | |
678 @vindex auto-coding-alist | |
679 The variable @code{auto-coding-alist} is the strongest way to specify | |
680 the coding system for certain patterns of file names; this variable even | |
681 overrides @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tags in the file itself. Emacs uses this | |
682 feature for tar and archive files, to prevent Emacs from being confused | |
683 by a @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tag in a member of the archive and thinking it | |
684 applies to the archive file as a whole. | |
685 | |
686 @vindex buffer-file-coding-system | |
687 Once Emacs has chosen a coding system for a buffer, it stores that | |
688 coding system in @code{buffer-file-coding-system} and uses that coding | |
689 system, by default, for operations that write from this buffer into a | |
690 file. This includes the commands @code{save-buffer} and | |
691 @code{write-region}. If you want to write files from this buffer using | |
692 a different coding system, you can specify a different coding system for | |
693 the buffer using @code{set-buffer-file-coding-system} (@pxref{Specify | |
694 Coding}). | |
695 | |
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696 While editing a file, you will sometimes insert characters which |
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697 cannot be encoded with the coding system stored in |
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698 @code{buffer-file-coding-system}. For example, suppose you start with |
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699 an ASCII file and insert a few Latin-1 characters into it. Or you could |
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700 edit a text file in Polish encoded in @code{iso-8859-2} and add to it |
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701 translations of several Polish words into Russian. When you save the |
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702 buffer, Emacs can no longer use the previous value of the buffer's |
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703 coding system, because the characters you added cannot be encoded by |
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704 that coding system. |
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705 |
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706 When that happens, Emacs tries the most-preferred coding system (set |
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707 by @kbd{M-x prefer-coding-system} or @kbd{M-x |
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708 set-language-environment}), and if that coding system can safely encode |
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709 all of the characters in the buffer, Emacs uses it, and stores its value |
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710 in @code{buffer-file-coding-system}. Otherwise, Emacs pops up a window |
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711 with a list of coding systems suitable for encoding the buffer, and |
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712 prompts you to choose one of those coding systems. |
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713 |
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714 If you insert characters which cannot be encoded by the buffer's |
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715 coding system while editing a mail message, Emacs behaves a bit |
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716 differently. It additionally checks whether the most-preferred coding |
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717 system is recommended for use in MIME messages; if it isn't, Emacs tells |
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718 you that the most-preferred coding system is not recommended and prompts |
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719 you for another coding system. This is so you won't inadvertently send |
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720 a message encoded in a way that your recipient's mail software will have |
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721 difficulty decoding. (If you do want to use the most-preferred coding |
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722 system, you can type its name to Emacs prompt anyway.) |
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723 |
25829 | 724 @vindex sendmail-coding-system |
725 When you send a message with Mail mode (@pxref{Sending Mail}), Emacs has | |
726 four different ways to determine the coding system to use for encoding | |
727 the message text. It tries the buffer's own value of | |
728 @code{buffer-file-coding-system}, if that is non-@code{nil}. Otherwise, | |
