@c -*-texinfo-*-
@c This is part of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual.
-@c Copyright (C) 1998, 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+@c Copyright (C) 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004,
+@c 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See the file elisp.texi for copying conditions.
@setfilename ../info/characters
@node Non-ASCII Characters, Searching and Matching, Text, Top
* Selecting a Representation:: Treating a byte sequence as unibyte or multi.
* Character Codes:: How unibyte and multibyte relate to
codes of individual characters.
-* Character Sets:: The space of possible characters codes
+* Character Sets:: The space of possible character codes
is divided into various character sets.
* Chars and Bytes:: More information about multibyte encodings.
* Splitting Characters:: Converting a character to its byte sequence.
@end defvar
@defun position-bytes position
-@tindex position-bytes
-Return the byte-position corresponding to buffer position @var{position}
-in the current buffer.
+Return the byte-position corresponding to buffer position
+@var{position} in the current buffer. This is 1 at the start of the
+buffer, and counts upward in bytes. If @var{position} is out of
+range, the value is @code{nil}.
@end defun
@defun byte-to-position byte-position
-@tindex byte-to-position
Return the buffer position corresponding to byte-position
-@var{byte-position} in the current buffer.
+@var{byte-position} in the current buffer. If @var{byte-position} is
+out of range, the value is @code{nil}.
@end defun
@defun multibyte-string-p string
If this is non-@code{nil}, it overrides @code{nonascii-insert-offset}.
@end defvar
+The next three functions either return the argument @var{string}, or a
+newly created string with no text properties.
+
@defun string-make-unibyte string
This function converts the text of @var{string} to unibyte
representation, if it isn't already, and returns the result. If
@defun string-make-multibyte string
This function converts the text of @var{string} to multibyte
representation, if it isn't already, and returns the result. If
-@var{string} is a multibyte string, it is returned unchanged.
-The function @code{unibyte-char-to-multibyte} is used to convert
-each unibyte character to a multibyte character.
+@var{string} is a multibyte string or consists entirely of
+@acronym{ASCII} characters, it is returned unchanged. In particular,
+if @var{string} is unibyte and entirely @acronym{ASCII}, the returned
+string is unibyte. (When the characters are all @acronym{ASCII},
+Emacs primitives will treat the string the same way whether it is
+unibyte or multibyte.) If @var{string} is unibyte and contains
+non-@acronym{ASCII} characters, the function
+@code{unibyte-char-to-multibyte} is used to convert each unibyte
+character to a multibyte character.
@end defun
@defun string-to-multibyte string
This function returns a multibyte string containing the same sequence
-of character codes as @var{string}. If @var{string} is a multibyte
-string, the value is the equal to @var{string}.
+of character codes as @var{string}. Unlike
+@code{string-make-multibyte}, this function unconditionally returns a
+multibyte string. If @var{string} is a multibyte string, it is
+returned unchanged.
+@end defun
+
+@defun multibyte-char-to-unibyte char
+This convert the multibyte character @var{char} to a unibyte
+character, based on @code{nonascii-translation-table} and
+@code{nonascii-insert-offset}.
+@end defun
+
+@defun unibyte-char-to-multibyte char
+This convert the unibyte character @var{char} to a multibyte
+character, based on @code{nonascii-translation-table} and
+@code{nonascii-insert-offset}.
@end defun
@node Selecting a Representation
0 through 127 are completely legitimate in both representations.
@defun char-valid-p charcode &optional genericp
-This returns @code{t} if @var{charcode} is valid for either one of the two
-text representations.
+This returns @code{t} if @var{charcode} is valid (either for unibyte
+text or for multibyte text).
@example
(char-valid-p 65)
@end example
If the optional argument @var{genericp} is non-@code{nil}, this
-function returns @code{t} if @var{charcode} is a generic character
-(@pxref{Splitting Characters}).
+function also returns @code{t} if @var{charcode} is a generic
+character (@pxref{Splitting Characters}).
