Mercurial > emacs
changeset 84182:ae4323b5f3c8
Move to ../doc/emacs/, misc/
author | Glenn Morris <rgm@gnu.org> |
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date | Thu, 06 Sep 2007 04:39:00 +0000 |
parents | e93c32e7cd52 |
children | dc68eaa1d194 |
files | man/mule.texi |
diffstat | 1 files changed, 0 insertions(+), 1535 deletions(-) [+] |
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--- a/man/mule.texi Thu Sep 06 04:38:55 2007 +0000 +++ /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 @@ -1,1535 +0,0 @@ -@c This is part of the Emacs manual. -@c Copyright (C) 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, -@c 2005, 2006, 2007 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 Celtic -@cindex Chinese -@cindex Cyrillic -@cindex Czech -@cindex Devanagari -@cindex Hindi -@cindex Marathi -@cindex Ethiopic -@cindex German -@cindex Greek -@cindex Hebrew -@cindex IPA -@cindex Japanese -@cindex Korean -@cindex Lao -@cindex Latin -@cindex Polish -@cindex Romanian -@cindex Slovak -@cindex Slovenian -@cindex Thai -@cindex Tibetan -@cindex Turkish -@cindex Vietnamese -@cindex Dutch -@cindex Spanish - Emacs supports a wide variety of international character sets, -including European and Vietnamese variants of the Latin alphabet, as -well as Cyrillic, Devanagari (for Hindi and Marathi), Ethiopic, Greek, -Han (for Chinese and Japanese), Hangul (for Korean), Hebrew, IPA, -Kannada, Lao, Malayalam, Tamil, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese scripts. -Emacs also supports various encodings of these characters used by -other internationalized software, such as word processors and mailers. - - Emacs allows editing text with international characters by supporting -all the related activities: - -@itemize @bullet -@item -You can visit files with non-@acronym{ASCII} characters, save non-@acronym{ASCII} text, and -pass non-@acronym{ASCII} text between Emacs and programs it invokes (such as -compilers, spell-checkers, and mailers). Setting your language -environment (@pxref{Language Environments}) takes care of setting up the -coding systems and other options for a specific language or culture. -Alternatively, you can specify how Emacs should encode or decode text -for each command; see @ref{Text Coding}. - -@item -You can display non-@acronym{ASCII} characters encoded by the various -scripts. This works by using appropriate fonts on graphics displays -(@pxref{Defining Fontsets}), and by sending special codes to text-only -displays (@pxref{Terminal Coding}). If some characters are displayed -incorrectly, refer to @ref{Undisplayable Characters}, which describes -possible problems and explains how to solve them. - -@item -You can insert non-@acronym{ASCII} characters or search for them. To do that, -you can specify an input method (@pxref{Select Input Method}) suitable -for your language, or use the default input method set up when you set -your language environment. If -your keyboard can produce non-@acronym{ASCII} characters, you can select an -appropriate keyboard coding system (@pxref{Terminal Coding}), and Emacs -will accept those characters. Latin-1 characters can also be input by -using the @kbd{C-x 8} prefix, see @ref{Unibyte Mode}. - -On X Window systems, your locale should be set to an appropriate value -to make sure Emacs interprets keyboard input correctly; see -@ref{Language Environments, locales}. -@end itemize - - The rest of this chapter describes these issues in detail. - -@menu -* International Chars:: 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:: Specifying a file's coding system explicitly. -* Output Coding:: Choosing coding systems for output. -* Text Coding:: Choosing conversion to use for file text. -* Communication Coding:: Coding systems for interprocess communication. -* File Name Coding:: Coding systems for file @emph{names}. -* Terminal Coding:: Specifying coding systems for converting - terminal input and output. -* Fontsets:: Fontsets are collections of fonts - that cover the whole spectrum of characters. -* Defining Fontsets:: Defining a new fontset. -* Undisplayable Characters:: When characters don't display. -* Unibyte Mode:: You can pick one European character set - to use without multibyte characters. -* Charsets:: How Emacs groups its internal character codes. -@end menu - -@node International Chars -@section Introduction to International Character Sets - - The users of international character sets and 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-@acronym{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 -@cindex undisplayable characters -@cindex @samp{?} in display - 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. If some characters can't be -displayed on your terminal, they appear as @samp{?} or as hollow boxes -(@pxref{Undisplayable Characters}). - - 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 - - By default, Emacs starts in multibyte mode, because that allows you to -use all the supported languages and scripts without limitations. - -@cindex turn multibyte support on or off - 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, we call that @dfn{unibyte mode}. 