729 it uses the value of @code{sendmail-coding-system}, if that is | |
730 non-@code{nil}. The third way is to use the default coding system for | |
731 new files, which is controlled by your choice of language environment, | |
732 if that is non-@code{nil}. If all of these three values are @code{nil}, | |
733 Emacs encodes outgoing mail using the Latin-1 coding system. | |
734 | |
735 @vindex rmail-decode-mime-charset | |
736 When you get new mail in Rmail, each message is translated | |
737 automatically from the coding system it is written in---as if it were a | |
738 separate file. This uses the priority list of coding systems that you | |
739 have specified. If a MIME message specifies a character set, Rmail | |
740 obeys that specification, unless @code{rmail-decode-mime-charset} is | |
741 @code{nil}. | |
742 | |
743 @vindex rmail-file-coding-system | |
744 For reading and saving Rmail files themselves, Emacs uses the coding | |
745 system specified by the variable @code{rmail-file-coding-system}. The | |
746 default value is @code{nil}, which means that Rmail files are not | |
747 translated (they are read and written in the Emacs internal character | |
748 code). | |
749 | |
750 @node Specify Coding | |
751 @section Specifying a Coding System | |
752 | |
753 In cases where Emacs does not automatically choose the right coding | |
754 system, you can use these commands to specify one: | |
755 | |
756 @table @kbd | |
757 @item C-x @key{RET} f @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
758 Use coding system @var{coding} for the visited file | |
759 in the current buffer. | |
760 | |
761 @item C-x @key{RET} c @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
762 Specify coding system @var{coding} for the immediately following | |
763 command. | |
764 | |
765 @item C-x @key{RET} k @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
766 Use coding system @var{coding} for keyboard input. | |
767 | |
768 @item C-x @key{RET} t @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
769 Use coding system @var{coding} for terminal output. | |
770 | |
771 @item C-x @key{RET} p @var{input-coding} @key{RET} @var{output-coding} @key{RET} | |
772 Use coding systems @var{input-coding} and @var{output-coding} for | |
773 subprocess input and output in the current buffer. | |
774 | |
775 @item C-x @key{RET} x @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
776 Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring selections to and from | |
777 other programs through the window system. | |
778 | |
779 @item C-x @key{RET} X @var{coding} @key{RET} | |
780 Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring @emph{one} | |
781 selection---the next one---to or from the window system. | |
782 @end table | |
783 | |
784 @kindex C-x RET f | |
785 @findex set-buffer-file-coding-system | |
786 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} f} (@code{set-buffer-file-coding-system}) | |
787 specifies the file coding system for the current buffer---in other | |
788 words, which coding system to use when saving or rereading the visited | |
789 file. You specify which coding system using the minibuffer. Since this | |
790 command applies to a file you have already visited, it affects only the | |
791 way the file is saved. | |
792 | |
793 @kindex C-x RET c | |
794 @findex universal-coding-system-argument | |
795 Another way to specify the coding system for a file is when you visit | |
796 the file. First use the command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} | |
797 (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}); this command uses the | |
798 minibuffer to read a coding system name. After you exit the minibuffer, | |
799 the specified coding system is used for @emph{the immediately following | |
800 command}. | |
801 | |
802 So if the immediately following command is @kbd{C-x C-f}, for example, | |
803 it reads the file using that coding system (and records the coding | |
804 system for when the file is saved). Or if the immediately following | |
805 command is @kbd{C-x C-w}, it writes the file using that coding system. | |
806 Other file commands affected by a specified coding system include | |
807 @kbd{C-x C-i} and @kbd{C-x C-v}, as well as the other-window variants of | |
808 @kbd{C-x C-f}. | |
809 | |
810 @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} also affects commands that start subprocesses, | |
811 including @kbd{M-x shell} (@pxref{Shell}). | |
812 | |
813 However, if the immediately following command does not use the coding | |
814 system, then @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} ultimately has no effect. | |
815 | |
816 An easy way to visit a file with no conversion is with the @kbd{M-x | |
