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ISO/IEC 8859

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ISO 8859, more formally ISO/IEC 8859, is a set of currently 15 related ISO standards for 8-bit character encodings for use by computers. These standards are based upon ASCII, the most widely used 7-bit character encoding.

Introduction

While the 128 ASCII characters are sufficient to exchange information in modern English without preventing comprehension, most other languages that use the Roman alphabet need additional symbols not covered by ASCII, such as ß (German), å (Swedish and other Nordic languages), etc. ISO 8859 sought to remedy this problem by extending 7-bit ASCII to eight bits, allowing positions for another 128 characters. However, more characters were needed to achieve this than could fit in a single 8-bit character encoding, so several were developed (until now ten alone for Latin). All the encodings, however, encode the first 128 positions (from 0 to 127) in the same way as each other and the same way as ASCII. Positions 128 to 159 contain control characters. The upper 96 code points of each ISO 8859 encoding differ.

Characters

The ISO 8859 standards are designed for reliable information exchange, not typography. As a result, the standards omit symbols needed for high-quality typography, such as optional ligatures, curly quotation marks, dashes, etc. As a result, high-quality typesetting systems often use proprietary or idiosyncratic extensions on top of the ASCII and ISO 8859 standards, or use Unicode instead.

As a rule of thumb, if a character or symbol was not already part of a widely used data-processing character set and was also not usually provided on typewriter keyboards for a national language, it didn't get in. Hence the directional double quotation marks « and » used for some European languages were included, but not the directional double quotation marks “ and ” used for English and some other languages. French didn't get its &#339 and &#338 ligatures because French speakers had not previously needed them enough to demand them on their keyboards, and French did not get the Ÿ either, because this character is only used in French in all caps text. These oversights were finally fixed with ISO 8859-15, which also introduced the new Euro character. Likewise Dutch did not get the 'ij' and 'IJ' letters, because Dutch speakers had gotten used to typing 'ij' and 'IJ' instead. Romanian did not initially get its 'Ș/ș' and 'Ț/ț' letters, because they were falsely identified with 'Ş/ş' and 'Ţ/ţ'. The latter oversight was fixed with ISO 8859-16.

Most of the ISO 8859 encodings provide diacritic marks required for various European languages. Others provide non-Roman alphabets: Greek, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Arabic and Thai. However, the standard makes no provision for the scripts of East Asian languages (CJK), as their ideographic writing systems require many thousands of code points. Although it is using Latin based characters, Vietnamese does not fit into 96 positions either; Japanese syllabric Kana scripts on the other hand might, but like several other alphapets of the world isn't encoded.

Character Sets

The encodings defined by ISO-8859 include:

¹: only the IJ/ij (Dutch Y) is missing, which can be represented as IJ
²: missing characters are in ISO 8859-15

The ISO 8859 standards are designed to allow many language combinations within one charset, but even among the Latin script there are a lot of combinations, that are not possible without transcriptions. While writing English is possible with ASCII alone and thus in all ISO 8859 sets, efforts were made to make conversions as smooth as possible, e.g. German has all its seven special chars at the same positions in all latin variants (1-4, 9+10, 13-16) and on many positions the characters only differ in the diacritics between the sets.

As of 2004 no new drafts exist, as it seems 8-bit character encodings are finally being replaced by Unicode. ISO 8859-17 is therefore meaningless in character encoding context.

Alternatives

An alternative character set standard called Unicode was developed to unify coverage of the other character sets. It supports over a million code points (ISO 8859: 191) by using several character encodings of 8-bit, 16-bit, or variable-length words. Because Unicode does away with the limitations of 8-bit character encodings, it is often preferred for new applications. However, ISO 8859 has the advantage of being well-established, and simpler software is needed to manipulate it: the equation of one byte to one character holds, there are no combining characters or variant forms, and fonts remain conveniently small. Unicode's first 256 characters are identical to ISO-8859-1 (Latin 1). Most modern software uses Unicode internally, and maps the older 8-bit encodings like ISO 8859 to Unicode using conversion tables.

