2011

Table Of Contents
Share Drawing Files Internationally
Beginning with AutoCAD 2007-based products, drawing files and most files
associated with drawing files use the Unicode standard. This lets you maintain
both the visual fidelity and data integrity of international characters when
you save and open drawing files.
NOTE AutoCAD 2006, AutoCAD LT 2006, and prior versions were not Unicode
applications. When sharing drawings with earlier, non-Unicode, versions, use ASCII
characters to ensure compatibility when you save files, insert xrefs, and specify
folder paths.
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
Sheet set data files
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.
1958 | Chapter 41 Use the Internet for Collaboration