Unicode Characters
You can use non-English characters (called "Unicode") in your records and reports. Unlike inserting special characters from a predefined list, using Unicode allows you to enter characters beyond the ANSI character set.
Using Unicode
Once you enable Unicode, you can enter special characters in your records and reports.
In the field or the report editor, you can:
- use your keyboard to enter special characters,
- copy and paste them from a document,
- or open the on-screen keyboard using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + /.
If you're exporting to .csv files, select Unicode in the Export Properties window so special characters display properly in your spreadsheet.
Tips
Here are some things to keep in mind.
- Unicode characters take more than one standard character space in fields. So, for example, a 30-character field can't hold 30 Unicode characters.
- Records that use Unicode are sorted at the end of the list.
- The Search feature may not find a record entered in a different case. For example, if the name was entered as "Trần", search may not find "TRẦN".
Enable Unicode
If you decide to use Unicode, you can enable it in PDS.
- On the File menu in your PDS program, click .
- Click the Unicode tab.
- Read the description. If you're sure you want to continue, select Enable Unicode.
- Click Yes to confirm that you want to enable Unicode.
- Click OK, then restart your program.
Disable Unicode
Warning: If you disable Unicode after you've used special characters in your records, the special characters may not display properly. You may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols in place of the special character.
- On the File menu in your PDS program, click .
- Click the Unicode tab.
- Read the description. If you're sure you want to continue, select Disable Unicode.
- Click Yes to confirm that you want to disable Unicode.
- Click OK, then restart your program.