@end defun
@node Character Sets
@code{nil} otherwise.
@end defun
+@defvar charset-list
+The value is a list of all defined character set names.
+@end defvar
+
@defun charset-list
-This function returns a list of all defined character set names.
+This function returns the value of @code{charset-list}. It is only
+provided for backward compatibility.
@end defun
@defun char-charset character
This function returns the name of the character set that @var{character}
-belongs to.
+belongs to, or the symbol @code{unknown} if @var{character} is not a
+valid character.
@end defun
@defun charset-plist charset
-@tindex charset-plist
This function returns the charset property list of the character set
@var{charset}. Although @var{charset} is a symbol, this is not the same
as the property list of that symbol. Charset properties are used for
special purposes within Emacs.
@end defun
+@deffn Command list-charset-chars charset
+This command displays a list of characters in the character set
+@var{charset}.
+@end deffn
+
@node Chars and Bytes
@section Characters and Bytes
@cindex bytes and characters
@end defun
@defun charset-bytes charset
-@tindex charset-bytes
This function returns the number of bytes used to represent a character
in character set @var{charset}.
@end defun
identify @var{character} within that character set. The number of byte
values is the character set's dimension.
+If @var{character} is invalid as a character code, @code{split-char}
+returns a list consisting of the symbol @code{unknown} and @var{character}.
+
@example
(split-char 2248)
@result{} (latin-iso8859-1 72)
coding systems (@pxref{Coding Systems}) are capable of representing all
of the text in question.
+@defun charset-after &optional pos
+This function return the charset of a character in the current buffer
+at position @var{pos}. If @var{pos} is omitted or @code{nil}, it
+defaults to the current value of point. If @var{pos} is out of range,
+the value is @code{nil}.
+@end defun
+
@defun find-charset-region beg end &optional translation
This function returns a list of the character sets that appear in the
current buffer between positions @var{beg} and @var{end}.
@cindex character translation tables
@cindex translation tables
- A @dfn{translation table} specifies a mapping of characters
-into characters. These tables are used in encoding and decoding, and
-for other purposes. Some coding systems specify their own particular
-translation tables; there are also default translation tables which
-apply to all other coding systems.
+ A @dfn{translation table} is a char-table that specifies a mapping
+of characters into characters. These tables are used in encoding and
+decoding, and for other purposes. Some coding systems specify their
+own particular translation tables; there are also default translation
+tables which apply to all other coding systems.
+
+ For instance, the coding-system @code{utf-8} has a translation table
+that maps characters of various charsets (e.g.,
+@code{latin-iso8859-@var{x}}) into Unicode character sets. This way,
+it can encode Latin-2 characters into UTF-8. Meanwhile,
+@code{unify-8859-on-decoding-mode} operates by specifying
+@code{standard-translation-table-for-decode} to translate
+Latin-@var{x} characters into corresponding Unicode characters.
@defun make-translation-table &rest translations
This function returns a translation table based on the argument
You can also map one whole character set into another character set with
the same dimension. To do this, you specify a generic character (which
designates a character set) for @var{from} (@pxref{Splitting Characters}).
-In this case, @var{to} should also be a generic character, for another
-character set of the same dimension. Then the translation table
-translates each character of @var{from}'s character set into the
-corresponding character of @var{to}'s character set.
+In this case, if @var{to} is also a generic character, its character
+set should have the same dimension as @var{from}'s. Then the
+translation table translates each character of @var{from}'s character
+set into the corresponding character of @var{to}'s character set. If
+@var{from} is a generic character and @var{to} is an ordinary
+character, then the translation table translates every character of
+@var{from}'s character set into @var{to}.
@end defun
In decoding, the translation table's translations are applied to the
characters that result from ordinary decoding. If a coding system has
-property @code{character-translation-table-for-decode}, that specifies
-the translation table to use. Otherwise, if
-@code{standard-translation-table-for-decode} is non-@code{nil}, decoding
-uses that table.