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 in unibyte mode 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{Text -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 @env{EMACS_UNIBYTE}. You can also customize -@code{enable-multibyte-characters} or, equivalently, directly set the -variable @code{default-enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{nil} in -your init file to have basically the same effect as @samp{--unibyte}. - -@findex toggle-enable-multibyte-characters - To convert a unibyte session to a multibyte session, set -@code{default-enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{t}. Buffers which -were created in the unibyte session before you turn on multibyte support -will stay unibyte. You can turn on multibyte support in a specific -buffer by invoking the command @code{toggle-enable-multibyte-characters} -in that buffer. - -@cindex Lisp files, and multibyte operation -@cindex multibyte operation, and Lisp files -@cindex unibyte operation, and Lisp files -@cindex init file, and non-@acronym{ASCII} characters -@cindex environment variables, and non-@acronym{ASCII} characters - With @samp{--unibyte}, multibyte strings are not created during -initialization from the values of environment variables, -@file{/etc/passwd} entries etc.@: that contain non-@acronym{ASCII} 8-bit -characters. - - Emacs normally loads Lisp files as multibyte, regardless of whether -you used @samp{--unibyte}. This includes the Emacs initialization file, -@file{.emacs}, and the initialization files of Emacs packages such as -Gnus. However, you can specify unibyte loading for a particular Lisp -file, by putting @w{@samp{-*-unibyte: t;-*-}} in a comment on the first -line (@pxref{File Variables}). Then that file is always loaded as -unibyte text, even if you did not start Emacs with @samp{--unibyte}. -The motivation for these conventions is that it is more reliable to -always load any particular Lisp file in the same way. However, you can -load a Lisp file as unibyte, on any one occasion, by typing @kbd{C-x -@key{RET} c raw-text @key{RET}} immediately before loading it. - - 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) near the beginning of the mode -line, before the indication of the visited file's end-of-line -convention (colon, backslash, etc.). When multibyte characters -are not enabled, nothing precedes the colon except a single dash. -@xref{Mode Line}, for more details about this. - -@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 -@vindex current-language-environment - To select a language environment, you can customize the variable -@code{current-language-environment} or use 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: - -@cindex Euro sign -@cindex UTF-8 -@quotation -ASCII, Belarusian, Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Chinese-BIG5, -Chinese-CNS, Chinese-EUC-TW, Chinese-GB, Croatian, Cyrillic-ALT, -Cyrillic-ISO, Cyrillic-KOI8, Czech, Devanagari, Dutch, English, -Esperanto, Ethiopic, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hebrew, IPA, -Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Lao, Latin-1, Latin-2, Latin-3, -Latin-4, Latin-5, Latin-6, Latin-7, Latin-8 (Celtic), Latin-9 (updated -Latin-1 with the Euro sign), Latvian, Lithuanian, Malayalam, Polish, -Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tajik, Tamil, -Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, UTF-8 (for a setup which prefers Unicode -characters and files encoded in UTF-8), Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, -and Windows-1255 (for a setup which prefers Cyrillic characters and -files encoded in Windows-1255). -@tex -\hbadness=10000\par % just avoid underfull hbox warning -@end tex -@end quotation - -@cindex fonts for various scripts -@cindex Intlfonts package, installation - To display the script(s) used by your language environment on a -graphical display, you need to have a suitable font. If some of the -characters appear as empty boxes, you should install the GNU Intlfonts -package, which includes fonts for most supported scripts.@footnote{If -you run Emacs on X, you need to inform the X server about the location -of the newly installed fonts with the following commands: - -@example - xset fp+ /usr/local/share/emacs/fonts - xset fp rehash -@end example -} -@xref{Fontsets}, for more details about setting up your fonts. - -@findex set-locale-environment -@vindex locale-language-names -@vindex locale-charset-language-names -@cindex locales - Some operating systems let you specify the character-set locale you -are using by setting the locale environment variables @env{LC_ALL}, -@env{LC_CTYPE}, or @env{LANG}.@footnote{If more than one of these is -set, the first one that is nonempty specifies your locale for this -purpose.