Because all strings pass through Java at some point it can be useful to handle them with Unicode support (since Java's internal string representation is UTF-8 encoded). In particular, screens display UTF-8 strings, meaning the related GPU functions expect UTF-8 strings. Also, keyboard input will generally be UTF-8 encoded, especially the clipboard.
However, keep in mind that while wide characters can be displayed, input and output of those is not fully supported in OpenOS's software (i.e. the shell, edit and Lua interpreter).
The following functions are provided to allow basic UTF-8 handling:
unicode.char(value: number, ...): string
string.char
. The values may be in the full UTF-8 range, not just ASCII.unicode.len(value: string): number
string.len
. For example, for Ümläüt
it'll return 6
, where string.len
would return 9
.unicode.lower(value: string): string
string.lower
.unicode.reverse(value: string): string
string.reverse
. For example, for Ümläüt
it'll return tüälmÜ
, where string.reverse
would return tälm
.unicode.sub(value: string, i:number[, j:number]): string
string.sub
.unicode.upper(value: string): string
string.upper
.For example, these are used when files are opened in non-binary mode. The original string functions are used for files opened in binary mode.