817 find-file-literally} command. @xref{Visiting}. | |
818 | |
819 @vindex default-buffer-file-coding-system | |
820 The variable @code{default-buffer-file-coding-system} specifies the | |
821 choice of coding system to use when you create a new file. It applies | |
822 when you find a new file, and when you create a buffer and then save it | |
823 in a file. Selecting a language environment typically sets this | |
824 variable to a good choice of default coding system for that language | |
825 environment. | |
826 | |
827 @kindex C-x RET t | |
828 @findex set-terminal-coding-system | |
829 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} t} (@code{set-terminal-coding-system}) | |
830 specifies the coding system for terminal output. If you specify a | |
831 character code for terminal output, all characters output to the | |
832 terminal are translated into that coding system. | |
833 | |
834 This feature is useful for certain character-only terminals built to | |
835 support specific languages or character sets---for example, European | |
836 terminals that support one of the ISO Latin character sets. You need to | |
837 specify the terminal coding system when using multibyte text, so that | |
838 Emacs knows which characters the terminal can actually handle. | |
839 | |
840 By default, output to the terminal is not translated at all, unless | |
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841 Emacs can deduce the proper coding system from your terminal type or |
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842 your locale specification (@pxref{Language Environments}). |
25829 | 843 |
844 @kindex C-x RET k | |
845 @findex set-keyboard-coding-system | |
846 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} k} (@code{set-keyboard-coding-system}) | |
847 specifies the coding system for keyboard input. Character-code | |
848 translation of keyboard input is useful for terminals with keys that | |
849 send non-ASCII graphic characters---for example, some terminals designed | |
850 for ISO Latin-1 or subsets of it. | |
851 | |
852 By default, keyboard input is not translated at all. | |
853 | |
854 There is a similarity between using a coding system translation for | |
855 keyboard input, and using an input method: both define sequences of | |
856 keyboard input that translate into single characters. However, input | |
857 methods are designed to be convenient for interactive use by humans, and | |
858 the sequences that are translated are typically sequences of ASCII | |
859 printing characters. Coding systems typically translate sequences of | |
860 non-graphic characters. | |
861 | |
862 @kindex C-x RET x | |
863 @kindex C-x RET X | |
864 @findex set-selection-coding-system | |
865 @findex set-next-selection-coding-system | |
866 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} x} (@code{set-selection-coding-system}) | |
867 specifies the coding system for sending selected text to the window | |
868 system, and for receiving the text of selections made in other | |
869 applications. This command applies to all subsequent selections, until | |
870 you override it by using the command again. The command @kbd{C-x | |
871 @key{RET} X} (@code{set-next-selection-coding-system}) specifies the | |
872 coding system for the next selection made in Emacs or read by Emacs. | |
873 | |
874 @kindex C-x RET p | |
875 @findex set-buffer-process-coding-system | |
876 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} p} (@code{set-buffer-process-coding-system}) | |
877 specifies the coding system for input and output to a subprocess. This | |
878 command applies to the current buffer; normally, each subprocess has its | |
879 own buffer, and thus you can use this command to specify translation to | |
880 and from a particular subprocess by giving the command in the | |
881 corresponding buffer. | |
882 | |
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883 The default for translation of process input and output depends on the |
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884 current language environment. |
25829 | 885 |
886 @vindex file-name-coding-system | |
887 The variable @code{file-name-coding-system} specifies a coding system | |
888 to use for encoding file names. If you set the variable to a coding | |
889 system name (as a Lisp symbol or a string), Emacs encodes file names | |
890 using that coding system for all file operations. This makes it | |
891 possible to use non-ASCII characters in file names---or, at least, those | |
892 non-ASCII characters which the specified coding system can encode. | |
893 | |
894 If @code{file-name-coding-system} is @code{nil}, Emacs uses a default | |
895 coding system determined by the selected language environment. In the | |
