>>>>> "Jörg" == Jörg Knappen <[log in to unmask]> writes: Jörg> If there is no byte oreder mark, assume ASCII or some non-Unicode Jörg> 8 bit encoding. s/ASCII/UTF-8/ since utf-8 files should not have BOMs. Otherwise, that is a good idea. As for utf-8 or other, it may be useful to default to the character set specified for the current $LOCALE. Maybe. :-/ -JimC -- James Cloos <[log in to unmask]> OpenPGP: 1024D/ED7DAEA6