Text

MTEXT Heights

• The MText height value will be reset to 0 if its default height wasn't modified during creation.

Language

Multiple-Language Support

• Drawing properties in AutoCAD 2008 are saved with Unicode characters. For instance, if you save the latest format drawing containing multiple language drawing properties to a 2004-format drawing, the drawing properties are converted to the native characters of the current Windows language. If text cannot be converted to the native characters, it is saved to CIF codes (\U+nnnn) or MIF codes (\M+nxxxx).
• When saving the latest format drawing to a 2004-format drawing, any new symbol or dictionary names (for example, layout name, text style name, dimension style name) created in AutoCAD 2008 are saved in the language that was used when the symbol names were created.
• When you copy and paste characters that have been created using a language other than the system language, the characters may not be displayed correctly. You can correct this display with the In-Place Text Editor.
  
  To correct the display to show the original language
  1. Double-click the text to open it in the In-Place Text Editor.
  2. Right-click inside the editor. Click Character Set and choose the original language.
• In order to view and edit drawings with characters that are not included in the languages specified for your operating system, make sure supplemental language support is installed in your computer operating system. You can specify the language in the Regional and Language Options dialog box, available from the Windows Control Panel. (You may be able to view text that uses SHX fonts without specifying extra language support.)
• Text styles for Asian languages that use SHX and Big Font can support characters only from the same code page. For example, text styles that use a Japanese Big Font cannot support German or Korean characters. (English characters, which are part of every code page, are supported.) Multiple-language support for non-Asian languages is supported for text styles that use SHX fonts with Big Fonts disabled. (The SHX font must define the required characters.)
• To make it easier to use multiple-language multiline text on operating systems that support different languages, use a TrueType font setting in the In-Place Text Editor.
• Multiple-language support does not exist in some earlier versions of AutoCAD. For example, when you save a file to AutoCAD 2000 format, the contents of multiple-language multiline text may be corrupted. This problem is more likely to happen when you open and save a drawing on an operating system with a system language setting that differs from the system in which the drawing was last saved.

Folder or File Names

• AutoCAD 2006, AutoCAD LT 2006, and prior versions were not Unicode applications. When sharing drawings with earlier, non-Unicode, versions, use ASCII characters to ensure compatibility when you save files, insert xrefs, and specify folder paths.

Double-Byte Character Issues

Data Source Names

• Character codes (such as 0x??41 and 0x??61) that are used for data source names may not be handled correctly. This problem occurs when you create multiple data sources using optional names (Japanese) specified in the database configuration. As a result, some of the data source names may not be listed. When this problem occurs, you can change the name of the unlisted data source to another name.

Subobject and Object Cycling

• Subobject and object cycling using CTRL + SPACEBAR and SHIFT + SPACEBAR does not work in Chinese (PRC and Taiwan) versions of Microsoft Windows. When using the Chinese IME, these key combinations do the following:
  • CTRL + SPACEBAR toggles Chinese IME.
  • SHIFT + SPACEBAR toggles double-byte and single-byte English characters.

  Inside the IME, you can change the accelerator key combinations. You can change the default actions of CTRL + SPACEBAR and SHIFT + SPACEBAR to something that does not conflict with the AutoCAD CTRL + SPACEBAR and SHIFT + SPACEBAR behavior.

Text Display

Vertical Text for Asian Languages

• SHX fonts - Text can be created with SHX fonts and Big Fonts for vertical display in the same way as for previous releases. For best results, use the single-line TEXT command, not MTEXT. You can select a vertical style in the Text Style dialog box.
  
  TrueType fonts - You still select fonts starting with the @ sign, but now the text is automatically rotated 270 degrees. (In AutoCAD 2005 and earlier versions, you had to manually rotate this text.) Vertical cursor movement is now supported for vertical text.

Font Display

• If the default font doesn't support the characters you enter using the In-Place Text Editor (MTEXT command), an alternative font is usually substituted.
• CIF or MIF codes entered with the In-Place Text Editor (MTEXT command) or with the DTEXT command are now automatically converted to display the actual characters.

Updated bigfont.ini

• AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD 2008 are handling custom SHX Big Fonts differently than AutoCAD 2006 and earlier versions. If custom SHX Big Fonts are used in your drawing files, you need to add the SHX Big Font names and their code page ID into the bigfont.ini file in your Support folder. Please refer to the header section of this bigfont.ini file to learn how to add them.

Command Entry

AltGR and Key Combinations

• ALTGR+ any key results in a halt of command entry. This is caused by the CTRL+ALT combination of implied faces extrusion. If you use an ALTGR keyboard layout, the workaround is to set IMPLIEDFACE to 0 (zero).