Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Unicode Filenames

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Implemented Unicode Filenames

    Sometimes when we use IrfanView, we cannot open a file if the name is in a foreign character say than our Operative system is. For example we cannot open a file with a chinese name under an spanish environment, and we cannot open a filename with an ñ in the chinese environment but we can open and thumbnail any image with chinese name in the chinese environment.

    Why we cannot open such files, even being able to open them in different circumstances?

    I remember winamp cannot open files in same situations, I don't know what they did, but now it works. I think its not necessary to reprogram the program itself, it's just the way it communicates with the system, because, if we can open files with names in chinese characters under a chinese environment it is because irfanview CAN deal with such chinese-charactered names.
    more cablop?
    http://cablop.net

    #2
    cannot open files - filename contains "й"

    hello,
    irfan 4.00 cannot open files where filename contains this char "й"
    irfan write: Unkown file format or file not found
    where i file rename to e.g. x.jpg all is all right

    steve: i combine the two threads !

    Comment


      #3
      unicode filenames

      please add unicode filename name support, because it's rather annoying to have annoying when i have to rename all 2000 images in album (tho i do have a php script to do this) :P

      Comment


        #4
        Please Support Unicode Filenames

        The Irfanview is really a perfect program, but not support unicode path.

        This problem devil me a lot, I need to rename path and filename everytime.

        Very thanks.

        Comment


          #5
          signed. I really miss this.

          Comment


            #6
            Unicode support has been discussed already here.
            Because of global compatibilty I support this option.
            But it's a big demand for the programmer, because lots of things have to be converted from 8-bits to 16-bits for example.
            The maker of Total Commander is working on this support at the moment, and it already has taken about 6 months, and he hasn't finished yet.
            0.6180339887
            Rest In Peace, Sam!

            Comment


              #7
              File opening problem

              Hi,

              I m using Irfanview from a long time... and I m very happy with its features and all...

              Recently I came across a new message saying "Can't read file header" while at the same time windows xp is displaying the image' thumbnail image.

              I think, it is coz of the folder name I kept the image in.

              Folder name is: Vukićević

              If I copy the same image to some where else Irfanview is dispalying it.

              I dont know whether is there any issues with opening the images in folders having special chars in their name.

              Could any one please help me with this?

              Thanks,
              Kanta

              Comment


                #8
                There was a good rule of thumb in the past - Never use special characters in filenames. Why it is so important to do that? You'll get into trouble when you need to transfer the specific images over a network, or pack in archives. In best case you'll lose the special characters, in worst case you won't be able to access them at all.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Well, for very many of us these just aren't special characters. They are just ordinary characters, no different from the rest in our alphabets. On the other hand, for a lot of people A-Z are very special characters indeed.
                  Get Radio? Sure! - the best Internet Radio Player ever?

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by j7n View Post
                    There was a good rule of thumb in the past - Never use special characters in filenames.
                    That rule of thumb was only valid for DOS-based system and, as a rule of thumb (haha), was rightfully entirely ignored by users of non-English systems (for whom é is not a special character). Japanese users commonly use Japanese in their filenames without any penalty as long as those names are encoded in codepage (bad habit) or UTF (good habit).

                    As of today, any decent OS supports Unicode. We need Unicode in IrfanView, period. Sooner or later, UTF will be supported, it's just a matter of time.
                    Core 2 Quad Q9600 3.4 GHz | Radeon RX 280X 3 GB | DDR2 8.0 GB | Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit | IrfanView 4.51

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Well maybe the term 'special characters' was rather vague (it is however used frequently).

                      In DOS days it was also quite possible to use >128 symbols in filenames, as long as all systems had the same codepage. Even without any network you might not be able to do data recovery from a boot disk, which is (correctly) set to operate in Western 1252.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Of course 'special characters' is a relative thing, according to which basic language is used.
                        But it could be defined as a range of codes, not directly produced by the keyboard.
                        So one has to use e.g. Alt plus a number.
                        I like to state it again, Unicode is just an set-expansion from a 8-bit set to a 16-bit one.
                        The 8-bit set was designed according to western standards of the typewriter and the telex.
                        Now it's time to expand this to a global version.
                        In the meantime, I'm pretty sure, that also the japanese version could have its own 'special characters'.

                        @ Ryusennin
                        The rule mentioned by j7n 'Never use special characters in filenames' still will be valid
                        in an internet-environment, because of the UNIX-properties.
                        You mentioned UTF. I never made that link, thought it was just another format, but is UTF
                        directly linked to the Unicode system?

                        In some languages characters are not letters, but complete concepts/words.
                        So the combination with other keys becomes important to determine the exact expression.
                        I guess the pc-keyboard designed from a chinese point of view would have very different buttons,
                        because it would be based on words, not letters. According to what would be written.
                        Last edited by Sam_Zen; 30.11.2007, 03:35 AM.
                        0.6180339887
                        Rest In Peace, Sam!

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Speaking of Unicode. This standard also shows that basic Latin charset is not as special as others, because it is placed in the beginning of the Unicode table – in the meantime keeping simple English the text r e a d a b l e in ASCII programs.

                          I have absolutely no idea how Japanese or Chinese users work with a computer. I've seen crazy tools called IME for Windows and can't imagine typing everyday text using any other thing than simple PS/2 keyboard.

                          But that's not the point. In order to ensure that everybody can read a discussion board such as this, users are required to post in English. The same goes for filenames. If you call a file "ĪŗfäņVīéw", expect interoperability problems. And this is not just DOS. There are many normal Windows programs, like IrfanView (in fact most I'm using), network protocols such as FTP (different servers and clients choose to communicate in 8-bit, or UTF) or DirectConnect, file systems.

                          A filename must not be ambiguous. However, if convering back and forth to/from Unicode this irfanview example may result in "__fä_Vīéw" on a CP1252 machine. How could the system find such a file? It is no big deal if you load a textfile in a wrong encoding. You just analyze, select the right one and reload. But if a filename is illegal, you can't ever load the data without low level access to the medium.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I think there has to be made a distinction between the use of 'special' characters or unicode in a web-environment,
                            and the use of it in an application environment, like directories or menu's.

                            If one uses a space char in the name of an URL, the locationbar of the browser will show '%20' instead (at least FF does).

                            In a web-environment there are global rules about properties and syntax. So a common webpage has to deal with HTML.
                            This is a script-language, English based. Sometimes I visit japanese sites with computer-graphics.
                            The page is as text not readable, lots of rectangles and/or question-marks. But if I do a mouse-over on a hyperlink,
                            I still can read in the statusbar the destination of the link, like 'links.html' or 'gallery.html'.

                            There's a lot to find about the chinese way of using the keyboard in Wikipedia.
                            0.6180339887
                            Rest In Peace, Sam!

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I hope this would help the developers to implement opening Unicode files:


                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X