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author | Dave Love <fx@gnu.org> |
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date | Tue, 19 Oct 1999 18:27:39 +0000 |
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@c This is part of the Emacs manual. @c Copyright (C) 1997, 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc. @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions. @node International, Major Modes, Frames, Top @chapter International Character Set Support @cindex MULE @cindex international scripts @cindex multibyte characters @cindex encoding of characters @cindex Chinese @cindex Devanagari @cindex Hindi @cindex Marathi @cindex Ethiopian @cindex Greek @cindex IPA @cindex Japanese @cindex Korean @cindex Lao @cindex Russian @cindex Thai @cindex Tibetan @cindex Vietnamese Emacs supports a wide variety of international character sets, including European variants of the Latin alphabet, as well as Chinese, Devanagari (Hindi and Marathi), Ethiopian, Greek, IPA, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Russian, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese scripts. These features have been merged from the modified version of Emacs known as MULE (for ``MULti-lingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs'') @menu * International Intro:: Basic concepts of multibyte characters. * Enabling Multibyte:: Controlling whether to use multibyte characters. * Language Environments:: Setting things up for the language you use. * Input Methods:: Entering text characters not on your keyboard. * Select Input Method:: Specifying your choice of input methods. * Multibyte Conversion:: How single-byte characters convert to multibyte. * Coding Systems:: Character set conversion when you read and write files, and so on. * Recognize Coding:: How Emacs figures out which conversion to use. * Specify Coding:: Various ways to choose which conversion to use. * Fontsets:: Fontsets are collections of fonts that cover the whole spectrum of characters. * Defining Fontsets:: Defining a new fontset. * Single-Byte European Support:: You can pick one European character set to use without multibyte characters. @end menu @node International Intro @section Introduction to International Character Sets The users of these scripts have established many more-or-less standard coding systems for storing files. Emacs internally uses a single multibyte character encoding, so that it can intermix characters from all these scripts in a single buffer or string. This encoding represents each non-ASCII character as a sequence of bytes in the range 0200 through 0377. Emacs translates between the multibyte character encoding and various other coding systems when reading and writing files, when exchanging data with subprocesses, and (in some cases) in the @kbd{C-q} command (@pxref{Multibyte Conversion}). @kindex C-h h @findex view-hello-file The command @kbd{C-h h} (@code{view-hello-file}) displays the file @file{etc/HELLO}, which shows how to say ``hello'' in many languages. This illustrates various scripts. Keyboards, even in the countries where these character sets are used, generally don't have keys for all the characters in them. So Emacs supports various @dfn{input methods}, typically one for each script or language, to make it convenient to type them. @kindex C-x RET The prefix key @kbd{C-x @key{RET}} is used for commands that pertain to multibyte characters, coding systems, and input methods. @node Enabling Multibyte @section Enabling Multibyte Characters You can enable or disable multibyte character support, either for Emacs as a whole, or for a single buffer. When multibyte characters are disabled in a buffer, then each byte in that buffer represents a character, even codes 0200 through 0377. The old features for supporting the European character sets, ISO Latin-1 and ISO Latin-2, work as they did in Emacs 19 and also work for the other ISO 8859 character sets. However, there is no need to turn off multibyte character support to use ISO Latin; the Emacs multibyte character set includes all the characters in these character sets, and Emacs can translate automatically to and from the ISO codes. To edit a particular file in unibyte representation, visit it using @code{find-file-literally}. @xref{Visiting}. To convert a buffer in multibyte representation into a single-byte representation of the same characters, the easiest way is to save the contents in a file, kill the buffer, and find the file again with @code{find-file-literally}. You can also use @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}) and specify @samp{raw-text} as the coding system with which to find or save a file. @xref{Specify Coding}. Finding a file as @samp{raw-text} doesn't disable format conversion, uncompression and auto mode selection as @code{find-file-literally} does. @vindex enable-multibyte-characters @vindex default-enable-multibyte-characters To turn off multibyte character support by default, start Emacs with the @samp{--unibyte} option (@pxref{Initial Options}), or set the environment variable @samp{EMACS_UNIBYTE}. You can also customize @code{enable-multibyte-characters} or, equivalently, directly set the variable @code{default-enable-multibyte-characters} in your init file to have basically the same effect as @samp{--unibyte}. Multibyte strings are not created during initialization from the values of environment variables, @file{/etc/passwd} entries etc.