+property @code{translation-table-for-decode}, that specifies the
+translation table to use. (This is a property of the coding system,
+as returned by @code{coding-system-get}, not a property of the symbol
+that is the coding system's name. @xref{Coding System Basics,, Basic
+Concepts of Coding Systems}.) Otherwise, if
+@code{standard-translation-table-for-decode} is non-@code{nil},
+decoding uses that table.
In encoding, the translation table's translations are applied to the
characters in the buffer, and the result of translation is actually
encoded. If a coding system has property
-@code{character-translation-table-for-encode}, that specifies the
-translation table to use. Otherwise the variable
+@code{translation-table-for-encode}, that specifies the translation
+table to use. Otherwise the variable
@code{standard-translation-table-for-encode} specifies the translation
table.
@defvar translation-table-for-input
Self-inserting characters are translated through this translation
-table before they are inserted.
+table before they are inserted. Search commands also translate their
+input through this table, so they can compare more reliably with
+what's in the buffer.
+
+@code{set-buffer-file-coding-system} sets this variable so that your
+keyboard input gets translated into the character sets that the buffer
+is likely to contain. This variable automatically becomes
+buffer-local when set.
@end defvar
@node Coding Systems
conversion, but some of them leave the choice unspecified---to be chosen
heuristically for each file, based on the data.
+ In general, a coding system doesn't guarantee roundtrip identity:
+decoding a byte sequence using coding system, then encoding the
+resulting text in the same coding system, can produce a different byte
+sequence. However, the following coding systems do guarantee that the
+byte sequence will be the same as what you originally decoded:
+
+@quotation
+chinese-big5 chinese-iso-8bit cyrillic-iso-8bit emacs-mule
+greek-iso-8bit hebrew-iso-8bit iso-latin-1 iso-latin-2 iso-latin-3
+iso-latin-4 iso-latin-5 iso-latin-8 iso-latin-9 iso-safe
+japanese-iso-8bit japanese-shift-jis korean-iso-8bit raw-text
+@end quotation
+
+ Encoding buffer text and then decoding the result can also fail to
+reproduce the original text. For instance, if you encode Latin-2
+characters with @code{utf-8} and decode the result using the same
+coding system, you'll get Unicode characters (of charset
+@code{mule-unicode-0100-24ff}). If you encode Unicode characters with
+@code{iso-latin-2} and decode the result with the same coding system,
+you'll get Latin-2 characters.
+
@cindex end of line conversion
@dfn{End of line conversion} handles three different conventions used
on various systems for representing end of line in files. The Unix
uses one to encode the buffer contents.
You can specify the coding system to use either explicitly
-(@pxref{Specifying Coding Systems}), or implicitly using the defaulting
+(@pxref{Specifying Coding Systems}), or implicitly using a default
mechanism (@pxref{Default Coding Systems}). But these methods may not
completely specify what to do. For example, they may choose a coding
system such as @code{undefined} which leaves the character code
you will want to find out afterwards which coding system was chosen.
@defvar buffer-file-coding-system
-This variable records the coding system that was used for visiting the
-current buffer. It is used for saving the buffer, and for writing part
+This buffer-local variable records the coding system that was used to visit
+the current buffer. It is used for saving the buffer, and for writing part
of the buffer with @code{write-region}. If the text to be written
cannot be safely encoded using the coding system specified by this
variable, these operations select an alternative encoding by calling
The variable @code{selection-coding-system} specifies how to encode
selections for the window system. @xref{Window System Selections}.
+@defvar file-name-coding-system
+The variable @code{file-name-coding-system} specifies the coding
+system to use for encoding file names. Emacs encodes file names using
+that coding system for all file operations. 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.
+@end defvar
+
+ @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 are handled 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 Lisp and Coding Systems
@subsection Coding Systems in Lisp
@defun coding-system-p object
This function returns @code{t} if @var{object} is a coding system
-name.
+name or @code{nil}.
@end defun
@defun check-coding-system coding-system
Otherwise it signals an error with condition @code{coding-system-error}.