} During startup, Emacs looks up your character-set locale's -name in the system locale alias table, matches its canonical name -against entries in the value of the variables -@code{locale-charset-language-names} and @code{locale-language-names}, -and selects the corresponding language environment if a match is found. -(The former variable overrides the latter.) It also adjusts the display -table and terminal coding system, the locale coding system, the -preferred coding system as needed for the locale, and---last but not -least---the way Emacs decodes non-@acronym{ASCII} characters sent by your keyboard. - - If you modify the @env{LC_ALL}, @env{LC_CTYPE}, or @env{LANG} -environment variables while running Emacs, you may want to invoke the -@code{set-locale-environment} function afterwards to readjust the -language environment from the new locale. - -@vindex locale-preferred-coding-systems - The @code{set-locale-environment} function normally uses the preferred -coding system established by the language environment to decode system -messages. But if your locale matches an entry in the variable -@code{locale-preferred-coding-systems}, Emacs uses the corresponding -coding system instead. For example, if the locale @samp{ja_JP.PCK} -matches @code{japanese-shift-jis} in -@code{locale-preferred-coding-systems}, Emacs uses that encoding even -though it might normally use @code{japanese-iso-8bit}. - - You can override the language environment chosen at startup with -explicit use of the command @code{set-language-environment}, or with -customization of @code{current-language-environment} in your init -file. - -@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. If you give an empty input for @var{lang-env}, -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}. This hook is where you should -put non-default settings for specific language environment, such as -coding systems for keyboard input and terminal output, the default -input method, etc. - -@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 @acronym{ASCII} letters -into another alphabet; this allows you to use one other alphabet -instead of @acronym{ASCII}. The Greek and Russian input methods -work this way. - - A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of -characters into one letter. Many European input methods use composition -to produce a single non-@acronym{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). One input sequence typically -corresponds to many possible Chinese characters. You select the one -you mean using keys such as @kbd{C-f}, @kbd{C-b}, @kbd{C-n}, -@kbd{C-p}, and digits, which have special meanings in this situation. - - The possible characters are conceptually arranged in several rows, -with each row holding up to 10 alternatives. Normally, Emacs displays -just one row at a time, in the echo area; @code{(@var{i}/@var{j})} -appears at the beginning, to indicate that this is the @var{i}th row -out of a total of @var{j} rows. Type @kbd{C-n} or @kbd{C-p} to -display the next row or the previous row. - - Type @kbd{C-f} and @kbd{C-b} to move forward and backward among -the alternatives in the current row. As you do this, Emacs highlights -the current alternative with a special color; type @code{C-@key{SPC}} -to select the current alternative and use it as input. The -alternatives in the row are also numbered; the number appears before -the alternative. Typing a digit @var{n} selects the @var{n}th -alternative of the current row and uses it as input. - - @key{TAB} in these Chinese input methods displays a buffer showing -all the possible characters at once; then clicking @kbd{Mouse-2} on -one of them selects that alternative. The keys @kbd{C-f}, @kbd{C-b}, -@kbd{C-n}, @kbd{C-p}, and digits continue to work as usual, but they -do the highlighting in the buffer showing the possible characters, -rather than in the echo area. - - 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 a number of different Japanese words; -to 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; this 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. -@ifnottex -@xref{Select Input Method}. -@end ifnottex - -@cindex incremental search, input method interference - @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. - - To find out how to input the character after point using the current -input method, type @kbd{C-u C-x =}. @xref{Position Info}. - -@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 (for -most input methods---some disable this feature). 