[Proj] Unicode

Irwin Scollar al001 at uni-koeln.de
Fri Jun 5 00:06:43 PDT 2009


Janne wrote:

>if there are any issues with any text files I would very much 
>recommend to use Unicode.

Unicode may break the code in many other routines from external 
sources in a compiled programme. If one doesn't have source code, it 
will cause run-time errors that break the programme even if it 
compiles.  There may also be incompatibilities with DLL's leading to 
buffer overflows.  This can't be fixed unless you can recompile the 
source for the DLL and any routines which are used for building it.

These caveats don't apply of course if you have all sources in hand 
for a very small programme and don't mind reworking everything where needed.

I have experienced exactly this problem with the programme I maintain 
when I try to use the Code Gear Delphi 2009 compiler that  has 
switched all string processing to Unicode by default.  It produces 
thousands of error messages from various external supplier's source 
code which the compiler tries to rebuild them for linking into my 
programme. There are no problems with earlier compiler versions that 
don't use Unicode unless specifically requested.


Irwin Scollar






More information about the Proj mailing list