@end defun
+@cindex EOL conversion
+@cindex end-of-line conversion
+@cindex line end conversion
+@defun coding-system-eol-type coding-system
+This function returns the type of end-of-line (a.k.a.@: @dfn{eol})
+conversion used by @var{coding-system}. If @var{coding-system}
+specifies a certain eol conversion, the return value is an integer 0,
+1, or 2, standing for @code{unix}, @code{dos}, and @code{mac},
+respectively. If @var{coding-system} doesn't specify eol conversion
+explicitly, the return value is a vector of coding systems, each one
+with one of the possible eol conversion types, like this:
+
+@lisp
+(coding-system-eol-type 'latin-1)
+ @result{} [latin-1-unix latin-1-dos latin-1-mac]
+@end lisp
+
+@noindent
+If this function returns a vector, Emacs will decide, as part of the
+text encoding or decoding process, what eol conversion to use. For
+decoding, the end-of-line format of the text is auto-detected, and the
+eol conversion is set to match it (e.g., DOS-style CRLF format will
+imply @code{dos} eol conversion). For encoding, the eol conversion is
+taken from the appropriate default coding system (e.g.,
+@code{default-buffer-file-coding-system} for
+@code{buffer-file-coding-system}), or from the default eol conversion
+appropriate for the underlying platform.
+@end defun
+
@defun coding-system-change-eol-conversion coding-system eol-type
This function returns a coding system which is like @var{coding-system}
except for its eol conversion, which is specified by @code{eol-type}.
@var{eol-type} should be @code{unix}, @code{dos}, @code{mac}, or
@code{nil}. If it is @code{nil}, the returned coding system determines
the end-of-line conversion from the data.
+
+@var{eol-type} may also be 0, 1 or 2, standing for @code{unix},
+@code{dos} and @code{mac}, respectively.
@end defun
@defun coding-system-change-text-conversion eol-coding text-coding
return value is just one coding system, the one that is highest in
priority.
-If the region contains only @acronym{ASCII} characters, the value
-is @code{undecided} or @code{(undecided)}.
+If the region contains only @acronym{ASCII} characters except for such
+ISO-2022 control characters ISO-2022 as @code{ESC}, the value is
+@code{undecided} or @code{(undecided)}, or a variant specifying
+end-of-line conversion, if that can be deduced from the text.
@end defun
-@defun detect-coding-string string highest
+@defun detect-coding-string string &optional highest
This function is like @code{detect-coding-region} except that it
operates on the contents of @var{string} instead of bytes in the buffer.
@end defun
- @xref{Process Information}, for how to examine or set the coding
-systems used for I/O to a subprocess.
+ @xref{Coding systems for a subprocess,, Process Information}, in
+particular the description of the functions
+@code{process-coding-system} and @code{set-process-coding-system}, for
+how to examine or set the coding systems used for I/O to a subprocess.
@node User-Chosen Coding Systems
@subsection User-Chosen Coding Systems
@cindex select safe coding system
-@defun select-safe-coding-system from to &optional default-coding-system accept-default-p
+@defun select-safe-coding-system from to &optional default-coding-system accept-default-p file
This function selects a coding system for encoding specified text,
asking the user to choose if necessary. Normally the specified text
-is the text in the current buffer between @var{from} and @var{to},
-defaulting to the whole buffer if they are @code{nil}. If @var{from}
-is a string, the string specifies the text to encode, and @var{to} is
-ignored.
+is the text in the current buffer between @var{from} and @var{to}. If
+@var{from} is a string, the string specifies the text to encode, and
+@var{to} is ignored.
If @var{default-coding-system} is non-@code{nil}, that is the first
coding system to try; if that can handle the text,
@code{select-safe-coding-system} returns that coding system. It can
also be a list of coding systems; then the function tries each of them
-one by one. After trying all of them, it next tries the user's most
-preferred coding system (@pxref{Recognize Coding,
-prefer-coding-system, the description of @code{prefer-coding-system},
-emacs, GNU Emacs Manual}), and after that the current buffer's value
-of @code{buffer-file-coding-system} (if it is not @code{undecided}).