@: that contain non-ASCII 8-bit characters. However, the initialization file is normally read as multibyte---like Lisp files in general---even with @samp{--unibyte}. To avoid multibyte strings being generated by non-ASCII characters in it, put @samp{-*-unibyte: t;-*-} in a comment on the first line. Do the same for initialization files for packages like Gnus. The mode line indicates whether multibyte character support is enabled in the current buffer. If it is, there are two or more characters (most often two dashes) before the colon near the beginning of the mode line. When multibyte characters are not enabled, just one dash precedes the colon. @node Language Environments @section Language Environments @cindex language environments All supported character sets are supported in Emacs buffers whenever multibyte characters are enabled; there is no need to select a particular language in order to display its characters in an Emacs buffer. However, it is important to select a @dfn{language environment} in order to set various defaults. The language environment really represents a choice of preferred script (more or less) rather than a choice of language. The language environment controls which coding systems to recognize when reading text (@pxref{Recognize Coding}). This applies to files, incoming mail, netnews, and any other text you read into Emacs. It may also specify the default coding system to use when you create a file. Each language environment also specifies a default input method. @findex set-language-environment The way to select a language environment is with the command @kbd{M-x set-language-environment}. It makes no difference which buffer is current when you use this command, because the effects apply globally to the Emacs session. The supported language environments include: @quotation Chinese-BIG5, Chinese-CNS, Chinese-GB, Cyrillic-Alternativnyj, Cyrillic-ISO, Cyrillic-KOI8, Devanagari, English, Ethiopic, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Latin-1, Latin-2, Latin-3, Latin-4, Latin-5, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese. @end quotation Some operating systems let you specify the language you are using by setting locale environment variables. Emacs handles one common special case of this: if your locale name for character types contains the string @samp{8859-@var{n}}, Emacs automatically selects the corresponding language environment. @kindex C-h L @findex describe-language-environment To display information about the effects of a certain language environment @var{lang-env}, use the command @kbd{C-h L @var{lang-env} @key{RET}} (@code{describe-language-environment}). This tells you which languages this language environment is useful for, and lists the character sets, coding systems, and input methods that go with it. It also shows some sample text to illustrate scripts used in this language environment. By default, this command describes the chosen language environment. @vindex set-language-environment-hook You can customize any language environment with the normal hook @code{set-language-environment-hook}. The command @code{set-language-environment} runs that hook after setting up the new language environment. The hook functions can test for a specific language environment by checking the variable @code{current-language-environment}. @vindex exit-language-environment-hook Before it starts to set up the new language environment, @code{set-language-environment} first runs the hook @code{exit-language-environment-hook}. This hook is useful for undoing customizations that were made with @code{set-language-environment-hook}. For instance, if you set up a special key binding in a specific language environment using @code{set-language-environment-hook}, you should set up @code{exit-language-environment-hook} to restore the normal binding for that key. @node Input Methods @section Input Methods @cindex input methods An @dfn{input method} is a kind of character conversion designed specifically for interactive input. In Emacs, typically each language has its own input method; sometimes several languages which use the same characters can share one input method. A few languages support several input methods. The simplest kind of input method works by mapping ASCII letters into another alphabet. This is how the Greek and Russian input methods work. A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of characters into one letter. Many European input methods use composition to produce a single non-ASCII letter from a sequence that consists of a letter followed by accent characters (or vice versa). For example, some methods convert the sequence @kbd{a'} into a single accented letter. These input methods have no special commands of their own; all they do is compose sequences of printing characters. The input methods for syllabic scripts typically use mapping followed by composition. The input methods for Thai and Korean work this way. First, letters are mapped into symbols for particular sounds or tone marks; then, sequences of these which make up a whole syllable are mapped into one syllable sign. Chinese and Japanese require more complex methods. In Chinese input methods, first you enter the phonetic spelling of a Chinese word (in input method @code{chinese-py}, among others), or a sequence of portions of the character (input methods @code{chinese-4corner} and @code{chinese-sw}, and others). Since one phonetic spelling typically corresponds to many different Chinese characters, you must select one of the alternatives using special Emacs commands. Keys such as @kbd{C-f}, @kbd{C-b}, @kbd{C-n}, @kbd{C-p}, and digits have special definitions in this situation, used for selecting among the alternatives. @key{TAB} displays a buffer showing all the possibilities. In Japanese input methods, first you input a whole word using phonetic spelling; then, after the word is in the buffer, Emacs