Table

Comparison of the various parts of ISO-8859
Binary Oct Dec Hex 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 16
10100000 240 160 A0 NBSP NBSP NBSP NBSP NBSP NBSP NBSP NBSP NBSP NBSP NBSP NBSP NBSP NBSP NBSP
10100001 241 161 A1 ¡ Ą Ħ Ą Ё   ʽ   ¡ Ą ก " Ḃ ¡ Ą
10100010 242 162 A2 ¢ ˘ ˘ ĸ Ђ   ʼ ¢ ¢ Ē ข ¢ ḃ ¢ ą
10100011 243 163 A3 £ Ł £ Ŗ Ѓ   £ £ £ Ģ ฃ £ £ £ Ł
10100100 244 164 A4 ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ Є ¤   ¤ ¤ Ī ค ¤ Ċ € €
10100101 245 165 A5 ¥ Ľ   Ĩ Ѕ     ¥ ¥ Ĩ ฅ " ċ ¥ "
10100110 246 166 A6 ¦ Ś Ĥ Ļ І   ¦ ¦ ¦ Ķ ฆ ¦ Ḋ Š Š
10100111 247 167 A7 § § § § Ї   § § § § ง § § § §
10101000 250 168 A8 ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ Ј   ¨ ¨ ¨ Ļ จ Ø Ẁ š š
10101001 251 169 A9 © Š İ Š Љ   © © © Đ ฉ © © © ©
10101010 252 170 AA ª Ş Ş Ē Њ     × ª Š ช Ŗ Ẃ ª Ș
10101011 253 171 AB « Ť Ğ Ģ Ћ   « « « Ŧ ซ « ḋ « «
10101100 254 172 AC ¬ Ź Ĵ Ŧ Ќ ، ¬ ¬ ¬ Ž ฌ ¬ Ỳ ¬ Ź
10101101 255 173 AD ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ญ ­ ­ ­ ­
10101110 256 174 AE ® Ž   Ž Ў     ® ® Ū ฎ ® ® ® ź
10101111 257 175 AF ¯ Ż Ż ¯ Џ   ― ‾ ¯ Ŋ ฏ Æ Ÿ ¯ Ż
10110000 260 176 B0 ° ° ° ° А   ° ° ° ° ฐ ° Ḟ ° °
10110001 261 177 B1 ± ą ħ ą Б   ± ± ± ą ฑ ± ḟ ± ±
10110010 262 178 B2 ² ˛ ² ˛ В   ² ² ² ē ฒ ² Ġ ² Č
10110011 263 179 B3 ³ ł ³ ŗ Г   ³ ³ ³ ģ ณ ³ ġ ³ ł
10110100 264 180 B4 ´ ´ ´ ´ Д   ΄ ´ ´ ī ด " Ṁ Ž Ž
10110101 265 181 B5 µ ľ µ ĩ Е   ΅ µ µ ĩ ต µ ṁ µ "
10110110 266 182 B6 ś ĥ ļ Ж   Ά ķ ถ
10110111 267 183 B7 · ˇ · ˇ З   · · · · ท · Ṗ · ·
10111000 270 184 B8 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ И   Έ ¸ ¸ ļ ธ ø ẁ ž ž
10111001 271 185 B9 ¹ š ı š Й   Ή ¹ ¹ đ น ¹ ṗ ¹ č
10111010 272 186 BA º ş ş ē К   Ί ÷ º š บ ŗ ẃ º ș
10111011 273 187 BB » ť ğ ģ Л ؛ » » » ŧ ป » Ṡ » »
10111100 274 188 BC ¼ ź ĵ ŧ М   Ό ¼ ¼ ž ผ ¼ ỳ Œ Œ
10111101 275 189 BD ½ ˝ ½ Ŋ Н   ½ ½ ½ ― ฝ ½ Ẅ œ œ