+one by one. After trying all of them, it next tries the current
+buffer's value of @code{buffer-file-coding-system} (if it is not
+@code{undecided}), then the value of
+@code{default-buffer-file-coding-system} and finally the user's most
+preferred coding system, which the user can set using the command
+@code{prefer-coding-system} (@pxref{Recognize Coding,, Recognizing
+Coding Systems, emacs, The GNU Emacs Manual}).
If one of those coding systems can safely encode all the specified
text, @code{select-safe-coding-system} chooses it and returns it.
Otherwise, it asks the user to choose from a list of coding systems
which can encode all the text, and returns the user's choice.
+@var{default-coding-system} can also be a list whose first element is
+t and whose other elements are coding systems. Then, if no coding
+system in the list can handle the text, @code{select-safe-coding-system}
+queries the user immediately, without trying any of the three
+alternatives described above.
+
The optional argument @var{accept-default-p}, if non-@code{nil},
-should be a function to determine whether the coding system selected
-without user interaction is acceptable. If this function returns
-@code{nil}, the silently selected coding system is rejected, and the
-user is asked to select a coding system from a list of possible
-candidates.
+should be a function to determine whether a coding system selected
+without user interaction is acceptable. @code{select-safe-coding-system}
+calls this function with one argument, the base coding system of the
+selected coding system. If @var{accept-default-p} returns @code{nil},
+@code{select-safe-coding-system} rejects the silently selected coding
+system, and asks the user to select a coding system from a list of
+possible candidates.
@vindex select-safe-coding-system-accept-default-p
If the variable @code{select-safe-coding-system-accept-default-p} is
non-@code{nil}, its value overrides the value of
@var{accept-default-p}.
+
+As a final step, before returning the chosen coding system,
+@code{select-safe-coding-system} checks whether that coding system is
+consistent with what would be selected if the contents of the region
+were read from a file. (If not, this could lead to data corruption in
+a file subsequently re-visited and edited.) Normally,
+@code{select-safe-coding-system} uses @code{buffer-file-name} as the
+file for this purpose, but if @var{file} is non-@code{nil}, it uses
+that file instead (this can be relevant for @code{write-region} and
+similar functions). If it detects an apparent inconsistency,
+@code{select-safe-coding-system} queries the user before selecting the
+coding system.
@end defun
Here are two functions you can use to let the user specify a coding
expression that matches certain file names. The element applies to file
names that match @var{pattern}.
-The @acronym{CDR} of the element, @var{coding}, should be either a coding
+The @sc{cdr} of the element, @var{coding}, should be either a coding
system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or a function name (a
symbol with a function definition). If @var{coding} is a coding system,
that coding system is used for both reading the file and writing it. If
-@var{coding} is a cons cell containing two coding systems, its @acronym{CAR}
-specifies the coding system for decoding, and its @acronym{cdr} specifies the
+@var{coding} is a cons cell containing two coding systems, its @sc{car}
+specifies the coding system for decoding, and its @sc{cdr} specifies the
coding system for encoding.
-If @var{coding} is a function name, the function must return a coding
-system or a cons cell containing two coding systems. This value is used
-as described above.
+If @var{coding} is a function name, the function should take one
+argument, a list of all arguments passed to
+@code{find-operation-coding-system}. It must return a coding system
+or a cons cell containing two coding systems. This value has the same
+meaning as described above.
@end defvar
@defvar process-coding-system-alist
form:
@example
-(@var{decoding-system} @var{encoding-system})
+(@var{decoding-system} . @var{encoding-system})
@end example
The first element, @var{decoding-system}, is the coding system to use
@var{encoding-system} is the coding system for encoding (in case
@var{operation} does encoding).