896 default language environment, any non-ASCII characters in file names are | |
897 not encoded specially; they appear in the file system using the internal | |
898 Emacs representation. | |
899 | |
900 @strong{Warning:} if you change @code{file-name-coding-system} (or the | |
901 language environment) in the middle of an Emacs session, problems can | |
902 result if you have already visited files whose names were encoded using | |
903 the earlier coding system and cannot be encoded (or are encoded | |
904 differently) under the new coding system. If you try to save one of | |
905 these buffers under the visited file name, saving may use the wrong file | |
906 name, or it may get an error. If such a problem happens, use @kbd{C-x | |
907 C-w} to specify a new file name for that buffer. | |
908 | |
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909 @vindex locale-coding-system |
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910 The variable @code{locale-coding-system} specifies a coding system to |
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911 use when encoding and decoding system strings such as system error |
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912 messages and @code{format-time-string} formats and time stamps. This |
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913 coding system should be compatible with the underlying system's coding |
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914 system, which is normally specified by the first environment variable in |
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915 the list @env{LC_ALL}, @env{LC_CTYPE}, @env{LANG} whose value is |
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916 nonempty. |
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917 |
25829 | 918 @node Fontsets |
919 @section Fontsets | |
920 @cindex fontsets | |
921 | |
922 A font for X Windows typically defines shapes for one alphabet or | |
923 script. Therefore, displaying the entire range of scripts that Emacs | |
924 supports requires a collection of many fonts. In Emacs, such a | |
925 collection is called a @dfn{fontset}. A fontset is defined by a list of | |
926 fonts, each assigned to handle a range of character codes. | |
927 | |
928 Each fontset has a name, like a font. The available X fonts are | |
929 defined by the X server; fontsets, however, are defined within Emacs | |
930 itself. Once you have defined a fontset, you can use it within Emacs by | |
931 specifying its name, anywhere that you could use a single font. Of | |
932 course, Emacs fontsets can use only the fonts that the X server | |
933 supports; if certain characters appear on the screen as hollow boxes, | |
934 this means that the fontset in use for them has no font for those | |
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935 characters.@footnote{The installation instructions have information on |
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936 additional font support.} |
25829 | 937 |
938 Emacs creates two fontsets automatically: the @dfn{standard fontset} | |
939 and the @dfn{startup fontset}. The standard fontset is most likely to | |
940 have fonts for a wide variety of non-ASCII characters; however, this is | |
941 not the default for Emacs to use. (By default, Emacs tries to find a | |
942 font which has bold and italic variants.) You can specify use of the | |
943 standard fontset with the @samp{-fn} option, or with the @samp{Font} X | |
944 resource (@pxref{Font X}). For example, | |
945 | |
946 @example | |
947 emacs -fn fontset-standard | |
948 @end example | |
949 | |
950 A fontset does not necessarily specify a font for every character | |
951 code. If a fontset specifies no font for a certain character, or if it | |
952 specifies a font that does not exist on your system, then it cannot | |
953 display that character properly. It will display that character as an | |
954 empty box instead. | |
955 | |
956 @vindex highlight-wrong-size-font | |
957 The fontset height and width are determined by the ASCII characters | |
958 (that is, by the font used for ASCII characters in that fontset). If | |
959 another font in the fontset has a different height, or a different | |
960 width, then characters assigned to that font are clipped to the | |
961 fontset's size. If @code{highlight-wrong-size-font} is non-@code{nil}, | |
962 a box is displayed around these wrong-size characters as well. | |
963 | |
964 @node Defining Fontsets | |
965 @section Defining fontsets | |
966 | |
967 @vindex standard-fontset-spec | |
968 @cindex standard fontset | |
969 Emacs creates a standard fontset automatically according to the value | |
970 of @code{standard-fontset-spec}. This fontset's name is | |
971 | |
972 @example | |
