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Java Forum / General / August 2007Is there still a problem with class names using non ASCII characters?
Well, the title says it all... Is there still a problem with class names using non ASCII characters? With the files created using these non ASCII characters be portable ? Any input or experience welcome. > Is there still a problem with class names using non ASCII [sic] characters? There's no problem, they're just forbidden by the language spec. According to the JLS[1]: > An identifier is an unlimited-length sequence of Java letters and Java digits, the first of which must be a Java letter. ,,, > The Java letters include uppercase and lowercase ASCII Latin letters A-Z (\u0041-\u005a), and a-z (\u0061-\u007a), and, for historical reasons, the ASCII underscore (_, or \u005f) and dollar sign ($, or \u0024). The $ character should be used only in mechanically generated source code or, rarely, to access preexisting names on legacy systems. > With the files created using these non ASCII [sic] characters be portable ? One hopes that you store your source files as Unicode, preferably UTF-8, since "non-ASCII" characters can appear throughout your source. If not, that's your bad. ASCII and Unicode are portable to all systems that support ASCII and Unicode, respectively, and only to such systems. From the JLS: > Programs are written using the Unicode character set. Information about this character set and its associated character encodings may be found at: > > http://www.unicode.org [1] <http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/third_edition/html/j3TOC.html>  SignatureLew > > Is there still a problem with class names using non ASCII [sic] characters? > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > ,,, > > The Java letters include uppercase and lowercase ASCII Latin letters A-Z (\u0041-\u005a), and a-z (\u0061-\u007a), and, for historical reasons, the ASCII underscore (_, or \u005f) and dollar sign ($, or \u0024). The $ character should be used only in mechanically generated source code or, rarely, to access preexisting names on legacy systems. include does not mean limited to... http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/third_edition/html/lexical.html#3.8 Letters and digits may be drawn from the entire Unicode character set, which supports most writing scripts in use in the world today, including the large sets for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. This allows programmers to use identifiers in their programs that are written in their native languages. My question is how well implemented is the following section (and whether its interpretations are mutually compatible) to be ensure portability: A package name component or class name might contain a character that cannot correctly appear in a host file system's ordinary directory name, such as a Unicode character on a system that allows only ASCII characters in file names. As a convention, the character can be escaped by using, say, the @ character followed by four hexadecimal digits giving the numeric value of the character, as in the \uxxxx escape (?3.3), so that the package name: children.activities.crafts.papierM\u00e2ch\u00e9 which can also be written using full Unicode as: children.activities.crafts.papierM?ch? might be mapped to the directory name: children/activities/crafts/papierM@00e2ch@00e9 If the @ character is not a valid character in a file name for some given host file system, then some other character that is not valid in a identifier could be used instead. >>> Is there still a problem with class names using non ASCII [sic] characters? >> There's no problem, they're just forbidden by the language spec. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > allows programmers to use identifiers in their programs that are > written in their native languages. In that case, there is no problem using non-ASCII characters for class names. Was there ever? > My question is how well implemented is the following section (and > whether its interpretations are mutually compatible) to be ensure > portability: If it's a conformant Java implementation, it's perfectly implemented. SignatureLew >>>> Is there still a problem with class names using non ASCII [sic] >>>> characters? [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > In that case, there is no problem using non-ASCII characters for class > names. Was there ever? It used to be impossible to refer to non-ASCII classes in a jar's manifest file; see http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=4260472. That made it tricky for the main class of an executable jar to be non-ASCII. This has apparently been fixed. On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 23:01:54 -0700, Bamako sur Seine <meigret@technologist.com> wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said : >Is there still a problem with class names using non ASCII characters? the class file format allows UTF-8 class names, but *.java source files may be hosted by an OS that does not support arbitrary UTF-8 strings as filenames. If you use them, you also make it difficult for American programmers who are not familiar with editing non-ASCII text. SignatureRoedy Green Canadian Mind Products The Java Glossary http://mindprod.com > On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 23:01:54 -0700, Bamako sur Seine > <meigret@technologist.com> wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > strings as filenames. If you use them, you also make it difficult for > American programmers who are not familiar with editing non-ASCII text. American? I can't think why you'd include Brazilians but exclude inhabitants of Portugal (for example). North American? Are not Ozians, Kiwis, Brits etc worthy of consideration too? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglosphere >> On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 23:01:54 -0700, Bamako sur Seine >> <meigret@technologist.com> wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglosphere "American" conventionally refers to U.S. residents, not Western Hemispherians. Perhaps Roedy is alluding to the stereotype of American (as in U.S.) provincialism, a flaw to which the rest of the "Anglosphere" is perhaps arguably more immune. SignatureLew >>>> Is there still a problem with class names using non ASCII characters? >>> [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > (as in U.S.) provincialism, a flaw to which the rest of the > "Anglosphere" is perhaps arguably more immune. Ah yes, since I think Roedy is Canadian, or at least has a Canadian Mind under his control somewhere [1], I assumed he meant American in a more general sense. Perhaps some Canadians still have a lingering resentment of US attempts to "liberate" them [2] and are therefore happy to point out skills that may be less common south of the border ;-) SignatureRGB [1] http://preview.tinyurl.com/3bo5wr [2] http://preview.tinyurl.com/d3bdr http://preview.tinyurl.com/2dpy3q On Jul 27, 6:47 am, RedGrittyBrick <redgrittybr...@spamweary.foo> wrote: > Perhaps some Canadians still have a lingering resentment of US attempts > to "liberate" them [2] and are therefore happy to point out skills that > may be less common south of the border ;-) A simpler and probably the correct explanation is that Canadians are compensating for resented American cultural imperialism and Americanism assumptions by being showoffs from time to time. On Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:07:24 +0100, RedGrittyBrick <redgrittybrick@spamweary.foo> wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said : >North American? > >Are not Ozians, Kiwis, Brits etc worthy of consideration too? not to the same extent. For example when I was in Britain, many stores posted prices in Euros. Brits are closer to Europe, and hence more aware of what the rest of the world is doing. Australians and Kiwis have lots of contact with South East Asia and trade with the whole world. Many Americans have never left the USA in their whole lives. I don't think that is true of many other industrialised countries. Because of their military and political power, Americans tend to discount citizens of other countries as mattering. You sometimes see an attitude that if those damn fool foreigners decorate their letters with faggy accents, that's their problem. Damned if I will go out of my way to accommodate them. The only people that matter are Americans. SignatureRoedy Green Canadian Mind Products The Java Glossary http://mindprod.com > Well, the title says it all... > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Any input or experience welcome. I'm not sure there was ever a problem, at least from Java (there may be problems coming from your OS). For example, I created this class file with CJK characters in them, and it compiled fine in Eclipse, but it would not run under English WinXP (maybe if I'm really bored, I'll one day try running it Japanese WinXP). <code> public class ?? { public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println("Hello World!"); System.out.println(??.class.getName()); } } </code> - Oliver > public class ?? { Hmm, I overestimated the capabilities of my usenet reader. That was supposed to be the characters for Japan (Nihon, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan). - Oliver Free MagazinesGet these publications absolutely FREE for up to 12 months. There are no hidden fees and no obligation. 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