CodeOptimist

I'm writing an app that could really use some fraction symbols. I see that there are some in the "extended" ASCII character set (128-255). Is it a bad idea to use characters from that range, since it's not standardized in any way (AFAIK)?

CodeOptimist

Bump...

Flyguy

I think it all depends on the font which is used.
I you use one of the regular fonts and use it's upper ascii part then you will not encounter any problems.

mkaras

Here is a good way to evaluate the use of special symbols and the fonts that may support various symbols.

First off use the CHARMAP utility. This allows you to preview a selected font file to see the full set of glyphs supported in that font. This also helps you understand the character code for each glyph.

Evaluate the availability and tranportability of a font under Windows. A real easy way to do this is to make a simple document in something like WordPad that has the fonts and glyphs you are interested in included in the document. Make sure to save this document in a format such as RTF wherein the font selection names are preserved. Open this document on all the intended target platforms to see if the fonts on that Windows installation will correctly display the glyphs in the test document.

After this is complete you will then know if it is a reasonable idea to select the use of a certain font with your VB program. If you choose to use Arial for example you have a reasonable expectation to find that font on all Windows installations...as long as you are aware that there are unicode compatible and non-unicode compatible versions of Arial fonts. On the other hand if you choose some specialty font such as KristenITV it may be a hit and miss thing to find that font on the platforms away from your development environment.

Unicode supporting platforms and unicode compatible fonts have a huge advantage over the use of non-unicode fonts in the fact that there are standardized character codes used for each symbol. Thus the glyph coding for the ⅔ symbol will stay the same no matter which font you select. Do note that not all unicode compatible font sets support all possible symbols and so if you select a font to display ⅞ it may display as a "unsupported glyph" via a blank or box symbol using a different font set.

Note: If you have a full unicode supporting browser you should be able to see the fraction set that is supported to varying degrees by the unicode fonts on my system:

¼ ½ ¾ ⅓ ⅔ ⅛ ⅜ ⅝ ⅞

The unicode Arial font supports all of the above.

I appologize in advance to any readers here that are trying to access this post with a non-unicode browser and thus unable to see the fraction symbols I have used here.