973 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-16-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-standard | |
974 @end example | |
975 | |
976 @noindent | |
977 or just @samp{fontset-standard} for short. | |
978 | |
979 Bold, italic, and bold-italic variants of the standard fontset are | |
980 created automatically. Their names have @samp{bold} instead of | |
981 @samp{medium}, or @samp{i} instead of @samp{r}, or both. | |
982 | |
983 @cindex startup fontset | |
984 If you specify a default ASCII font with the @samp{Font} resource or | |
985 the @samp{-fn} argument, Emacs generates a fontset from it | |
986 automatically. This is the @dfn{startup fontset} and its name is | |
987 @code{fontset-startup}. It does this by replacing the @var{foundry}, | |
988 @var{family}, @var{add_style}, and @var{average_width} fields of the | |
989 font name with @samp{*}, replacing @var{charset_registry} field with | |
990 @samp{fontset}, and replacing @var{charset_encoding} field with | |
991 @samp{startup}, then using the resulting string to specify a fontset. | |
992 | |
993 For instance, if you start Emacs this way, | |
994 | |
995 @example | |
996 emacs -fn "*courier-medium-r-normal--14-140-*-iso8859-1" | |
997 @end example | |
998 | |
999 @noindent | |
1000 Emacs generates the following fontset and uses it for the initial X | |
1001 window frame: | |
1002 | |
1003 @example | |
1004 -*-*-medium-r-normal-*-14-140-*-*-*-*-fontset-startup | |
1005 @end example | |
1006 | |
1007 With the X resource @samp{Emacs.Font}, you can specify a fontset name | |
1008 just like an actual font name. But be careful not to specify a fontset | |
1009 name in a wildcard resource like @samp{Emacs*Font}---that wildcard | |
1010 specification applies to various other purposes, such as menus, and | |
1011 menus cannot handle fontsets. | |
1012 | |
1013 You can specify additional fontsets using X resources named | |
1014 @samp{Fontset-@var{n}}, where @var{n} is an integer starting from 0. | |
1015 The resource value should have this form: | |
1016 | |
1017 @smallexample | |
1018 @var{fontpattern}, @r{[}@var{charsetname}:@var{fontname}@r{]@dots{}} | |
1019 @end smallexample | |
1020 | |
1021 @noindent | |
1022 @var{fontpattern} should have the form of a standard X font name, except | |
1023 for the last two fields. They should have the form | |
1024 @samp{fontset-@var{alias}}. | |
1025 | |
1026 The fontset has two names, one long and one short. The long name is | |
1027 @var{fontpattern}. The short name is @samp{fontset-@var{alias}}. You | |
1028 can refer to the fontset by either name. | |
1029 | |
1030 The construct @samp{@var{charset}:@var{font}} specifies which font to | |
1031 use (in this fontset) for one particular character set. Here, | |
1032 @var{charset} is the name of a character set, and @var{font} is the | |
1033 font to use for that character set. You can use this construct any | |
1034 number of times in defining one fontset. | |
1035 | |
1036 For the other character sets, Emacs chooses a font based on | |
1037 @var{fontpattern}. It replaces @samp{fontset-@var{alias}} with values | |
1038 that describe the character set. For the ASCII character font, | |
1039 @samp{fontset-@var{alias}} is replaced with @samp{ISO8859-1}. | |
1040 | |
1041 In addition, when several consecutive fields are wildcards, Emacs | |
1042 collapses them into a single wildcard. This is to prevent use of | |
1043 auto-scaled fonts. Fonts made by scaling larger fonts are not usable | |
1044 for editing, and scaling a smaller font is not useful because it is | |
1045 better to use the smaller font in its own size, which Emacs does. | |
1046 | |
1047 Thus if @var{fontpattern} is this, | |
1048 | |
1049 @example | |
1050 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24 | |
1051 @end example | |
1052 | |
1053 @noindent | |
1054 the font specification for ASCII characters would be this: | |
1055 | |
1056 @example | |
1057 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-ISO8859-1 | |
1058 @end example | |
1059 | |
1060 @noindent | |
1061 and the font specification for Chinese GB2312 characters would be this: | |
1062 | |
1063 @example | |
1064 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-gb2312*-* | |
1065 @end example | |
1066 | |
1067 You may not have any Chinese font matching the above font | |
1068 specification. Most X distributions include only Chinese fonts that | |
1069 have @samp{song ti} or @samp{fangsong ti} in @var{family} field. In | |
1070 such a case, @samp{Fontset-@var{n}} can be specified as below: | |
1071 | |
1072 @smallexample | |
1073 Emacs.Fontset-0: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24,\ | |
1074 chinese-gb2312:-*-*-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-gb2312*-* | |
1075 @end smallexample | |
