Vita Hästen - program

PART 4. The Euro Character
1. Generalities & Standards
1.1 What is the Euro character?
The Euro character
is a new symbol representing the Euro currency, the new single
currency of the European Community.
The Euro currency is in application since 1/1/1999.
The introduction of a new currency symbol has far-reaching consequences. Software
applications in all areas of finance and accounting are deeply affected.
The underlying operating systems must enable basic functions like typing, displaying,
printing and exchanging, to support the new symbol.
1.2 Is it the only symbol for Euro currency?
No, there is also the acronym cent (.01 of Euro).
The cent will not be used as a symbol for editing.
1.3 What are the codifications of the Euro Character?
Different codifications exist for the Euro character:
• The ”Currency” ISO 4217 codification, which codes Euro in a chain of 3 characters
(EUR).
• The IBM–1252 codification which codes Euro on 8 bits (hex 80). (This is the codification
implemented in Windows/NT systems).
• The ISO 8859–15 codification which codes Euro on 8 bits (hex a4).
• The Unicode codification which codes Euro on 16 bits (hex 20ac).
• The UTF–8 codification which codes Euro on 24 bits (hex e282ac). This codification can
be mixed up amidst other 8–bit codifications. Estrella 200 and 300 do not support the
UTF-8 codification.
• The PC Code Page 858 codification which codes Euro on 8 bits (hex d5).
1.4 What is the ISO 4217 codification?
ISO 4217 Currency Codes:
This is a list of global currencies and their three–character ISO 4217 currency code. The
ISO 4217 currency code is usually composed of the country’s two–character ISO 3166
country code, plus a one–character currency designator. For example, the code for Belgian
Franc is simply Belgian’s two–character ISO 3166 code (BE) plus a one–character currency
designator (F).
BEF
DEM
DKK
ESP
FRF
GBP
ITL
LUF
NLG
Bull S.A.
Belgian Franc
Deutsche Mark
Danish Crone
Spanish Peseta
French Franc
British Pound
Italian Lira
Luxembourg Franc
Dutch Guilder
May 25th, 1999
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