10111110 276 190 BE ¾ ž   ž О   Ύ ¾ ¾ ū พ ¾ ẅ Ÿ Ÿ
10111111 277 191 BF ¿ ż ż ŋ П ؟ Ώ   ¿ ŋ ฟ æ ṡ ¿ ż
11000000 300 192 C0 À Ŕ À Ā Р   ΐ   À Ā ภ Ą À À À
11000001 301 193 C1 Á Á Á Á С ء Α   Á Á ม Į Á Á Á
11000010 302 194 C2 Â Â Â Â Т آ Β   Â Â ย Ā Â Â Â
11000011 303 195 C3 Ã Ă   Ã У أ Γ   Ã Ã ร Ć Ã Ã Ă
11000100 304 196 C4 Ä Ä Ä Ä Ф ؤ Δ   Ä Ä ฤ Ä Ä Ä Ä
11000101 305 197 C5 Å Ĺ Ċ Å Х إ Ε   Å Å ล Å Å Å Ć
11000110 306 198 C6 Æ Ć Ĉ Æ Ц ئ Ζ   Æ Æ ฦ Ę Æ Æ Æ
11000111 307 199 C7 Ç Ç Ç Į Ч ا Η   Ç Į ว Ē Ç Ç Ç
11001000 310 200 C8 È Č È Č Ш ب Θ   È Č ศ Č È È È
11001001 311 201 C9 É É É É Щ ة Ι   É É ษ É É É É
11001010 312 202 CA Ê Ę Ê Ę Ъ ت Κ   Ê Ę ส Ź Ê Ê Ê
11001011 313 203 CB Ë Ë Ë Ë Ы ث Λ   Ë Ë ห Ė Ë Ë Ë
11001100 314 204 CC Ì Ě Ì Ė Ь ج Μ   Ì Ė ฬ Ģ Ì Ì Ì
11001101 315 205 CD Í Í Í Í Э ح Ν   Í Í อ Ķ Í Í Í
11001110 316 206 CE Î Î Î Î Ю خ Ξ   Î Î ฮ Ī Î Î Î
11001111 317 207 CF Ï Ď Ï Ī Я د Ο   Ï Ï ฯ Ļ Ï Ï Ï
11010000 320 208 D0 Ð Đ   Đ а ذ Π   Ğ Ð ะ Š Ŵ Ð Ð
11010001 321 209 D1 Ñ Ń Ñ Ņ б ر Ρ   Ñ Ņ ั Ń Ñ Ñ Ń
11010010 322 210 D2 Ò Ň Ò Ō в ز     Ò Ō า Ņ Ò Ò Ò
11010011 323 211 D3 Ó Ó Ó Ķ г س Σ   Ó Ó ำ Ó Ó Ó Ó
11010100 324 212 D4 Ô Ô Ô Ô д ش Τ   Ô Ô ิ Ō Ô Ô Ô
11010101 325 213 D5 Õ Ő Ġ Õ е ص Υ   Õ Õ ี Õ Õ Õ Ő
11010110 326 214 D6 Ö Ö Ö Ö ж ض Φ   Ö Ö ึ Ö Ö Ö Ö
11010111 327 215 D7 × × × × з ط Χ   × Ũ ื × Ṫ × Ś
11011000 330 216 D8 Ø Ř Ĝ Ø и ظ Ψ   Ø Ø ุ Ų Ø Ø Ű
11011001 331 217 D9 Ù Ů Ù Ų й ع Ω   Ù Ų ู Ł Ù Ù Ù
11011010 332 218 DA Ú Ú Ú Ú к غ Ϊ   Ú Ú ฺ Ś Ú Ú Ú
11011011 333 219 DB Û Ű Û Û л   Ϋ   Û Û   Ū Û Û Û
11011100 334 220 DC Ü Ü Ü Ü м   ά   Ü Ü   Ü Ü Ü Ü
11011101 335 221 DD Ý Ý Ŭ Ũ н   έ   İ Ý   Ż Ý Ý Ę
11011110 336 222 DE Þ Ţ Ŝ Ū о   ή   Ş Þ   Ž Ŷ Þ Ț
11011111 337 223 DF ß ß ß ß п   ί ‗ ß ß ฿ ß ß ß ß
11100000 340 224 E0 à ŕ à ā р ـ ΰ א à ā เ ą à à à
11100001 341 225 E1 á á á á с ف α ב á á แ į á á á