1076 | |
1077 @noindent | |
1078 Then, the font specifications for all but Chinese GB2312 characters have | |
1079 @samp{fixed} in the @var{family} field, and the font specification for | |
1080 Chinese GB2312 characters has a wild card @samp{*} in the @var{family} | |
1081 field. | |
1082 | |
1083 @findex create-fontset-from-fontset-spec | |
1084 The function that processes the fontset resource value to create the | |
1085 fontset is called @code{create-fontset-from-fontset-spec}. You can also | |
1086 call this function explicitly to create a fontset. | |
1087 | |
1088 @xref{Font X}, for more information about font naming in X. | |
1089 | |
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1090 @node Undisplayable Characters |
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1091 @section Undisplayable Characters |
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1092 |
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1093 Your terminal may not be able to display some non-@sc{ascii} characters. |
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1094 Most non-windowing terminals can only use a single character set, |
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1095 specified by the variable @code{default-terminal-coding-system} |
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1096 (@pxref{Specify Coding}) and characters which can't be encoded in it are |
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1097 displayed as @samp{?} by default. Windowing terminals may not have the |
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1098 necessary font available to display a given character and display a |
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1099 hollow box instead. You can change the default behavior. |
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1100 |
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1101 If you use Latin-1 characters but your terminal can't display Latin-1, |
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1102 you can arrange to display mnemonic @sc{ascii} sequences instead, e.g.@: |
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1103 @samp{"o} for o-umlaut. Load the library @file{iso-ascii} to do this. |
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1104 |
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1105 If your terminal can display Latin-1, you can display characters from |
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1106 other European character sets using a mixture of equivalent Latin-1 |
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1107 characters and @sc{ascii} mnemonics. Use the Custom option |
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1108 @code{latin1-display} to enable this. The mnemonic @sc{ascii} sequences |
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1109 mostly correspond to those of the prefix input methods. |
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1110 |
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1111 @node Single-Byte Character Support |
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1112 @section Single-byte Character Set Support |
25829 | 1113 |
1114 @cindex European character sets | |
1115 @cindex accented characters | |
1116 @cindex ISO Latin character sets | |
1117 @cindex Unibyte operation | |
1118 @vindex enable-multibyte-characters | |
1119 The ISO 8859 Latin-@var{n} character sets define character codes in | |
1120 the range 160 to 255 to handle the accented letters and punctuation | |
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1121 needed by various European languages (and some non-European ones). |
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1122 If you disable multibyte |
25829 | 1123 characters, Emacs can still handle @emph{one} of these character codes |
1124 at a time. To specify @emph{which} of these codes to use, invoke | |
1125 @kbd{M-x set-language-environment} and specify a suitable language | |
1126 environment such as @samp{Latin-@var{n}}. | |
1127 | |
1128 For more information about unibyte operation, see @ref{Enabling | |
1129 Multibyte}. Note particularly that you probably want to ensure that | |
1130 your initialization files are read as unibyte if they contain non-ASCII | |
1131 characters. | |
1132 | |
1133 @vindex unibyte-display-via-language-environment | |
1134 Emacs can also display those characters, provided the terminal or font | |
1135 in use supports them. This works automatically. Alternatively, if you | |
1136 are using a window system, Emacs can also display single-byte characters | |
1137 through fontsets, in effect by displaying the equivalent multibyte | |
1138 characters according to the current language environment. To request | |