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 from 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 @acronym{ASCII} characters to -stand for non-@acronym{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. - - When invoked with a numeric argument, as in @kbd{C-u C-\}, -@code{toggle-input-method} always prompts you for an input method, -suggesting the most recently selected one as the default. - -@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). - - In some language environments, which support several different input -methods, you might want to use an input method different from the -default chosen by @code{set-language-environment}. You can instruct -Emacs to select a different default input method for a certain -language environment, if you wish, by using -@code{set-language-environment-hook} (@pxref{Language Environments, -set-language-environment-hook}). For example: - -@lisp -(defun my-chinese-setup () - "Set up my private Chinese environment." - (if (equal current-language-environment "Chinese-GB") - (setq default-input-method "chinese-tonepy"))) -(add-hook 'set-language-environment-hook 'my-chinese-setup) -@end lisp - -@noindent -This sets the default input method to be @code{chinese-tonepy} -whenever you choose a Chinese-GB language environment. - -@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 quail-show-key - You can use the command @kbd{M-x quail-show-key} to show what key (or -key sequence) to type in order to input the character following point, -using the selected keyboard layout. The command @kbd{C-u C-x =} also -shows that information in addition to the other information about the -character. - -@findex list-input-methods - To see 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-@acronym{ASCII} characters - - When multibyte characters are enabled, character codes 0240 (octal) -through 0377 (octal) are not really legitimate in the buffer. The valid -non-@acronym{ASCII} printing characters have codes that start from 0400. - - If you type a self-inserting character in the range 0240 through -0377, or if you use @kbd{C-q} to insert one, 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 -@ifnottex -(@pxref{Language Environments}). -@end ifnottex -If you do not specify a choice, the default is Latin-1. - - If you insert a character in the range 0200 through 0237, which -forms the @code{eight-bit-control} character set, it is inserted -literally. You should normally avoid doing this since buffers -containing such characters have to be written out in either the -@code{emacs-mule} or @code{raw-text} coding system, which is usually -not what you want. - -@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 international files from DOS/Windows systems - A special class of coding systems, collectively known as -@dfn{codepages}, is designed to support text encoded by MS-Windows and -MS-DOS software. The names of these coding systems are -@code{cp@var{nnnn}}, where @var{nnnn} is a 3- or 4-digit number of the -codepage. You can use these encodings just like any other coding -system; for example, to visit a file encoded in codepage 850, type -@kbd{C-x @key{RET} c cp850 @key{RET} C-x C-f @var{filename} -@key{RET}}@footnote{ -In the MS-DOS port of Emacs, you need to create a @code{cp@var{nnn}} -coding system with @kbd{M-x codepage-setup}, before you can use it. -@iftex -@xref{MS-DOS and MULE,,,emacs-extra,Specialized Emacs Features}. -@end iftex -@ifnottex -@xref{MS-DOS and MULE}. -@end ifnottex -}. - - In addition to converting various representations of non-@acronym{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, including the end-of-line -conversion specified by those coding systems. You can specify a coding -system name as the 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 line endings -@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 @samp{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}. - -@cindex @code{undecided}, coding system - The coding systems @code{unix}, @code{dos}, and @code{mac} are -aliases for @code{undecided-unix}, @code{undecided-dos}, and -@code{undecided-mac}, respectively. These coding systems specify only -the end-of-line conversion, and leave the character code conversion to -be deduced from the text itself. - - The coding system @code{raw-text} is good for a file which is mainly -@acronym{ASCII} text, but may contain byte values above 127 which are -not meant to encode non-@acronym{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-@acronym{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-@acronym{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. - -@findex unify-8859-on-decoding-mode -@anchor{Character Translation} - The @dfn{character translation} feature can modify the effect of -various coding systems, by changing the internal Emacs codes that -decoding produces. For instance, the command -@code{unify-8859-on-decoding-mode} enables a mode that ``unifies'' the -Latin alphabets when decoding text. This works by converting all -non-@acronym{ASCII} Latin-@var{n} characters to either Latin-1 or -Unicode characters. This way it is easier to use various -Latin-@var{n} alphabets together. (In a future Emacs version we hope -to move towards full Unicode support and complete unification of -character sets.) - -@vindex enable-character-translation - If you set the variable @code{enable-character-translation} to -@code{nil}, that disables all character translation (including -@code{unify-8859-on-decoding-mode}). - -@node Recognize Coding -@section Recognizing Coding Systems - - Emacs tries to recognize which coding system to use for a given text -as an integral part of reading that text. (This applies to files -being read, output from