converts it into one or more characters using a large dictionary. One phonetic spelling corresponds to many differently written Japanese words, so you must select one of them; use @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} to cycle through the alternatives. Sometimes it is useful to cut off input method processing so that the characters you have just entered will not combine with subsequent characters. For example, in input method @code{latin-1-postfix}, the sequence @kbd{e '} combines to form an @samp{e} with an accent. What if you want to enter them as separate characters? One way is to type the accent twice; that is a special feature for entering the separate letter and accent. For example, @kbd{e ' '} gives you the two characters @samp{e'}. Another way is to type another letter after the @kbd{e}---something that won't combine with that---and immediately delete it. For example, you could type @kbd{e e @key{DEL} '} to get separate @samp{e} and @samp{'}. Another method, more general but not quite as easy to type, is to use @kbd{C-\ C-\} between two characters to stop them from combining. This is the command @kbd{C-\} (@code{toggle-input-method}) used twice. @ifinfo @xref{Select Input Method}. @end ifinfo @kbd{C-\ C-\} is especially useful inside an incremental search, because it stops waiting for more characters to combine, and starts searching for what you have already entered. @vindex input-method-verbose-flag @vindex input-method-highlight-flag The variables @code{input-method-highlight-flag} and @code{input-method-verbose-flag} control how input methods explain what is happening. If @code{input-method-highlight-flag} is non-@code{nil}, the partial sequence is highlighted in the buffer. If @code{input-method-verbose-flag} is non-@code{nil}, the list of possible characters to type next is displayed in the echo area (but not when you are in the minibuffer). @node Select Input Method @section Selecting an Input Method @table @kbd @item C-\ Enable or disable use of the selected input method. @item C-x @key{RET} C-\ @var{method} @key{RET} Select a new input method for the current buffer. @item C-h I @var{method} @key{RET} @itemx C-h C-\ @var{method} @key{RET} @findex describe-input-method @kindex C-h I @kindex C-h C-\ Describe the input method @var{method} (@code{describe-input-method}). By default, it describes the current input method (if any). This description should give you the full details of how to use any particular input method. @item M-x list-input-methods Display a list of all the supported input methods. @end table @findex set-input-method @vindex current-input-method @kindex C-x RET C-\ To choose an input method for the current buffer, use @kbd{C-x @key{RET} C-\} (@code{set-input-method}). This command reads the input method name with the minibuffer; the name normally starts with the language environment that it is meant to be used with. The variable @code{current-input-method} records which input method is selected. @findex toggle-input-method @kindex C-\ Input methods use various sequences of ASCII characters to stand for non-ASCII characters. Sometimes it is useful to turn off the input method temporarily. To do this, type @kbd{C-\} (@code{toggle-input-method}). To reenable the input method, type @kbd{C-\} again. If you type @kbd{C-\} and you have not yet selected an input method, it prompts for you to specify one. This has the same effect as using @kbd{C-x @key{RET} C-\} to specify an input method. @vindex default-input-method Selecting a language environment specifies a default input method for use in various buffers. When you have a default input method, you can select it in the current buffer by typing @kbd{C-\}. The variable @code{default-input-method} specifies the default input method (@code{nil} means there is none). @findex quail-set-keyboard-layout Some input methods for alphabetic scripts work by (in effect) remapping the keyboard to emulate various keyboard layouts commonly used for those scripts. How to do this remapping properly depends on your actual keyboard layout. To specify which layout your keyboard has, use the command @kbd{M-x quail-set-keyboard-layout}. @findex list-input-methods To display a list of all the supported input methods, type @kbd{M-x list-input-methods}. The list gives information about each input method, including the string that stands for it in the mode line. @node Multibyte Conversion @section Unibyte and Multibyte Non-ASCII characters When multibyte characters are enabled, character codes 0240 (octal) through 0377 (octal) are not really legitimate in the buffer. The valid non-ASCII printing characters have codes that start from 0400. If you type a self-inserting character in the invalid range 0240 through 0377, Emacs assumes you intended to use one of the ISO Latin-@var{n} character sets, and converts it to the Emacs code representing that Latin-@var{n} character. You select @emph{which} ISO Latin character set to use through your choice of language environment @iftex (see above). @end iftex @ifinfo (@pxref{Language Environments}). @end ifinfo If you do not specify a choice, the default is Latin-1. The same thing happens when you use @kbd{C-q} to enter an octal code in this range. @node Coding Systems @section Coding Systems @cindex coding systems Users of various languages have established many more-or-less standard coding systems for representing them. Emacs does not use these coding systems internally; instead, it converts from various coding systems to its own system when reading data, and converts the internal coding system to other coding systems when writing data. Conversion is possible in reading or writing files, in