I have only one objection to these proposals, which is the same one
others have expressed:
you cannot play with ASCII; in fact, an argument could be made
that ASCII does not need the Euro character. I believe that it belongs
in the range 128 -255, like the yen and pound characters.
Here's an idea to remove the Unicode issue mentioned:
I know that the Unicode committee has a resistance to changing
the symbol attached to any assigned code point, but since the existing
symbol has never come into existence (this is true, isn't it?), this
might be a case for re-assigning the old codepoint to the new symbol.
Is this so unspeakable?
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Carrasco Benitez Manuel [SMTP:manuel.carrasco@emea.eudra.org]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 1997 3:42 AM
> To: Multiple Recipients of
> Subject: Euro currency sign
>
> HTML version at http://www.crpht.lu/~carrasco/winter/euro.html
>
> IT ASPECTS OF THE EURO CURRENCY SIGN
>
> M.T. Carrasco Benitez
> The European Agency
> for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products
>
> INTRODUCTION
> The euro is the European Union currency that should be introduced
> from the 1 January 1999. For details look at
>
> http://europa.eu.int/euro/
>
> This document discusses some of the aspects related to the euro
> currency sign and IT (information technology).
>
> UNICODE
> The euro currency sign is in Unicode Version 2.0:
>
> Unicode number Glyph Name
> 20A0 CE EURO-CURRENCY SIGN
>
> The glyph "CE" (both characters are interlaced with the E lower)
> is *not* the euro glyph. The euro glyph is like a "E" with two
> bars in the middle. The official design is at the URL above.
>
> Apparently there is an initiative for creating a new position in
> Unicode at 20AC for the official glyph.
>
> ASCII AND LATIN1
> A position should be found for the euro currency sign in ASCII and
> Latin1 (ISO 8859-1), as there will be many systems using these
> encoding after the euro is introduced.
>
> The position chosen should have some desirable characteristics:
>
> - Little or not used.
> - Minimal harms</em> if the euro or the original glyph appears.
> - In the lower table (positions 0 to 127), as it is valid for both
> encoding.
> - Present in the qwerty keyboard.
>
> The following position is proposed:
>
> Unicode number Glyph Name
> 007C | VERTICAL LINE
>
> If the position for the euro was in the upper table (positions 128 to
> 255), another position would be needed in the lower table or it would
> not be available in ASCII.
>
> HTML ENTITY
> An entity should be included in HTML for the euro. It is proposed:
>
> €
>
> It is recommended that this entity be used in preference to the
> (ASCII)
> code corresponding to the position that it is eventually chosen. This
> allows making the intention clear that one wants the euro.
>
> PUBLICITY
> There must be publicity focused on the IT vendors on the approved euro
> glyph, the position in ASCII, etc. Otherwise the computer equipment
> needed
> would not be available with the correct glyph: if a programmer in San
> Jose
> were requested to introduce the euro currency sign, he would probably
> consult
> the Unicode book and copy the (wrong) "CE" glyph.
>
> INTRODUCTION OF THE EURO GLYPH
> The euro currency sign should be introduced to the computer equipments
> as
> soon as the situation is clarified regarding Unicode and ASCII.
>
> FEEDBACK
> Please send comments to
>
> manuel.carrasco@emea.eudra.org
>
> DISCLAIMER
> This document represent only the views of the author.
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