Extended Characters in Filenames Under Windows 3.1

• Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.1, 3.11

SUMMARY

Under Microsoft Windows operating system version 3.1, a number of applications have problems with extended characters in filenames that "worked" under Windows 3.0.

The root of this problem involves the mapping of the extended ANSI set between 128-159 under Windows 3.1, which was NOT mapped under Windows 3.0.

MORE INFORMATION

The difference in mapping between 3.1 and 3.0 involves the characters in the extended ANSI set between 128-159. Windows version 3.1 maps the extended characters between 128-159, whereas Windows 3.0 does not. When a file is opened, Windows assumes that the filename is an ANSI character string for the base ANSI character set and a special conversion is made to address the extended character set. Some applications also do the conversion themselves. If the conversion is done twice, the file cannot be opened.

This extra character support is important for international interaction, as these characters are fundamental characters in most European alphabets.

This problem has always occurred for the characters 160 and above. It is more noticeable with Windows 3.1 due to the extensive use of the characters 128 through 159. However, removing this support from Windows 3.1 would only lessen the occurrence of this problem, not solve it.