Configure for Unicode

The Helix Server can be run in Unicode mode to activate support for file names or directory names that contain Unicode characters, and Helix Server identifiers (for example, user names) and specifications (for example, changelist descriptions or jobs) that contain Unicode characters.

In Unicode mode, the Helix Server also translates Unicode files and metadata to the character set configured on the user’s computer, and verifies that the Unicode files and metadata contain valid UTF-8 characters.

Note

If you only need to manage textual files that contain Unicode characters, but do not need the features listed under Configure for Unicode, you do not need to run Helix Server in Unicode mode. Your system administrator will tell you if your site is using Unicode mode or not. For these installations, assign the Helix Server utf16 file type to textual files that contain Unicode characters. You do not have to set the P4CHARSET or P4COMMANDCHARSET environment variables. See Assigning file types for Unicode files for details.

To correctly inter-operate in Unicode mode, and to ensure that such files are translated correctly by the Helix Server when the files are synced or submitted, you must set P4CHARSET to the character set that corresponds to the format used on your computer by the applications that access them, such as text editors or IDEs. These formats are typically listed when you save the file using the Save As… menu option.

Values of P4CHARSET that begin with utf16 or utf32 further require that you also set P4COMMANDCHARSET to a non utf16 or utf32 character set in which you want server output displayed. “Server output” includes informational and error messages, diff output, and information returned by reporting commands.

For a complete list of valid P4CHARSET values, issue the command p4 help charset.

For further information, see the Helix Core Server Administrator Guide.

Setting P4CHARSET on Windows

To set P4CHARSET for all users on a computer, you need Windows administrator privileges. Issue the following command:

C:\bruno_ws> p4 set -s P4CHARSET=character_set

To set P4CHARSET for the user currently logged in:

c:\bruno_ws> p4 set P4CHARSET=character_set

Your computer must have a compatible TrueType or OpenType font installed.

Setting P4CHARSET on UNIX

You can set P4CHARSET from a command shell or in a startup script such as .kshrc, .cshrc, or .profile. To determine the proper value for P4CHARSET, examine the setting of the LANG or LOCALE environment variable. Common settings are as follows

If `LANG` is…	Set `P4CHARSET` to
`en_US.ISO_8859-1`	`iso8859-1`
`ja_JP.EUC`	`eucjp`
`ja_JP.PCK`	`shiftjis`

In general, for a Japanese installation, set P4CHARSET to eucjp, and for a European installation, set P4CHARSET to iso8859-1.