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     EUROSIGN.TXT V1.00 Euro sign representation in various character sets

     Copyright (C) 1998-2001 by Matthias Paul
                                Ubierstrae 28
                                D-50321 Brhl
                                GERMANY

     All rights reserved (except those detailed below).

     Registered trademarks and tradenames mentioned inhere are owned
     by their respective owners.

     mailto:<Matthias.Paul@post.rwth-aachen.de>
     mailto:<mrpaul@epost.de>
     mailto:<mpaul@drdos.org>

     http://www.uni-bonn.de/~uzs180/mpdokeng.html
     http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/util/print/cpi/
     http://www.freedos.org/
     http://mpaul.drdos.org/

     Last edit: 2001-02-26 MPAUL

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     This file is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
     it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
     the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
     (at your option) any later version.

     This file is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
     but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
     MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
     GNU General Public License for more details.

     You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
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     Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
                                                                            
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     Notes regarding the EURO SIGN representation in character sets:
     ===============================================================

     - On Code Pages 850 and 858:

       With OS/2 Warp 3 FixPak 35/40 (at least since 1999-03-11)
       as well as with PC DOS 2000 (and PC DOS 7 updates since
       1998-06-01), IBM introduced the Euro currency symbol U20ACh
       (EURO SIGN) in Code Page 850 at code point D5h replacing
       the U0131h (LATIN SMALL LETTER DOTLESS I) previously residing
       at this location.

       Fortunately, Code Page 850 provides a glyph for U00B9h
       (SUPERSCRIPT ONE) at code point FBh, which looks quite
       similar to the previous glyph at code point D5h.
       So, converting existing files shouldn't be too difficult.
       I still find the modification of an approved and globally
       used standard quite surprisingly, in particular since IBM
       usually assigns new Code Page IDs and CCSIDs when changing
       any definitions in Code Pages (beyond just additions).

       NB. I can see only one possible reason for their decision:

           Due to a fixed buffer allocation the PC DOS/MS-DOS
           IBMBIO.COM/IO.SYS is limited to handle only a few
           hundred Country-Code Page entries in a COUNTRY.SYS files.
           (For example MS-DOS 6 uses a 6 Kb buffer for up to
           438 entries, and older issues seem to have used only
           a 2 Kb buffer for up to 146 entries.  Similar things
           should apply to PC DOS as well.)
           Adding entries for a third supported Code Page (like
           CP 858, see below) for almost all countries could
           have caused this COUNTRY.SYS file scanner to run
           out of space...
           NLSFUNC does not have this limitation, and the problem
           is also unknown to the file scanners implemented by
           DR-DOS (they have a 64 Kb file size limitation, though).
           Increasing the buffer's size shouldn't have been
           too difficult...

       The Code Page 850 found in MS-DOS (up to 7.10 - Windows 98 SE/ZA),
       DR-DOS (up to 7.05), PTS-DOS (up to 2000) etc. does *not* contain
       the EURO SIGN at this location (although internally DR-DOS 7.02+
       is prepared to provide the EURO SIGN since 1998-05-01...).

       While I proposed to provide IBM's variant of Code Page 850 under
       ID 8501 (in lack of knowing any better ID not in use), IBM has
       introduced a new Code Page 858 which was adapted by HP, Citizen,
       and Epson (at least since 1999-03-22).  This Code Page is identical
       to IBM's variant of Code Page 850, that is, it provides the
       EURO SIGN at code point D5h.

     - The EURO SIGN in other Code Pages:

       Since 1998 the EURO SIGN has also been added to a number of
       other Code Pages as well:
       Code Page 874 (revision 1998-04-15), Code Page 936 (at least
       since revision 2000-01-07, but not with revision 1998-04-15),
       Code Page 1004 (at least since revision 1999-03-11),
       Code Page 1250 (revision 1998-04-15), Code Page 1252
       (revision 1998-04-15), Code Page 1254 (revision 1998-04-15),
       Code Page 1255 (revision 1998-04-15), Code Page 1256
       (revision 1998-04-15), Code Page 1257 (revision 1998-04-15),
       and Code Page 1258 (revision 1998-04-15) all present the
       symbol at code point 80h and Code Page 1251 (revision
       1998-04-15) has it at code point 88h.
       Similar to Code Page 850, Code Page 857 (at least since
       1999-03-11) has it at code point D5h, Code Page 949
       (at least since revision 2000-01-07, but not with revision
       1998-04-15) at code point A2E6h and Code Page 950 (at least
       since 2000-01-07, but not revision with 1998-04-15) has it
       at A3E1h.
       Starting with Mac OS 8.5 (1998), Apple provides the EURO SIGN
       in many fonts.  In all but Symbol it replaces the international
       currency symbol at DBh, while in Symbol it was added at A0h
       (in MacRoman encoding).

