International characters in console windows

[Jophur]

I have been trying to use local characters in some programs since I stared to use thinBasic some weeks ago. In GUI it works well but I can not find a way to get the correct characters in the Console.

When I run a program in the Console it changes the local character map also causing all printouts to Console to be filled with garbage characters.

Does anyone know how I can use the Console, and still keep my language?

Exemple:
[code=thinbasic]USES "Console"
Console_Writeline ("Printing Swedish alfabet")
Console_Writeline ("ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZÅÄÖ")
Console_Writeline ("abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzåäö")
Console_WaitKey()[/code]

[ErosOlmi]

Hi Jophur,

you can use function
[code=thinbasic]Console_SetOutputCP(<CodePage>)[/code]
to set the codepage of the language you need.
I'm sorry we forgot to document this function but it is simple to use. Just locate your code page and call this fucntion.

A sample showing how to use it is: \thinBasic\SampleScripts\Console\Console_ProgressBar4.tBasicc

Let me know if it works.
I will document it in next thinBasic version.

Ciao
Eros

[Jophur]

Thank you Eros.

I will try this.

[Jophur]

I put this together to test all my installed Code pages
[code=thinbasic]USES "Console"
For i as DWORD = 0 to 100000
Console_SetOutputCP(i)
if i=Console_GetOutputCP() then
Console_Write("Code page is now set to: " + i + $CRLF)
Console_Write ("ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZÅÄÖ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzåäö" + $CRLF)
endif
next[/code]

The only thing that varies are after the end of thinBasic, then the path in the console ends up in different CP's.

[ErosOlmi]

Jophur,

Code page should be setup only once at the beginning. Codepage code are not random numbers but ISO standards. See (for example) Microsoft reference at http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/r...ce/cphome.mspx

So, code 1257 should work for you (but I'm not sure which char set you need so I may be wrong):
[code=thinbasic]USES "Console"

'---Print current charset
PrintCharSet

'---Set new charset
Console_SetFileApisToOEM
Console_SetOutputCP(1257)
PrintCharSet

'---Finish
printl
printl "---Press a key to finish---------------------------------------"
waitkey

'---------------------------------
function PrintCharSet() as long
'---------------------------------
local cCount as long

printl "Code page is now set to: " & Console_GetOutputCP()
printl "---Chars-------------------------------------------------------"

for cCount = 33 to 255
print chr$(cCount) & " "
if mod(cCount, 32) = 0 then
printl
end if
next
printl
end function

[/code]

Which Operating System are you working on? There can be great differences if you are under Win9x or Win2K or above OS.

Thanks
Eros

[ErosOlmi]

Ok, I found the possible problem why all chars are the same.
TO be able to see different charsets, you need to use trutype fonts for your console output. Changing charset will not work with raster fonts.

So, set "Lucida Console" (for example) in your Console window as default font and than execute again the script mentioned in my previous post. It should work. But again, only fro Operating systems Win2K or above because API to chane charset are not available under Win9x system.

Ciao
Eros

ADDED:
font need is mentioned in Microsoft documenation at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms686036(VS.85).aspx

[Jophur]

Hi Eros.

I'm using WinXP SP3, Swedish version.

this is the printout from your script:

Code page is now set to: 850
---Chars-------------------------------------------------------
! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ `
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z { | } ~  €
� ‚ ƒ „ … † ‡ ˆ ‰ Š ‹ Œ ¨ ˇ ¸ � ‘ ’ “ ” • – — ˜ ™ š › œ ¯ ˛ Ÿ 
 ¢ £ ¤  ¦ § Ø © Ŗ « ¬ * ® Æ ° ± ² ³ ´ µ ¶ · ø ¹ ŗ » ¼ ½ ¾ æ Ą
Į Ā Ć Ä Å Ę Ē Č É Ź Ė Ģ Ķ Ī Ļ Š Ń Ņ Ó Ō Õ Ö × Ų Ł Ś Ū Ü Ż Ž ß ą
į ā ć ä å ę ē č é ź ė ģ ķ ī ļ š ń ņ ó ō õ ö ÷ ų ł ś ū ü ż ž ˙
Code page is now set to: 1257
---Chars-------------------------------------------------------
! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ `
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z { | } ~  €
� ‚ ƒ „ … † ‡ ˆ ‰ Š ‹ Œ ¨ ˇ ¸ � ‘ ’ “ ” • – — ˜ ™ š › œ ¯ ˛ Ÿ 
 ¢ £ ¤  ¦ § Ø © Ŗ « ¬ * ® Æ ° ± ² ³ ´ µ ¶ · ø ¹ ŗ » ¼ ½ ¾ æ Ą
Į Ā Ć Ä Å Ę Ē Č É Ź Ė Ģ Ķ Ī Ļ Š Ń Ņ Ó Ō Õ Ö × Ų Ł Ś Ū Ü Ż Ž ß ą
į ā ć ä å ę ē č é ź ė ģ ķ ī ļ š ń ņ ó ō õ ö ÷ ų ł ś ū ü ż ž ˙

---Press a key to finish---------------------------------------

E.g. same for both the 850 & 1257 Code Pages... I can not see any update inside thinbasic, the only change I've seen so far is after thinBasic has completed the script end ended. Then is the Code Page updated inside the console. I will try see what I can get for results if I try to do the same in Open Watcom.

To print the letter "Ä" I need to use chr$(142), this when it really is chr$(196) in both Code Page 850, 1257. I can not see any change in any of the 55 Code pages I have installed on my machine...

Could you try to see what result you get on that script?

[ErosOlmi]

Jophur,

maybe we were posting at the same time.
Can you see my previous post about changing Console font to a TrueType one and check again.
Attached a screenshot of my example working with a TT font.

Let me know.
Ciao
Eros

[Jophur]

Thank you Eros,

TrueType was the answer!

[ErosOlmi]

OK, perfect.

I'm checking if there is a programmatic way to change font in Console window but so far I'm not found any. Microsoft documenation seems not having a ...SetFont... function: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms682073(VS.85).aspx

I will check in some ASM forums. Maybe there is a low level way.

Ciao
Eros