Debug info dialog, what does Current ANSI codepage mean?

Bas de Reuver

In Notepad++ in the menu under ? -> Debug info... -> Copy debug info into clipboard, what does the line with “Current ANSI codepage” mean?

As far as I can tell it’s not related to the current file, so is it a general environment or Windows setting? Is it possible to change this setting somehow?

The reason I ask is that someone reported that my CSV Lint plugin crashes on a certain file with diacritic characters in it, for example noël. I have the file but can’t reproduce the error but I do have the Debug info.

The only noticable difference is Current ANSI codepage : 65001 on the pc where it crashes, and Current ANSI codepage : 1252 where the plugin doesn’t crash.

So on this machine it crashes on a certain file

Notepad++ v8.2.1 (64-bit)
Build time : Jan 19 2022 - 18:43:05
Path : C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Command Line :
Admin mode : ON
Local Conf mode : OFF
Cloud Config : OFF
OS Name : Windows 11 (64-bit)
OS Version : 2009
OS Build : 22000.493
Current ANSI codepage : 65001
Plugins : CSVLint.dll mimeTools.dll NppConverter.dll NppExport.dll

And on this machine the plugin works correctly:

Notepad++ v8.2.1 (64-bit)
Build time : Jan 19 2022 - 18:43:05
Path : C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Command Line :
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : OFF
Cloud Config : OFF
OS Name : Windows 11 (64-bit)
OS Version : 2009
OS Build : 22000.493
Current ANSI codepage : 1252
Plugins : CSVLint.dll mimeTools.dll NppConverter.dll NppExport.dll

Alan Kilborn

@bas-de-reuver said in Debug info dialog, what does Current ANSI codepage mean?:

so is it a general environment or Windows setting

I haven’t tracked it back in the N++ source, but would assume it leads to this:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/winnls/nf-winnls-getacp

65001

That seems like UTF-8.

Michael Vincent

@alan-kilborn said in Debug info dialog, what does Current ANSI codepage mean?:

I haven’t tracked it back in the N++ source, but would assume it leads to this:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/winnls/nf-winnls-getacp

@Bas-de-Reuver

that appears to be correct.

Cheers.

Alan Kilborn

@bas-de-reuver said in Debug info dialog, what does Current ANSI codepage mean?:

what does the line with “Current ANSI codepage” mean?

For Notepad++, it means that, when a file is opened with ANSI as the encoding, see status bar:

that the codepage indicated in the Debug Info will be used to determine the meaning/display of characters above byte-value 127.

Is it possible to change this setting somehow?

It must be, but I don’t have expertise because I’ve never had to do it.
Obviously in your situation there’s a need…because you want to debug the problem you are seeing.

It would be interesting if you come back here and post your efforts as you work on and hopefully solve your problem.

PeterJones

@bas-de-reuver

The top two answers (for me) for https://www.google.com/search?q=windows+10+how+to+change+default+codepage show two different ways of doing it. The one at SU is one I had seen before, but has caveats in some of the responses to that “solution”; I have never tried the one on the other site, nor seen any comments as to its effectiveness.

If you find practical results from either of those methods, it would be good to share them here.

guy038

Hello, @bas-de-reuver, @peterjones, @alan-kilborn, @michael-vincent and All,

@bas-de-reuver :

Globally, I would say that the ANSI codepage ( or ACP ) is the default encoding used by all the Non-Unicode programs of your machines(s)

To know which is the exact Windows encoding, hidden behind the ACP acronym, simply ask the registry :

reg query HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\CodePage /v *CP /t reg_SZ

On my recent French Win 10 laptop, I get :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\currentControlSet\Control\Nls\CodePage
    ACP    REG_SZ    1252
    OEMCP    REG_SZ    850
    MACCP    REG_SZ    10000

Fin de la recherche : 3 correspondance(s) trouvée(s).

This means that my system :

Uses the Win-1252 encoding when saving files with the ANSI encoding ( Single-byte character encoding of the Latin alphabet in Western languages )
Uses the OEM-850 encoding which is used when opening a console prompt window ( Single-byte character encoding of the Latin alphabet used under DOS in Western Europe )

Moreover, Windows defines the MACCP - 10000 encoding, called MAC OS Roman ( APPLE Single-byte character encoding of the Latin alphabet in Western Languages )

Instead of using the parameters of the reg program, you may simply filter the results of the CodePage key with the findstr built-in DOS command :

reg query HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\CodePage | findstr CP.*REG_SZ

You’ll obtain the same displaying :

    ACP    REG_SZ    1252
    OEMCP    REG_SZ    850
    MACCP    REG_SZ    10000

For instance, a polish user could see :

    ACP    REG_SZ    1250
    OEMCP    REG_SZ    852
    MACCP    REG_SZ    10029

because :

Windows-1250 is a single byte encoding to represent Central or Eastern European languages, that use the Latin script
OEM-852 is a single byte encoding, used under DOS to write Central European languages, that use the Latin script
10029 is an APPLE single-byte encoding, called Mac OS Central European to represent text in Central or Southeastern European languages, that use the Latin script

Best Regards,

guy038

Lycan Thrope

@bas-de-reuver ,

Everybody has given you good answers, but as always, a good search will get you better depth answers. Goes way back, as guy alludes to. Here is the Wikipedia Link that can give you more information and links to other references.

guy038

Hi, All,

Forgot to mention that I got the main information from this link :

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/53691278/how-to-see-which-ansi-code-page-is-used-in-windows

BR

guy038