subprocesses, text from X selections, etc.) -Emacs can select the right coding system automatically most of the -time---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 coding system 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 this means is that Emacs -should attempt to recognize @code{iso-8859-1} with priority, and should -use DOS end-of-line conversion when it does recognize @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{chinese-iso-8bit}, you can execute this Lisp expression: - -@smallexample -(modify-coding-system-alist 'file "\\.txt\\'" 'chinese-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 -@cindex DOS-style end-of-line display - 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}. If you do that, DOS-style files will be displayed -with the @samp{^M} characters visible in the buffer; some people -prefer this to the more subtle @samp{(DOS)} end-of-line type -indication near the left edge of the mode line (@pxref{Mode Line, -eol-mnemonic}). - -@vindex inhibit-iso-escape-detection -@cindex escape sequences in files - By default, the automatic detection of coding system is sensitive to -escape sequences. If Emacs sees a sequence of characters that begin -with an escape character, and the sequence is valid as an ISO-2022 -code, that tells Emacs to use one of the ISO-2022 encodings to decode -the file. - - However, there may be cases that you want to read escape sequences -in a file as is. In such a case, you can set the variable -@code{inhibit-iso-escape-detection} to non-@code{nil}. Then the code -detection ignores any escape sequences, and never uses an ISO-2022 -encoding. The result is that all escape sequences become visible in -the buffer. - - The default value of @code{inhibit-iso-escape-detection} is -@code{nil}. We recommend that you not change it permanently, only for -one specific operation. That's because many Emacs Lisp source files -in the Emacs distribution contain non-@acronym{ASCII} characters encoded in the -coding system @code{iso-2022-7bit}, and they won't be -decoded correctly when you visit those files if you suppress the -escape sequence detection. - -@vindex auto-coding-alist -@vindex auto-coding-regexp-alist -@vindex auto-coding-functions - The variables @code{auto-coding-alist}, -@code{auto-coding-regexp-alist} and @code{auto-coding-functions} are -the strongest way to specify the coding system for certain patterns of -file names, or for files containing certain patterns; these variables -even override @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tags in the file itself. Emacs -uses @code{auto-coding-alist} for tar and archive files, to prevent it -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. -Likewise, Emacs uses @code{auto-coding-regexp-alist} to ensure that -RMAIL files, whose names in general don't match any particular -pattern, are decoded correctly. One of the builtin -@code{auto-coding-functions} detects the encoding for XML files. - -@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 File's Coding System - - If Emacs recognizes the encoding of a file incorrectly, you can -reread the file using the correct coding system by typing @kbd{C-x -@key{RET} r @var{coding-system} @key{RET}}. To see what coding system -Emacs actually used to decode the file, look at the coding system -mnemonic letter near the left edge of the mode line (@pxref{Mode -Line}), or type @kbd{C-h C @key{RET}}. - -@vindex coding - You can specify the coding system for a particular file in the file -itself, using the @w{@samp{-*-@dots{}-*-}} construct at the beginning, -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, this 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. When you specify -the coding explicitly in the file, that overrides -@code{file-coding-system-alist}. - - If you add the character @samp{!} at the end of the coding system -name in @code{coding}, it disables any character translation -(@pxref{Character Translation}) while decoding the file. This is -useful when you need to make sure that the character codes in the -Emacs buffer will not vary due to changes in user settings; for -instance, for the sake of strings in Emacs Lisp source files. - -@node Output Coding -@section Choosing Coding Systems for Output - -@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}. That makes it the -default for operations that write from this buffer into a file, such -as @code{save-buffer} and @code{write-region}. You can specify a -different coding system for further file output from the buffer using -@code{set-buffer-file-coding-system} (@pxref{Text Coding}). - - You can insert any character Emacs supports into any Emacs buffer, -but most coding systems can only handle a subset of these characters. -Therefore, you can insert characters that cannot be encoded with the -coding system that will be used to save the buffer. For example, you -could start with an @acronym{ASCII} file and insert a few Latin-1 -characters into it, or you could edit a text file in Polish encoded in -@code{iso-8859-2} and