sending or receiving from the terminal, and in exchanging data with subprocesses. Emacs assigns a name to each coding system. Most coding systems are used for one language, and the name of the coding system starts with the language name. Some coding systems are used for several languages; their names usually start with @samp{iso}. There are also special coding systems @code{no-conversion}, @code{raw-text} and @code{emacs-mule} which do not convert printing characters at all. @cindex end-of-line conversion In addition to converting various representations of non-ASCII characters, a coding system can perform end-of-line conversion. Emacs handles three different conventions for how to separate lines in a file: newline, carriage-return linefeed, and just carriage-return. @table @kbd @item C-h C @var{coding} @key{RET} Describe coding system @var{coding}. @item C-h C @key{RET} Describe the coding systems currently in use. @item M-x list-coding-systems Display a list of all the supported coding systems. @end table @kindex C-h C @findex describe-coding-system The command @kbd{C-h C} (@code{describe-coding-system}) displays information about particular coding systems. You can specify a coding system name as argument; alternatively, with an empty argument, it describes the coding systems currently selected for various purposes, both in the current buffer and as the defaults, and the priority list for recognizing coding systems (@pxref{Recognize Coding}). @findex list-coding-systems To display a list of all the supported coding systems, type @kbd{M-x list-coding-systems}. The list gives information about each coding system, including the letter that stands for it in the mode line (@pxref{Mode Line}). @cindex end-of-line conversion @cindex MS-DOS end-of-line conversion @cindex Macintosh end-of-line conversion Each of the coding systems that appear in this list---except for @code{no-conversion}, which means no conversion of any kind---specifies how and whether to convert printing characters, but leaves the choice of end-of-line conversion to be decided based on the contents of each file. For example, if the file appears to use the sequence carriage-return linefeed to separate lines, DOS end-of-line conversion will be used. Each of the listed coding systems has three variants which specify exactly what to do for end-of-line conversion: @table @code @item @dots{}-unix Don't do any end-of-line conversion; assume the file uses newline to separate lines. (This is the convention normally used on Unix and GNU systems.) @item @dots{}-dos Assume the file uses carriage-return linefeed to separate lines, and do the appropriate conversion. (This is the convention normally used on Microsoft systems.@footnote{It is also specified for MIME `text/*' bodies and in other network transport contexts. It is different from the SGML reference syntax record-start/record-end format which Emacs doesn't support directly.}) @item @dots{}-mac Assume the file uses carriage-return to separate lines, and do the appropriate conversion. (This is the convention normally used on the Macintosh system.) @end table These variant coding systems are omitted from the @code{list-coding-systems} display for brevity, since they are entirely predictable. For example, the coding system @code{iso-latin-1} has variants @code{iso-latin-1-unix}, @code{iso-latin-1-dos} and @code{iso-latin-1-mac}. The coding system @code{raw-text} is good for a file which is mainly ASCII text, but may contain byte values above 127 which are not meant to encode non-ASCII characters. With @code{raw-text}, Emacs copies those byte values unchanged, and sets @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{nil} in the current buffer so that they will be interpreted properly. @code{raw-text} handles end-of-line conversion in the usual way, based on the data encountered, and has the usual three variants to specify the kind of end-of-line conversion to use. In contrast, the coding system @code{no-conversion} specifies no character code conversion at all---none for non-ASCII byte values and none for end of line. This is useful for reading or writing binary files, tar files, and other files that must be examined verbatim. It, too, sets @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{nil}. The easiest way to edit a file with no conversion of any kind is with the @kbd{M-x find-file-literally} command. This uses @code{no-conversion}, and also suppresses other Emacs features that might convert the file contents before you see them. @xref{Visiting}. The coding system @code{emacs-mule} means that the file contains non-ASCII characters stored with the internal Emacs encoding. It handles end-of-line conversion based on the data encountered, and has the usual three variants to specify the kind of end-of-line conversion. @node Recognize Coding @section Recognizing Coding Systems Most of the time, Emacs can recognize which coding system to use for any given file---once you have specified your preferences. Some coding systems can be recognized or distinguished by which byte sequences appear in the data. However, there are coding systems that cannot be distinguished, not even potentially. For example, there is no way to distinguish between Latin-1 and Latin-2; they use the same byte values with different meanings. Emacs handles this situation by means of a priority list of coding systems. Whenever Emacs reads a file, if you do not specify the coding system to use, Emacs checks the data against each coding system, starting with the first in priority and working down the list, until it finds a coding system that fits the data. Then it converts the file contents assuming that they are