Re: [PATCHES] WIN32_CONSOLE usage

On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 20:30:53 +0200 (CEST)
Peter Eisentraut <peter_e(at)gmx(dot)net> wrote:
>
> > b) Add code to psql that prints a warning on startup of psql when the
> > console codepage differs from the windows codepage, something like
> >
> > Warning: Console codepage (850) differs from windows codepage (1252)
> > 8-bit characters will not work correctly. See PostgreSQL
> > documentation "Installation on Windows" for details.
>
> If you can detect that they are different, why can't you adjust the code
> page in that case only?
>
Because 8-bit characters will not be displayed correctly unless the codepage
is set to the windows codepage *and* the console font is adjusted to a font
that is compatible with this codepage.

Unfortunately the default console font used in the german version of Windows
NT/2000/XP ("Rasterschriftart") is incompatible with the german windows codepage.
Thus the user must change the font to "Lucida Console" (that is the only alternative
font offered) in order to view 8-bit characters. AFAIK this font change cannot be done
automagically from within psql.

Why Microsoft does not configure the german version of Windows so that Umlauts work
out of the box in the console is a different story. Maybe they say: "Do not use
the console! If you do, we leave you in the rain!".

Christoph