Code page 850
Encyclopedia
Code page 850 is a code page
used under MS-DOS
in Western Europe. It is the code page commonly used by the version of MS-DOS underlying Windows ME. It is also sometimes used on English DOS systems, although code page 437
is generally the default on those.
It was largely replaced with, firstly, Windows-1252
(often mislabeled as ISO-8859-1), and later with UCS-2, and finally with UTF-16 (the NT line was natively Unicode from the start, but issues of development tool support and compatibility with Windows 9x kept most applications on the 8-bit code pages).
Code page 850 differs from code page 437
in that many of the box drawing characters
, Greek letters
, and various symbols were replaced with additional Latin letters with diacritic
s, thus greatly improving support for Western European languages (all characters from ISO 8859-1 are included). At the same time, the changes frequently caused display glitches in programs that made use of the box drawing characters to display a GUI-like surface in text mode, such as Turbo Pascal
.
In 1998, code page 858
was derived from this code page by changing code point 213 (D5hex) from dotless i ‹ı› to the euro sign
‹€›.
code point and its decimal code point. Only the second half of the table (code points 128–255) is shown, the first half (code points 0–127) being the same as ASCII
; but code points 1–31 and 127 (00–1Fhex and 7Fhex) have a different interpretation in some circumstances – see code page 437.
>
Code page
Code page is another term for character encoding. It consists of a table of values that describes the character set for a particular language. The term code page originated from IBM's EBCDIC-based mainframe systems, but many vendors use this term including Microsoft, SAP, and Oracle Corporation...
used under MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
in Western Europe. It is the code page commonly used by the version of MS-DOS underlying Windows ME. It is also sometimes used on English DOS systems, although code page 437
Code page 437
IBM PC or MS-DOS code page 437 is the character set of the original IBM PC. It is also known as CP 437, OEM 437, PC-8, MS-DOS Latin US or sometimes misleadingly referred to as the OEM font, High ASCII or Extended ASCII....
is generally the default on those.
It was largely replaced with, firstly, Windows-1252
Windows-1252
Windows-1252 or CP-1252 is a character encoding of the Latin alphabet, used by default in the legacy components of Microsoft Windows in English and some other Western languages. It is one version within the group of Windows code pages...
(often mislabeled as ISO-8859-1), and later with UCS-2, and finally with UTF-16 (the NT line was natively Unicode from the start, but issues of development tool support and compatibility with Windows 9x kept most applications on the 8-bit code pages).
Code page 850 differs from code page 437
Code page 437
IBM PC or MS-DOS code page 437 is the character set of the original IBM PC. It is also known as CP 437, OEM 437, PC-8, MS-DOS Latin US or sometimes misleadingly referred to as the OEM font, High ASCII or Extended ASCII....
in that many of the box drawing characters
Box drawing characters
Box drawing characters, also known as line drawing characters, or pseudographics, are widely used in text user interfaces to draw various frames and boxes...
, Greek letters
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
, and various symbols were replaced with additional Latin letters with diacritic
Diacritic
A diacritic is a glyph added to a letter, or basic glyph. The term derives from the Greek διακριτικός . Diacritic is both an adjective and a noun, whereas diacritical is only an adjective. Some diacritical marks, such as the acute and grave are often called accents...
s, thus greatly improving support for Western European languages (all characters from ISO 8859-1 are included). At the same time, the changes frequently caused display glitches in programs that made use of the box drawing characters to display a GUI-like surface in text mode, such as Turbo Pascal
Turbo Pascal
Turbo Pascal is a software development system that includes a compiler and an integrated development environment for the Pascal programming language running on CP/M, CP/M-86, and DOS, developed by Borland under Philippe Kahn's leadership...
.
In 1998, code page 858
Code page 858
Code page 858 is a code page used under MS-DOS to write Western European languages.Code page 858 was created from code page 850 in 1998 by changing code point 213 from dotless I ⟨ı⟩ to the euro sign ⟨€⟩....
was derived from this code page by changing code point 213 (D5hex) from dotless i ‹ı› to the euro sign
Euro sign
The euro sign is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the Eurozone in the European Union . The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. The international three-letter code for the euro is EUR...
‹€›.
Code page layout
The following table shows code page 850. Each character is shown with its equivalent UnicodeUnicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
code point and its decimal code point. Only the second half of the table (code points 128–255) is shown, the first half (code points 0–127) being the same as ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
; but code points 1–31 and 127 (00–1Fhex and 7Fhex) have a different interpretation in some circumstances – see code page 437.