represented in this coding system. The priority list of coding systems depends on the selected language environment (@pxref{Language Environments}). For example, if you use French, you probably want Emacs to prefer Latin-1 to Latin-2; if you use Czech, you probably want Latin-2 to be preferred. This is one of the reasons to specify a language environment. @findex prefer-coding-system However, you can alter the priority list in detail with the command @kbd{M-x prefer-coding-system}. This command reads the name of a coding system from the minibuffer, and adds it to the front of the priority list, so that it is preferred to all others. If you use this command several times, each use adds one element to the front of the priority list. If you use a coding system that specifies the end-of-line conversion type, such as @code{iso-8859-1-dos}, what that means is that Emacs should attempt to recognize @code{iso-8859-1} with priority, and should use DOS end-of-line conversion in case it recognizes @code{iso-8859-1}. @vindex file-coding-system-alist Sometimes a file name indicates which coding system to use for the file. The variable @code{file-coding-system-alist} specifies this correspondence. There is a special function @code{modify-coding-system-alist} for adding elements to this list. For example, to read and write all @samp{.txt} files using the coding system @code{china-iso-8bit}, you can execute this Lisp expression: @smallexample (modify-coding-system-alist 'file "\\.txt\\'" 'china-iso-8bit) @end smallexample @noindent The first argument should be @code{file}, the second argument should be a regular expression that determines which files this applies to, and the third argument says which coding system to use for these files. @vindex inhibit-eol-conversion Emacs recognizes which kind of end-of-line conversion to use based on the contents of the file: if it sees only carriage-returns, or only carriage-return linefeed sequences, then it chooses the end-of-line conversion accordingly. You can inhibit the automatic use of end-of-line conversion by setting the variable @code{inhibit-eol-conversion} to non-@code{nil}. @vindex coding You can specify the coding system for a particular file using the @samp{-*-@dots{}-*-} construct at the beginning of a file, or a local variables list at the end (@pxref{File Variables}). You do this by defining a value for the ``variable'' named @code{coding}. Emacs does not really have a variable @code{coding}; instead of setting a variable, it uses the specified coding system for the file. For example, @samp{-*-mode: C; coding: latin-1;-*-} specifies use of the Latin-1 coding system, as well as C mode. If you specify the coding explicitly in the file, that overrides @code{file-coding-system-alist}. @vindex auto-coding-alist The variable @code{auto-coding-alist} is the strongest way to specify the coding system for certain patterns of file names; this variable even overrides @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tags in the file itself. Emacs uses this feature for tar and archive files, to prevent Emacs from being confused by a @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tag in a member of the archive and thinking it applies to the archive file as a whole. @vindex buffer-file-coding-system Once Emacs has chosen a coding system for a buffer, it stores that coding system in @code{buffer-file-coding-system} and uses that coding system, by default, for operations that write from this buffer into a file. This includes the commands @code{save-buffer} and @code{write-region}. If you want to write files from this buffer using a different coding system, you can specify a different coding system for the buffer using @code{set-buffer-file-coding-system} (@pxref{Specify Coding}). @vindex sendmail-coding-system When you send a message with Mail mode (@pxref{Sending Mail}), Emacs has four different ways to determine the coding system to use for encoding the message text. It tries the buffer's own value of @code{buffer-file-coding-system}, if that is non-@code{nil}. Otherwise, it uses the value of @code{sendmail-coding-system}, if that is non-@code{nil}. The third way is to use the default coding system for new files, which is controlled by your choice of language environment, if that is non-@code{nil}. If all of these three values are @code{nil}, Emacs encodes outgoing mail using the Latin-1 coding system. @vindex rmail-decode-mime-charset When you get new mail in Rmail, each message is translated automatically from the coding system it is written in---as if it were a separate file. This uses the priority list of coding systems that you have specified. If a MIME message specifies a character set, Rmail obeys that specification, unless @code{rmail-decode-mime-charset} is @code{nil}. @vindex rmail-file-coding-system For reading and saving Rmail files themselves, Emacs uses the coding system specified by the variable @code{rmail-file-coding-system}. The default value is @code{nil}, which means that Rmail files are not translated (they are read and written in the Emacs internal character code). @node Specify Coding @section Specifying a Coding System In cases where Emacs does not automatically choose the right coding system, you can use these commands to specify one: @table @kbd @item C-x @key{RET} f @var{coding} @key{RET} Use coding system @var{coding} for the visited file in the current buffer. @item C-x @key{RET} c @var{coding} @key{RET} Specify coding system @var{coding} for the immediately following command. @item C-x @key{RET} k @var{coding} @key{RET} Use coding system @var{coding} for keyboard input. @item C-x @key{RET} t @var{coding} @key{RET} Use coding