1139 this, set the variable @code{unibyte-display-via-language-environment} | |
1140 to a non-@code{nil} value. | |
1141 | |
1142 @cindex @code{iso-ascii} library | |
1143 If your terminal does not support display of the Latin-1 character | |
1144 set, Emacs can display these characters as ASCII sequences which at | |
1145 least give you a clear idea of what the characters are. To do this, | |
1146 load the library @code{iso-ascii}. Similar libraries for other | |
1147 Latin-@var{n} character sets could be implemented, but we don't have | |
1148 them yet. | |
1149 | |
1150 @findex standard-display-8bit | |
1151 @cindex 8-bit display | |
1152 Normally non-ISO-8859 characters (between characters 128 and 159 | |
1153 inclusive) are displayed as octal escapes. You can change this for | |
1154 non-standard `extended' versions of ISO-8859 character sets by using the | |
1155 function @code{standard-display-8bit} in the @code{disp-table} library. | |
1156 | |
28552 | 1157 There are several ways you can input single-byte non-ASCII |
25829 | 1158 characters: |
1159 | |
1160 @itemize @bullet | |
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1161 @cindex 8-bit input |
25829 | 1162 @item |
1163 If your keyboard can generate character codes 128 and up, representing | |
31077 | 1164 non-ASCII characters, you can execute the following expression to enable |
1165 Emacs to understand them: | |
25829 | 1166 |
1167 @example | |
1168 (set-input-mode (car (current-input-mode)) | |
1169 (nth 1 (current-input-mode)) | |
1170 0) | |
1171 @end example | |
1172 | |
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1173 It is not necessary to do this under a window system which can |
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1174 distinguish 8-bit characters and Meta keys. If you do this on a normal |
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1175 terminal, you will probably need to use @kbd{ESC} to type Meta |
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1176 characters.@footnote{In some cases, such as the Linux console and |
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1177 @code{xterm}, you can arrange for Meta to be converted to @kbd{ESC} and |
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1178 still be able type 8-bit characters present directly on the keyboard or |
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1179 using @kbd{Compose} or @kbd{AltGr} keys.} @xref{User Input}. |
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1180 |
25829 | 1181 @item |
1182 You can use an input method for the selected language environment. | |
1183 @xref{Input Methods}. When you use an input method in a unibyte buffer, | |
1184 the non-ASCII character you specify with it is converted to unibyte. | |
1185 | |
1186 @kindex C-x 8 | |
1187 @cindex @code{iso-transl} library | |
31077 | 1188 @cindex compose character |
1189 @cindex dead character | |
25829 | 1190 @item |
1191 For Latin-1 only, you can use the | |
1192 key @kbd{C-x 8} as a ``compose character'' prefix for entry of | |
1193 non-ASCII Latin-1 printing characters. @kbd{C-x 8} is good for | |
1194 insertion (in the minibuffer as well as other buffers), for searching, | |
1195 and in any other context where a key sequence is allowed. | |
1196 | |
1197 @kbd{C-x 8} works by loading the @code{iso-transl} library. Once that | |
1198 library is loaded, the @key{ALT} modifier key, if you have one, serves | |
1199 the same purpose as @kbd{C-x 8}; use @key{ALT} together with an accent | |
1200 character to modify the following letter. In addition, if you have keys | |
1201 for the Latin-1 ``dead accent characters'', they too are defined to | |
1202 compose with the following character, once @code{iso-transl} is loaded. | |
28552 | 1203 Use @kbd{C-x 8 C-h} to list the available translations as mnemonic |
1204 command names. | |
1205 | |
31077 | 1206 @item |
28552 | 1207 @cindex @code{iso-acc} library |
31077 | 1208 @cindex ISO Accents mode |
1209 @findex iso-accents-mode | |
31280
55ce1d116cc7
(Single-Byte Character Support): Modify iso-accents-mode index entry.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents:
31277
diff
changeset
|
1210 @cindex Latin-1, Latin-2 and Latin-3 input mode |
31204 | 1211 For Latin-1, Latin-2 and Latin-3, @kbd{M-x iso-accents-mode} installs a |
1212 minor mode which provides a facility like the @code{latin-1-prefix} | |
1213 input method but independent of the Leim package. This mode is | |
31205 | 1214 buffer-local. It can be customized for various languages with @kbd{M-x |
31257
790050caa073
Remove unbalanced brace at the end of the file.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents:
31205
diff
changeset
|
1215 iso-accents-customize}. |
25829 | 1216 @end itemize |