add some Russian words to it. When you save -that buffer, Emacs cannot use the current value of -@code{buffer-file-coding-system}, because the characters you added -cannot be encoded by that coding system. - - When that happens, Emacs tries the most-preferred coding system (set -by @kbd{M-x prefer-coding-system} or @kbd{M-x -set-language-environment}), and if that coding system can safely -encode all of the characters in the buffer, Emacs uses it, and stores -its value in @code{buffer-file-coding-system}. Otherwise, Emacs -displays a list of coding systems suitable for encoding the buffer's -contents, and asks you to choose one of those coding systems. - - If you insert the unsuitable characters in a mail message, Emacs -behaves a bit differently. It additionally checks whether the -most-preferred coding system is recommended for use in MIME messages; -if not, Emacs tells you that the most-preferred coding system is not -recommended and prompts you for another coding system. This is so you -won't inadvertently send a message encoded in a way that your -recipient's mail software will have difficulty decoding. (You can -still use an unsuitable coding system if you type its name in response -to the question.) - -@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. - -@node Text Coding -@section Specifying a Coding System for File Text - - In cases where Emacs does not automatically choose the right coding -system for a file's contents, 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 saving or revisiting 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} r @var{coding} @key{RET} -Revisit the current file using the coding system @var{coding}. - -@item M-x recode-region @key{RET} @var{right} @key{RET} @var{wrong} @key{RET} -Convert a region that was decoded using coding system @var{wrong}, -decoding it using coding system @var{right} instead. -@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}) sets the file coding system for -the current buffer---in other words, it says which coding system to -use when saving or reverting the visited file. You specify which -coding system using the minibuffer. If you specify a coding system -that cannot handle all of the characters in the buffer, Emacs warns -you about the troublesome characters when you actually save the -buffer. - -@cindex specify end-of-line conversion - You can also use this command to specify the end-of-line conversion -(@pxref{Coding Systems, end-of-line conversion}) for encoding the -current buffer. For example, @kbd{C-x @key{RET} f dos @key{RET}} will -cause Emacs to save the current buffer's text with DOS-style CRLF line -endings. - -@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 you later save the file). Or if the immediately following -command is @kbd{C-x C-w}, it writes the file using that coding system. -When you specify the coding system for saving in this way, instead -of with @kbd{C-x @key{RET} f}, there is no warning if the buffer -contains characters that the coding system cannot handle. - - Other file commands affected by a specified coding system include -@kbd{C-x 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}). 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 r -@findex revert-buffer-with-coding-system - If you visit a file with a wrong coding system, you can correct this -with @kbd{C-x @key{RET} r} (@code{revert-buffer-with-coding-system}). -This visits the current file again, using a coding system you specify. - -@findex recode-region - If a piece of text has already been inserted into a buffer using the -wrong coding system, you can redo the decoding of it using @kbd{M-x -recode-region}. This prompts you for the proper coding system, then -for the wrong coding system that was actually used, and does the -conversion. It first encodes the region using the wrong coding system, -then decodes it again using the proper coding system. - -@node Communication Coding -@section Coding Systems for Interprocess Communication - - This section explains how to specify coding systems for use -in communication with other processes. - -@table @kbd -@item C-x @key{RET} x @var{coding} @key{RET} -Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring selections to and from -other window-based applications. - -@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 another window-based application. - -@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} c @var{coding} @key{RET} -Specify coding system @var{coding} for the immediately following -command. -@end table - -@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 other windowing -applications, 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. - - You can also use @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} just before the command that -runs or starts a subprocess, to specify the coding system to use for -communication with that subprocess. - - The default for translation of process input and output depends on the -current language environment. - -@vindex locale-coding-system -@cindex decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} keyboard input on X - The variable @code{locale-coding-system} specifies a coding system -to use when encoding and decoding system strings such as system error -messages and @code{format-time-string} formats and time stamps. That -coding system is also used for decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} keyboard input on X -Window systems. You should choose a coding system that is compatible -with the underlying system's text representation, which is normally -specified by one of the environment variables @env{LC_ALL}, -@env{LC_CTYPE}, and @env{LANG}. (The first one, in the order -specified above, whose value is nonempty is the one that determines -the text representation.) - -@node File Name Coding -@section Coding Systems for File Names - -@table @kbd -@item C-x @key{RET} F @var{coding} @key{RET} -Use coding system @var{coding} for encoding and decoding file -@emph{names}. -@end table - -@vindex file-name-coding-system -@cindex file names with non-@acronym{ASCII} characters - The variable @code{file-name-coding-system} specifies a coding -system to use for encoding file names. It has no effect on reading -and writing the @emph{contents} of files. - -@findex set-file-name-coding-system -@kindex C-x @key{RET} F - 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-@acronym{ASCII} -characters in file names---or, at least, those non-@acronym{ASCII} -characters which the specified coding system can encode. Use @kbd{C-x -@key{RET} F} (@code{set-file-name-coding-system}) to specify this -interactively. - - 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-@acronym{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. - -@findex recode-file-name - If a mistake occurs when encoding a file name, use the command -@kbd{M-x recode-file-name} to change the file name's coding -system. This prompts for an existing file name, its old coding -system, and the coding system to which you wish to convert. - -@node Terminal Coding -@section Coding Systems for Terminal I/O - -@table @kbd -@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. -@end table - -@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 or -your locale specification (@pxref{Language Environments}). - -@kindex C-x RET k -@findex set-keyboard-coding-system -@vindex keyboard-coding-system - The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} k} (@code{set-keyboard-coding-system}) -or the variable @code{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-@acronym{ASCII} -graphic characters---for example, some terminals designed for ISO -Latin-1 or subsets of it. - - By default, keyboard input is translated based on your system locale -setting. If your terminal does not really support the encoding -implied by your locale (for example, if you find it inserts a -non-@acronym{ASCII} character if you type @kbd{M-i}), you will need to set -@code{keyboard-coding-system} to @code{nil} to turn off encoding. -You can do this by putting - -@lisp -(set-keyboard-coding-system nil) -@end lisp - -@noindent -in your @file{~/.emacs} file. - - 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 @acronym{ASCII} -printing characters. Coding systems typically translate sequences of -non-graphic characters. - -@node Fontsets -@section Fontsets -@cindex fontsets - - A font typically defines shapes for a single 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. However, while fonts are -stored in the system and the available font names are defined by the -system, fontsets 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 system 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.@footnote{The Emacs -installation instructions have information on additional font -support.} - - 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-@acronym{ASCII} characters; -however, this is not the default for Emacs to use. (By default, Emacs -tries to find a font that has bold and italic variants.) You can -specify use of the standard fontset with the @samp{-fn} option. For -example, - -@example -emacs -fn fontset-standard -@end example - -@noindent -You can also specify a fontset with the @samp{Font} resource (@pxref{X -Resources}). - - 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. - -@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 @acronym{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 matches various other resources, such as for 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{charset}:@var{font}@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 @acronym{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 is what Emacs -does. - - Thus if @var{fontpattern} is this, - -@example --*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24 -@end example - -@noindent -the font specification for @acronym{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 Undisplayable Characters -@section Undisplayable Characters - - There may be a some non-@acronym{ASCII} characters that your terminal cannot -display. Most text-only terminals support just a single character -set (use the variable @code{default-terminal-coding-system} -(@pxref{Terminal Coding}) to tell Emacs which one); characters which -can't be encoded in that coding system are displayed as @samp{?