({{, (RefLink[$CharacterEncoding, paclet:ref/$CharacterEncoding])
specifies the default raw character encoding to use for input and output functions. }})

OpenersNotesSection(Spacer1)Details

The default setting for (RefLink[$CharacterEncoding, paclet:ref/$CharacterEncoding]) is (RefLink[$SystemCharacterEncoding, paclet:ref/$SystemCharacterEncoding]).

The setting $CharacterEncoding=(RefLink[None, paclet:ref/None]) takes all special characters to be represented externally by printable ASCII sequences such as ∖[Name] and ∖:nnnn.

(RefLink[$CharacterEncodings, paclet:ref/$CharacterEncodings]) gives a list of all installed character encodings.

Typical examples include:

With $CharacterEncoding="encoding" characters that are included in the encoding can be input in their raw 8- or 16-bit form, and will be output in this form.

Unencoded characters can be input and will be output in standard ∖[Name] or ∖:nnnn form.

When using a text-based interface, resetting the value of (RefLink[$CharacterEncoding, paclet:ref/$CharacterEncoding]) has an immediate effect on standard input and output in a Wolfram System session.

When using the notebook front end, raw character encodings are normally handled automatically based on the fonts you use. Only raw 16-bit Unicode is ever sent through the WSTP connection to the kernel.

(RefLink[$CharacterEncoding, paclet:ref/$CharacterEncoding]) affects the input and output of all characters, including those in symbol names and comments.

(RefLink[$CharacterEncoding, paclet:ref/$CharacterEncoding]) also affects characters that appear in (RefLink[Text, paclet:ref/Text]) primitives within graphics.

OpenersPrimaryExamplesSection(Spacer1)Examples  (2)

OpenersExampleSection0(Spacer1)Basic Examples  (1)

The default raw character encoding:

$CharacterEncoding

OpenersExampleSection1(Spacer1)Properties & Relations  (1)

Use (RefLink[$SystemCharacterEncoding, paclet:ref/$SystemCharacterEncoding]) to determine the default value of (RefLink[$CharacterEncoding, paclet:ref/$CharacterEncoding]):

$SystemCharacterEncoding

$CharacterEncoding

({{DocumentationFooterIconsRelatedFunction.png, ({{See Also}, {(RefLink[CharacterEncoding, paclet:ref/CharacterEncoding])  ▪  (RefLink[$CharacterEncodings, paclet:ref/$CharacterEncodings])  ▪  (RefLink[FromCharacterCode, paclet:ref/FromCharacterCode])  ▪  (RefLink[ToCharacterCode, paclet:ref/ToCharacterCode])  ▪  (RefLink[$SystemCharacterEncoding, paclet:ref/$SystemCharacterEncoding])  ▪  (RefLink[$ByteOrdering, paclet:ref/$ByteOrdering])}})}})

({{DocumentationFooterIconsRelatedTutorial.png, ({{Tutorials}, {▪(RefLinkPlain[Raw Character Encodings, paclet:tutorial/RawCharacterEncodings])}})}})

({{DocumentationFooterIconsRelatedGuide.png, ({{Related Guides}, {▪(RefLinkPlain[Locale & Internationalization, paclet:guide/LocaleAndInternationalization])}, {▪(RefLinkPlain[International Character Sets, paclet:guide/InternationalCharacterSets])}, {▪(RefLinkPlain[Systems-Related String Operations, paclet:guide/SystemsRelatedStringOperations])}, {▪(RefLinkPlain[Wolfram System Setup, paclet:guide/WolframSystemSetup])}, {▪(RefLinkPlain[Character Operations, paclet:guide/CharacterOperations])}, {▪(RefLinkPlain[Cloud Execution Metadata, paclet:guide/CloudExecutionMetadata])}, {▪(RefLinkPlain[Session Customization, paclet:guide/SessionCustomization])}, {▪(RefLinkPlain[Wolfram System Sessions, paclet:guide/WolframSystemSessions])}})}})