     - DR-DOS NECPINW and FreeDOS EUROTSR Code Page variants/proposals:

       The FreeDOS EUROTSR.EXE 0.9 BETA 1 utility by Aitor Santamara
       Merino (Spain) redefines the character at 9Fh by the EURO SIGN
       regardless of the currently active Code Page.
       This is incompatible with Code Page 850 etc. when the
       "French Franc"/"Dutch Gulden" symbol etc. is still needed.

       NB. Since the "French Franc"/"Dutch Gulden" symbol is also
           used in other (even non-European Union) countries as
           (part of) a currency symbol, I think it would be better
           to replace a different glyph.  The code point 9Fh is
           called U0192h (LATIN SMALL LETTER F WITH HOOK) in
           Unicode, and in some locales it has the semantic of
           "Small script f", or "Floretin/Florette???", and thus
           will continue to exist even when the "French Franc"/
           "Dutch Gulden" will have ceased to be after the
           European Monetary Union (EMU) will be completed
           in spring 2002.

           These are my (preliminary) proposals (RFC):

           Variants of Code Pages 437, 860, and 865 could have the
           U20A7h (PESETA SIGN) at code point 9Eh replaced by the
           EURO SIGN.  I have no clear opinion on Code Page 853
           (maybe code point EEh, which still appears to be undefined,
           but is used for U03B5h (GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON) in
           many other Code Pages - after all, when the EURO SIGN
           was originally designed, it was inspired by the Epsilon
           in the Greek spelling of "Europa" (in Greek mythology
           one of Zeus' women and "founder" of the European continent).
           Variants of Code Pages 852 (at code point CFh) and 866
           (at code point FDh) could have the U00A4h (CURRENCY SIGN)
           replaced by the EURO SIGN.  I have no good idea for a
           variant of Code Page 863, maybe 98h (CURRENCY SIGN),
           or EEh, too???  Please note, however, that IBM has
           expressed that they will not provide variants of
           Code Pages 437 and 860, and that the IBM variant of
           Code Page 850 (aka Code Page 858) should be used instead.

       Anyway, for immediate compatibility with EUROTSR, my NECPINW.CPI
       2.02+ adapts to EUROTSR's proposal for variants of Code Pages
       437, 667/991, 850, 863, and 865.  These are any of the Code Pages
       in the supported range, which have the "French Franc"/"Dutch Gulden"
       sign at code point 9Fh.  The Code Page variants are made available
       in the IBM CDRA level 2 user definable CCSID range E000h..EFFFh
       under IDs 58805, 59035, 59218, 59231, 59233, and 59359.  Would
       EUROTSR switch to use different code points, NECPINW.CPI should
       also be updated to the new assignments.

       My NECPINW.CPI 2.00+ still provides the PC DOS 2000 / OS/2 variant
       of Code Page 850 under ID 8501 and in the IBM CDRA user definable
       range under ID 58194, although these IDs are obsolete now (since
       NECPINW.CPI 2.08+) which has Code Page 858 added.
       Variants of this Code Page in various type sets are available
       under IDs 65392, 65393, 65394, 65395, 65396, 65397, 65398, 65401,
       65402, 65403, 65404, and 65405.  These IDs are in the "private use"
       CPGID range FF00h..FFFEh reserved by IBM CDRA level 2.
       Please note, that any of these non-standard assignments are
       subject to change.

     - For a view of the EURO SIGN shape please have a look at the
       EUROFONT.INC file shipping with the NECPINW.CPI distribution.

     - For background info on Code Pages please refer to my
       CPI???.ZIP package.

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