Altap Salamander: Appendix

Unicode Support

Introduction

Unicode is an international standard to encode all of the world's languages correctly. From the file manager point of view we divide the Unicode support into two independent parts:

  • Unicode in file names
    Support for Unicode names of files and directories enable you display such names in panels and perform operations such as copy, move, delete, rename, change attributes, etc. With "Unicode names" we mean names, which cannot be displayed by non-Unicode applications. Instead of proper Korean or Japanese names the question marks are displayed (??????.???).
  • Unicode in text files
    Support for Unicode encoded text files is useful during viewing content of files with viewer, converting files using Convert command, searching for some text pattern using the Find command, or comparing two Unicode files using Comparator plugin.

Unfortunately, Unicode is not supported in Altap Salamander 2.5. We plan to support it in future versions. Now we will describe how to deal with foreign names of files and directories. If you didn't encounter problems with names of files and directories, you can skip reading of this chapter.

Configure Regional and Language Options

The first step to successfully run non-Unicode applications is configuring Windows for your primary language:

  • System Locale or "Language for non-Unicode programs" in Windows XP. This per system variable does not affect anything but ANSI applications. It allows the OS to emulate ANSI applications by using the selected language's code-page to convert between ANSI/OEM and Unicode encodings. You will need administrator privileges to set this. Windows restart will be required.

    In Windows 2000: Open menu Start > Settings > Control Panel, choose the Regional Options icon. On the General page click the Set default... button and choose your language.

    Windows XP: Open menu Start > Settings > Control Panel, choose the Regional and Language Options icon. On the Advanced page in the Language for non-Unicode programs choose your language.

    If you don't want to (or cannot) change the system locale (for example you have no administrator privileges), or cannot restart OS (it is server), you can run non-Unicode applications under Windows XP or Server 2003 using the Microsoft AppLocale Utility.
  • User Locale or "Standards and formats" in Windows XP. This per user variable defines user's preferences for formatting locale sensitive data (date, time, currency, etc). Setting this option is suggested but not necessary. Option can be set on the fly.

    In Windows 2000: Open menu Start > Settings > Control Panel, choose the Regional Options icon. On the General page in the Setting for the current user choose your language.

    Windows XP: Open menu Start > Settings > Control Panel, choose the Regional and Language Options icon. On the Regional Options page in the Standards and formats choose your language.

Get around problems with Unicode names

If configuring Regional and Language Options didn't solve your problems or you need to work with more foreign languages at once, the following tips could help you.

  • Open Windows Explorer for current directory
    Windows Explorer is a Unicode-compliant application so you can use it for particular operation. To open Windows Explorer for current directory use the Commands > Open Folder > Active Folder command (Shift+F3).
  • Basic Salamander commands working with Unicode names:
    Files > Quick Rename (F2)
    Files > View (F3)
    Files > View With (Ctrl+Shift+F3)
    Files > Alternate View (Alt+F3)
    Files > Edit (F4)
    Files > Edit With (Ctrl+Shift+F4)
    Files > Delete (F8) (works only for one focused file or directory)
    Commands > Calculate Occupied Space (Alt+F10)
    Commands > Calculate Directory Sizes (Ctrl+Shift+F10)