11100010 342 226 E2 â â â â т ق β ג â â โ ā â â â
11100011 343 227 E3 ã ă   ã у ك γ ד ã ã ใ ć ã ã ă
11100100 344 228 E4 ä ä ä ä ф ل δ ה ä ä ไ ä ä ä ä
11100101 345 229 E5 å ĺ ċ å х م ε ו å å ๅ å å å ć
11100110 346 230 E6 æ ć ĉ æ ц ن ζ ז æ æ ๆ ę æ æ æ
11100111 347 231 E7 ç ç ç į ч ه η ח ç į ็ ē ç ç ç
11101000 350 232 E8 è č è č ш و θ ט è č ่ č è è è
11101001 351 233 E9 é é é é щ ى ι י é é ้ é é é é
11101010 352 234 EA ê ę ê ę ъ ي κ ך ê ę ๊ ź ê ê ê
11101011 353 235 EB ë ë ë ë ы ً λ כ ë ë ๋ ė ë ë ë
11101100 354 236 EC ì ě ì ė ь ٌ μ ל ì ė ์ ģ ì ì ì
11101101 355 237 ED í í í í э ٍ ν ם í í ํ ķ í í í
11101110 356 238 EE î î î î ю َ ξ מ î î ๎ ī î î î
11101111 357 239 EF ï ď ï ī я ُ ο ן ï ï ๏ ļ ï ï ï
11110000 360 240 F0 ð đ   đ № ِ π נ ğ ð ๐ š ŵ ð đ
11110001 361 241 F1 ñ ń ñ ņ ё ّ ρ ס ñ ņ ๑ ń ñ ñ ń
11110010 362 242 F2 ò ň ò ō ђ ْ ς ע ò ō ๒ ņ ò ò ò
11110011 363 243 F3 ó ó ó ķ ѓ   σ ף ó ó ๓ ó ó ó ó
11110100 364 244 F4 ô ô ô ô є   τ פ ô ô ๔ ō ô ô ô
11110101 365 245 F5 õ ő ġ õ ѕ   υ ץ õ õ ๕ õ õ õ ő
11110110 366 246 F6 ö ö ö ö і   φ צ ö ö ๖ ö ö ö ö
11110111 367 247 F7 ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ї   χ ק ÷ ũ ๗ ÷ ṫ ÷ ś
11111000 370 248 F8 ø ř ĝ ø ј   ψ ר ø ø ๘ ų ø ø ű
11111001 371 249 F9 ù ů ù ų љ   ω ש ù ų ๙ ł ù ù ù
11111010 372 250 FA ú ú ú ú њ   ϊ ת ú ú ๚ ś ú ú ú
11111011 373 251 FB û ű û û ћ   ϋ   û û ๛ ū û û û
11111100 374 252 FC ü ü ü ü ќ   ό   ü ü   ü ü ü ü
11111101 375 253 FD ý ý ŭ ũ §   ύ   ı ý   ż ý ý ę
11111110 376 254 FE þ ţ ŝ ū ў   ώ   ş þ   ž ŷ þ ț
11111111 377 255 FF ÿ ˙ ˙ ˙ џ       ÿ ĸ   ’ ÿ ÿ ÿ

At position 0xA0 there's always the non breaking space and 0xAD is mostly the soft hyphen, which only shows at line breaks. Other empty fields are either unassigned or the system used isn't able to display them.

External References

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