-The argument @var{operation} should be a symbol, one of
-@code{insert-file-contents}, @code{write-region}, @code{call-process},
-@code{call-process-region}, @code{start-process}, or
-@code{open-network-stream}. These are the names of the Emacs I/O primitives
-that can do coding system conversion.
+The argument @var{operation} should be a symbol, any one of
+@code{insert-file-contents}, @code{write-region},
+@code{start-process}, @code{call-process}, @code{call-process-region},
+or @code{open-network-stream}. These are the names of the Emacs I/O
+primitives that can do character code and eol conversion.
The remaining arguments should be the same arguments that might be given
-to that I/O primitive. Depending on the primitive, one of those
-arguments is selected as the @dfn{target}. For example, if
+to the corresponding I/O primitive. Depending on the primitive, one
+of those arguments is selected as the @dfn{target}. For example, if
@var{operation} does file I/O, whichever argument specifies the file
name is the target. For subprocess primitives, the process name is the
target. For @code{open-network-stream}, the target is the service name
or port number.
-This function looks up the target in @code{file-coding-system-alist},
-@code{process-coding-system-alist}, or
-@code{network-coding-system-alist}, depending on @var{operation}.
-@xref{Default Coding Systems}.
+Depending on @var{operation}, this function looks up the target in
+@code{file-coding-system-alist}, @code{process-coding-system-alist},
+or @code{network-coding-system-alist}. If the target is found in the
+alist, @code{find-operation-coding-system} returns its association in
+the alist; otherwise it returns @code{nil}.
+
+If @var{operation} is @code{insert-file-contents}, the argument
+corresponding to the target may be a cons cell of the form
+@code{(@var{filename} . @var{buffer})}). In that case, @var{filename}
+is a file name to look up in @code{file-coding-system-alist}, and
+@var{buffer} is a buffer that contains the file's contents (not yet
+decoded). If @code{file-coding-system-alist} specifies a function to
+call for this file, and that function needs to examine the file's
+contents (as it usually does), it should examine the contents of
+@var{buffer} instead of reading the file.
@end defun
@node Specifying Coding Systems
@example
;; @r{Read the file with no character code conversion.}
;; @r{Assume @acronym{crlf} represents end-of-line.}
-(let ((coding-system-for-write 'emacs-mule-dos))
+(let ((coding-system-for-read 'emacs-mule-dos))
(insert-file-contents filename))
@end example
@code{no-conversion}.
Here are the functions to perform explicit encoding or decoding. The
-decoding functions produce sequences of bytes; the encoding functions
+encoding functions produce sequences of bytes; the decoding functions
are meant to operate on sequences of bytes. All of these functions
discard text properties.
-@defun encode-coding-region start end coding-system
-This function encodes the text from @var{start} to @var{end} according
+@deffn Command encode-coding-region start end coding-system
+This command encodes the text from @var{start} to @var{end} according
to coding system @var{coding-system}. The encoded text replaces the
original text in the buffer. The result of encoding is logically a
sequence of bytes, but the buffer remains multibyte if it was multibyte
before.
-@end defun
-@defun encode-coding-string string coding-system
+This command returns the length of the encoded text.
+@end deffn
+
+@defun encode-coding-string string coding-system &optional nocopy
This function encodes the text in @var{string} according to coding
system @var{coding-system}. It returns a new string containing the
-encoded text. The result of encoding is a unibyte string.
+encoded text, except when @var{nocopy} is non-@code{nil}, in which
+case the function may return @var{string} itself if the encoding
+operation is trivial. The result of encoding is a unibyte string.
@end defun
-@defun decode-coding-region start end coding-system
-This function decodes the text from @var{start} to @var{end} according
+@deffn Command decode-coding-region start end coding-system
+This command decodes the text from @var{start} to @var{end} according
to coding system @var{coding-system}. The decoded text replaces the
original text in the buffer. To make explicit decoding useful, the text
before decoding ought to be a sequence of byte values, but both
multibyte and unibyte buffers are acceptable.
