2011

Overview of Unicode
All characters are processed numerically by the computer operating system,
which assigns a number to each character. Various numeric encoding systems
have been used in the past, however these encoding systems often conflicted.
As a result, operating systems and applications relied on code pages with specific
character sets and numbering assigned to countries or regions.
To facilitate international compatibility, the Unicode standard was adopted
by major industry leaders and is being maintained by the Unicode Consortium.
Drawing File Impact
Language-specific characters can be used in file names and text within drawing
files, or files associated with drawing files. The following are common
examples:
■ Drawing file names
■ Folder path names
■ Named objects such as layers and blocks within a drawing
■ Linetype and hatch pattern file names and their contents
■ Text used in notes and dimensions within a drawing
■ DWF or DWFx markup files
This means that drawings can be opened, worked on, and saved worldwide
regardless of language-specific characters. The only requirement is that the
appropriate language pack must be installed first.
When you save text files such as linetype (LIN), hatch pattern (PAT), and script
(SCR) files using an application such as Notepad, it is recommended that you
specify Unicode encoding at the bottom of the Save As dialog box to ensure
compatibility.
Limitations
Most international drawing projects can be completed within the current
product environment. However, there are several file types and features that
are not supported yet between countries and regions that use different
Windows code pages. These features include the following:
■ eTransmit
■ Round trip file and data compatibility with non-Unicode products
1348 | Chapter 36 Use the Internet for Collaboration