system @var{coding} for terminal output. @item C-x @key{RET} p @var{input-coding} @key{RET} @var{output-coding} @key{RET} Use coding systems @var{input-coding} and @var{output-coding} for subprocess input and output in the current buffer. @item C-x @key{RET} x @var{coding} @key{RET} Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring selections to and from other programs through the window system. @item C-x @key{RET} X @var{coding} @key{RET} Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring @emph{one} selection---the next one---to or from the window system. @end table @kindex C-x RET f @findex set-buffer-file-coding-system The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} f} (@code{set-buffer-file-coding-system}) specifies the file coding system for the current buffer---in other words, which coding system to use when saving or rereading the visited file. You specify which coding system using the minibuffer. Since this command applies to a file you have already visited, it affects only the way the file is saved. @kindex C-x RET c @findex universal-coding-system-argument Another way to specify the coding system for a file is when you visit the file. First use the command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}); this command uses the minibuffer to read a coding system name. After you exit the minibuffer, the specified coding system is used for @emph{the immediately following command}. So if the immediately following command is @kbd{C-x C-f}, for example, it reads the file using that coding system (and records the coding system for when the file is saved). Or if the immediately following command is @kbd{C-x C-w}, it writes the file using that coding system. Other file commands affected by a specified coding system include @kbd{C-x C-i} and @kbd{C-x C-v}, as well as the other-window variants of @kbd{C-x C-f}. @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} also affects commands that start subprocesses, including @kbd{M-x shell} (@pxref{Shell}). However, if the immediately following command does not use the coding system, then @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} ultimately has no effect. An easy way to visit a file with no conversion is with the @kbd{M-x find-file-literally} command. @xref{Visiting}. @vindex default-buffer-file-coding-system The variable @code{default-buffer-file-coding-system} specifies the choice of coding system to use when you create a new file. It applies when you find a new file, and when you create a buffer and then save it in a file. Selecting a language environment typically sets this variable to a good choice of default coding system for that language environment. @kindex C-x RET t @findex set-terminal-coding-system The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} t} (@code{set-terminal-coding-system}) specifies the coding system for terminal output. If you specify a character code for terminal output, all characters output to the terminal are translated into that coding system. This feature is useful for certain character-only terminals built to support specific languages or character sets---for example, European terminals that support one of the ISO Latin character sets. You need to specify the terminal coding system when using multibyte text, so that Emacs knows which characters the terminal can actually handle. By default, output to the terminal is not translated at all, unless Emacs can deduce the proper coding system from your terminal type. @kindex C-x RET k @findex set-keyboard-coding-system The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} k} (@code{set-keyboard-coding-system}) specifies the coding system for keyboard input. Character-code translation of keyboard input is useful for terminals with keys that send non-ASCII graphic characters---for example, some terminals designed for ISO Latin-1 or subsets of it. By default, keyboard input is not translated at all. There is a similarity between using a coding system translation for keyboard input, and using an input method: both define sequences of keyboard input that translate into single characters. However, input methods are designed to be convenient for interactive use by humans, and the sequences that are translated are typically sequences of ASCII printing characters. Coding systems typically translate sequences of non-graphic characters. @kindex C-x RET x @kindex C-x RET X @findex set-selection-coding-system @findex set-next-selection-coding-system The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} x} (@code{set-selection-coding-system}) specifies the coding system for sending selected text to the window system, and for receiving the text of selections made in other applications. This command applies to all subsequent selections, until you override it by using the command again. The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} X} (@code{set-next-selection-coding-system}) specifies the coding system for the next selection made in Emacs or read by Emacs. @kindex C-x RET p @findex set-buffer-process-coding-system The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} p} (@code{set-buffer-process-coding-system}) specifies the coding system for input and output to a subprocess. This command applies to the current buffer; normally, each subprocess has its own buffer, and thus you can use this command to specify translation to and from a particular subprocess by giving the command in the corresponding buffer. By default, process input and output are not translated at all. @vindex file-name-coding-system The variable @code{file-name-coding-system} specifies a coding system to use for encoding file names. If you