-@end defun
-@defun decode-coding-string string coding-system
+This command returns the length of the decoded text.
+@end deffn
+
+@defun decode-coding-string string coding-system &optional nocopy
This function decodes the text in @var{string} according to coding
system @var{coding-system}. It returns a new string containing the
-decoded text. To make explicit decoding useful, the contents of
-@var{string} ought to be a sequence of byte values, but a multibyte
+decoded text, except when @var{nocopy} is non-@code{nil}, in which
+case the function may return @var{string} itself if the decoding
+operation is trivial. To make explicit decoding useful, the contents
+of @var{string} ought to be a sequence of byte values, but a multibyte
string is acceptable.
@end defun
keyboard input---or @code{nil} if no coding system is to be used.
@end defun
-@defun set-keyboard-coding-system coding-system
-This function specifies @var{coding-system} as the coding system to
+@deffn Command set-keyboard-coding-system coding-system
+This command specifies @var{coding-system} as the coding system to
use for decoding keyboard input. If @var{coding-system} is @code{nil},
that means do not decode keyboard input.
-@end defun
+@end deffn
@defun terminal-coding-system
This function returns the coding system that is in use for encoding
terminal output---or @code{nil} for no encoding.
@end defun
-@defun set-terminal-coding-system coding-system
-This function specifies @var{coding-system} as the coding system to use
+@deffn Command set-terminal-coding-system coding-system
+This command specifies @var{coding-system} as the coding system to use
for encoding terminal output. If @var{coding-system} is @code{nil},
that means do not encode terminal output.
-@end defun
+@end deffn
@node MS-DOS File Types
@subsection MS-DOS File Types
buffer now.
@end defvar
-@defvar default-input-method
+@defopt default-input-method
This variable holds the default input method for commands that choose an
input method. Unlike @code{current-input-method}, this variable is
normally global.
-@end defvar
+@end defopt
-@defun set-input-method input-method
-This function activates input method @var{input-method} for the current
+@deffn Command set-input-method input-method
+This command activates input method @var{input-method} for the current
buffer. It also sets @code{default-input-method} to @var{input-method}.
-If @var{input-method} is @code{nil}, this function deactivates any input
+If @var{input-method} is @code{nil}, this command deactivates any input
method for the current buffer.
-@end defun
+@end deffn
@defun read-input-method-name prompt &optional default inhibit-null
This function reads an input method name with the minibuffer, prompting
@end defvar
The fundamental interface to input methods is through the
-variable @code{input-method-function}. @xref{Reading One Event}.
+variable @code{input-method-function}. @xref{Reading One Event},
+and @ref{Invoking the Input Method}.
@node Locales
@section Locales
how Emacs interacts with these features.
@defvar locale-coding-system
-@tindex locale-coding-system
@cindex keyboard input decoding on X
This variable specifies the coding system to use for decoding system
error messages and---on X Window system only---keyboard input, for
@end defvar
@defvar system-messages-locale
-@tindex system-messages-locale
This variable specifies the locale to use for generating system error
messages. Changing the locale can cause messages to come out in a
different language or in a different orthography. If the variable is
@end defvar
@defvar system-time-locale
-@tindex system-time-locale
This variable specifies the locale to use for formatting time values.
Changing the locale can cause messages to appear according to the
conventions of a different language. If the variable is @code{nil}, the
@item paper
Return a list @code{(@var{width} @var{height})} for the default paper
-size measured in milimeters (locale items @code{PAPER_WIDTH} and
+size measured in millimeters (locale items @code{PAPER_WIDTH} and
@code{PAPER_HEIGHT}).
@end table
If the system can't provide the requested information, or if
@var{item} is not one of those symbols, the value is @code{nil}. All
strings in the return value are decoded using
-@code{locale-coding-system}. @xref{Locales,,, libc, GNU Libc Manual},
+@code{locale-coding-system}. @xref{Locales,,, libc, The GNU Libc Manual},
for more information about locales and locale items.
@end defun