} by -default. - - Graphical displays can display a broader range of characters, but -you may not have fonts installed for all of them; characters that have -no font appear as a hollow box. - - If you use Latin-1 characters but your terminal can't display -Latin-1, you can arrange to display mnemonic @acronym{ASCII} sequences -instead, e.g.@: @samp{"o} for o-umlaut. Load the library -@file{iso-ascii} to do this. - -@vindex latin1-display - If your terminal can display Latin-1, you can display characters -from other European character sets using a mixture of equivalent -Latin-1 characters and @acronym{ASCII} mnemonics. Customize the variable -@code{latin1-display} to enable this. The mnemonic @acronym{ASCII} -sequences mostly correspond to those of the prefix input methods. - -@node Unibyte Mode -@section Unibyte Editing Mode - -@cindex European character sets -@cindex accented characters -@cindex ISO Latin character sets -@cindex Unibyte operation - The ISO 8859 Latin-@var{n} character sets define character codes in -the range 0240 to 0377 octal (160 to 255 decimal) to handle the -accented letters and punctuation needed by various European languages -(and some non-European ones). 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-@acronym{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, on a -graphical display, 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 @acronym{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 (decimal codes between 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 two ways to input single-byte non-@acronym{ASCII} -characters: - -@itemize @bullet -@cindex 8-bit input -@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-@acronym{ASCII} character you specify with it is converted to unibyte. - -@item -If your keyboard can generate character codes 128 (decimal) and up, -representing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters, you can type those character codes -directly. - -On a graphical display, you should not need to do anything special to use -these keys; they should simply work. On a text-only terminal, you -should use the command @code{M-x set-keyboard-coding-system} or the -variable @code{keyboard-coding-system} to specify which coding system -your keyboard uses (@pxref{Terminal Coding}). Enabling this feature -will probably require you to use @kbd{ESC} to type Meta characters; -however, on a console terminal or in @code{xterm}, you can arrange for -Meta to be converted to @kbd{ESC} and still be able type 8-bit -characters present directly on the keyboard or using @kbd{Compose} or -@kbd{AltGr} keys. @xref{User Input}. - -@kindex C-x 8 -@cindex @code{iso-transl} library -@cindex compose character -@cindex dead character -@item -For Latin-1 only, you can use the key @kbd{C-x 8} as a ``compose -character'' prefix for entry of non-@acronym{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 the keyboard has -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 the keyboard has keys for the Latin-1 ``dead accent characters,'' -they too are defined to compose with the following character, once -@code{iso-transl} is loaded. - -Use @kbd{C-x 8 C-h} to list all the available @kbd{C-x 8} translations. -@end itemize - -@node Charsets -@section Charsets -@cindex charsets - - Emacs groups all supported characters into disjoint @dfn{charsets}. -Each character code belongs to one and only one charset. For -historical reasons, Emacs typically divides an 8-bit character code -for an extended version of @acronym{ASCII} into two charsets: -@acronym{ASCII}, which covers the codes 0 through 127, plus another -charset which covers the ``right-hand part'' (the codes 128 and up). -For instance, the characters of Latin-1 include the Emacs charset -@code{ascii} plus the Emacs charset @code{latin-iso8859-1}. - - Emacs characters belonging to different charsets may look the same, -but they are still different characters. For example, the letter -@samp{o} with acute accent in charset @code{latin-iso8859-1}, used for -Latin-1, is different from the letter @samp{o} with acute accent in -charset @code{latin-iso8859-2}, used for Latin-2. - -@findex list-charset-chars -@cindex characters in a certain charset -@findex describe-character-set - There are two commands for obtaining information about Emacs -charsets. The command @kbd{M-x list-charset-chars} prompts for a name -of a character set, and displays all the characters in that character -set. The command @kbd{M-x describe-character-set} prompts for a -charset name and displays information about that charset, including -its internal representation within Emacs. - - To find out which charset a character in the buffer belongs to, -put point before it and type @kbd{C-u C-x =}. - -@ignore - arch-tag: 310ba60d-31ef-4ce7-91f1-f282dd57b6b3 -@end ignore