Message-ID:	<327E05AD.28D7@pobox.oleane.com>
Date:	Mon, 04 Nov 1996 16:03:09 +0100
From:	Francois Charton <deef AT pobox DOT oleane DOT com>
Organization:	CCMSA
MIME-Version:	1.0
To:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Subject:	Accentuated characters in Info, Texinfo, Emacs and the like...

Hi,

Working in an accentuated language (French), I ended up typing without=20
accents most of the time, because not all DOS-based software will handle=20
them properly.=20

As an example, DOS and Windows manage accentuated characters in different=
=20
ways, so a text written for one using accents is unreadable with the=20
other. In Netscrape, when I try to read a message written with accents, I=
=20
can do it in the "message window", but not when I display it in full=20
screen (so, Netscape is not self-compatible...).

I am now trying to translate the FAQ as well as a few other manuals into=20
French, and I was wondering whether using accents was safe, or just=20
preventing many people from reading confortably.

The result of a few first tries seems to show that Info does not mind (on=
=20
a PC, but is it the case on another system?), so I expect Emacs should=20
not either. I read somewhere that it could be worked out on HTML (though=20
I haven't tried yet).=20

Does anyone have experience with these, as regards DJGPP first, and then=20
with GNU software on other platforms/systems.

Many thanks in advance,
Francois

Just in case you wish to try it out, here is a small excerpt in=20
accentuated French, do it work for you?

Perrette sur sa t=EAte ayant un pot au lait,
Bien pos=E9 sur un coussinet,
Pr=E9tendait arriver sans encombre =E0 la ville.
L=E9g=E8re et court v=EAtue elle allait =E0 grands pas,
Ayant mis ce jour l=E0 pour =EAtre plus agile
Cotillon simple et souliers plat.

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