set the variable to a coding system name (as a Lisp symbol or a string), Emacs encodes file names using that coding system for all file operations. This makes it possible to use non-ASCII characters in file names---or, at least, those non-ASCII characters which the specified coding system can encode. If @code{file-name-coding-system} is @code{nil}, Emacs uses a default coding system determined by the selected language environment. In the default language environment, any non-ASCII characters in file names are not encoded specially; they appear in the file system using the internal Emacs representation. @strong{Warning:} if you change @code{file-name-coding-system} (or the language environment) in the middle of an Emacs session, problems can result if you have already visited files whose names were encoded using the earlier coding system and cannot be encoded (or are encoded differently) under the new coding system. If you try to save one of these buffers under the visited file name, saving may use the wrong file name, or it may get an error. If such a problem happens, use @kbd{C-x C-w} to specify a new file name for that buffer. @node Fontsets @section Fontsets @cindex fontsets A font for X Windows typically defines shapes for one alphabet or script. Therefore, displaying the entire range of scripts that Emacs supports requires a collection of many fonts. In Emacs, such a collection is called a @dfn{fontset}. A fontset is defined by a list of fonts, each assigned to handle a range of character codes. Each fontset has a name, like a font. The available X fonts are defined by the X server; fontsets, however, are defined within Emacs itself. Once you have defined a fontset, you can use it within Emacs by specifying its name, anywhere that you could use a single font. Of course, Emacs fontsets can use only the fonts that the X server supports; if certain characters appear on the screen as hollow boxes, this means that the fontset in use for them has no font for those characters. Emacs creates two fontsets automatically: the @dfn{standard fontset} and the @dfn{startup fontset}. The standard fontset is most likely to have fonts for a wide variety of non-ASCII characters; however, this is not the default for Emacs to use. (By default, Emacs tries to find a font which has bold and italic variants.) You can specify use of the standard fontset with the @samp{-fn} option, or with the @samp{Font} X resource (@pxref{Font X}). For example, @example emacs -fn fontset-standard @end example A fontset does not necessarily specify a font for every character code. If a fontset specifies no font for a certain character, or if it specifies a font that does not exist on your system, then it cannot display that character properly. It will display that character as an empty box instead. @vindex highlight-wrong-size-font The fontset height and width are determined by the ASCII characters (that is, by the font used for ASCII characters in that fontset). If another font in the fontset has a different height, or a different width, then characters assigned to that font are clipped to the fontset's size. If @code{highlight-wrong-size-font} is non-@code{nil}, a box is displayed around these wrong-size characters as well. @node Defining Fontsets @section Defining fontsets @vindex standard-fontset-spec @cindex standard fontset Emacs creates a standard fontset automatically according to the value of @code{standard-fontset-spec}. This fontset's name is @example -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-16-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-standard @end example @noindent or just @samp{fontset-standard} for short. Bold, italic, and bold-italic variants of the standard fontset are created automatically. Their names have @samp{bold} instead of @samp{medium}, or @samp{i} instead of @samp{r}, or both. @cindex startup fontset If you specify a default ASCII font with the @samp{Font} resource or the @samp{-fn} argument, Emacs generates a fontset from it automatically. This is the @dfn{startup fontset} and its name is @code{fontset-startup}. It does this by replacing the @var{foundry}, @var{family}, @var{add_style}, and @var{average_width} fields of the font name with @samp{*}, replacing @var{charset_registry} field with @samp{fontset}, and replacing @var{charset_encoding} field with @samp{startup}, then using the resulting string to specify a fontset. For instance, if you start Emacs this way, @example emacs -fn "*courier-medium-r-normal--14-140-*-iso8859-1" @end example @noindent Emacs generates the following fontset and uses it for the initial X window frame: @example -*-*-medium-r-normal-*-14-140-*-*-*-*-fontset-startup @end example With the X resource @samp{Emacs.Font}, you can specify a fontset name just like an actual font name. But be careful not to specify a fontset name in a wildcard resource like @samp{Emacs*Font}---that wildcard specification applies to various other purposes, such as menus, and menus cannot handle fontsets. You can specify additional fontsets using X resources named @samp{Fontset-@var{n}}, where @var{n} is an integer starting from 0. The resource value should have this form: @smallexample @var{fontpattern}, @r{[}@var{charsetname}:@var{fontname}@r{]@dots{}} @end smallexample @noindent @var{fontpattern} should have the form of a standard X font name, except for the last two fields. They should have the form @samp{fontset-@var{alias}}. The fontset has two names, one long and one short. The long name is @var{fontpattern}. The short name is @samp{fontset-@var{alias}}. You can refer to the fontset by either name. The construct @samp{@var{charset}:@var{font}} specifies which font to use (in this fontset) for one particular character set. Here, @var{charset} is the name of a character set, and @var{font} is the font to use for that character set. You can use this construct any number of times in defining one fontset. For the other character sets, Emacs chooses a font based on @var{fontpattern}. It replaces @samp{fontset-@var{alias}} with values that describe the character set. For the ASCII character font, @samp{fontset-@var{alias}} is replaced with @samp{ISO8859-1}. In addition, when several consecutive fields are wildcards, Emacs collapses them into a single wildcard. This is to prevent use of auto-scaled fonts. Fonts made by scaling larger fonts are not usable for editing, and scaling a smaller font is not useful because it is better to use the smaller font in its own size, which Emacs does. Thus if @var{fontpattern} is this, @example -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24 @end example @noindent the font specification for ASCII characters would be this: @example -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-ISO8859-1 @end example @noindent and the font specification for Chinese GB2312 characters would be this: @example -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-gb2312*-* @end example You may not have any Chinese font matching the above font specification. Most X distributions include only Chinese fonts that have @samp{song ti} or @samp{fangsong ti} in @var{family} field. In such a case, @samp{Fontset-@var{n}} can be specified as below: @smallexample Emacs.Fontset-0: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24,\ chinese-gb2312:-*-*-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-gb2312*-* @end smallexample @noindent Then, the font specifications for all but Chinese GB2312 characters have @samp{fixed} in the @var{family} field, and the font specification for Chinese GB2312 characters has a wild card @samp{*} in the @var{family} field. @findex create-fontset-from-fontset-spec The function that processes the fontset resource value to create the fontset is called @code{create-fontset-from-fontset-spec}. You can also call this function explicitly to create a fontset. @xref{Font X}, for more information about font naming in X. @node Single-Byte European Support @section Single-byte European Character Support @cindex European character sets @cindex accented characters @cindex ISO Latin character sets @cindex Unibyte operation @vindex enable-multibyte-characters The ISO 8859 Latin-@var{n} character sets define character codes in the range 160 to 255 to handle the accented letters and punctuation needed by various European languages. If you disable multibyte characters, Emacs can still handle @emph{one} of these character codes at a time. To specify @emph{which} of these codes to use, invoke @kbd{M-x set-language-environment} and specify a suitable language environment such as @samp{Latin-@var{n}}. For more information about unibyte operation, see @ref{Enabling Multibyte}. Note particularly that you probably want to ensure that your initialization files are read as unibyte if they contain non-ASCII characters. @vindex unibyte-display-via-language-environment Emacs can also display those characters, provided the terminal or font in use supports them. This works automatically. Alternatively, if you are using a window system, Emacs can also display single-byte characters through fontsets, in effect by displaying the equivalent multibyte characters according to the current language environment. To request this, set the variable @code{unibyte-display-via-language-environment} to a non-@code{nil} value. @cindex @code{iso-ascii} library If your terminal does not support display of the Latin-1 character set, Emacs can display these characters as ASCII sequences which at least give you a clear idea of what the characters are. To do this, load the library @code{iso-ascii}. Similar libraries for other Latin-@var{n} character sets could be implemented, but we don't have them yet. @findex standard-display-8bit @cindex 8-bit display Normally non-ISO-8859 characters (between characters 128 and 159 inclusive) are displayed as octal escapes. You can change this for non-standard `extended' versions of ISO-8859 character sets by using the function @code{standard-display-8bit} in the @code{disp-table} library. There are three different ways you can input single-byte non-ASCII characters: @itemize @bullet @item If your keyboard can generate character codes 128 and up, representing non-ASCII characters, execute the following expression to enable Emacs to understand them: @example (set-input-mode (car (current-input-mode)) (nth 1 (current-input-mode)) 0) @end example @item You can use an input method for the selected language environment. @xref{Input Methods}. When you use an input method in a unibyte buffer, the non-ASCII character you specify with it is converted to unibyte. @kindex C-x 8 @cindex @code{iso-transl} library @item For Latin-1 only, you can use the key @kbd{C-x 8} as a ``compose character'' prefix for entry of non-ASCII Latin-1 printing characters. @kbd{C-x 8} is good for insertion (in the minibuffer as well as other buffers), for searching, and in any other context where a key sequence is allowed. @kbd{C-x 8} works by loading the @code{iso-transl} library. Once that library is loaded, the @key{ALT} modifier key, if you have one, serves the same purpose as @kbd{C-x 8}; use @key{ALT} together with an accent character to modify the following letter. In addition, if you have keys for the Latin-1 ``dead accent characters'', they too are defined to compose with the following character, once @code{iso-transl} is loaded. @end itemize