Kannadaguy: Created page with "{{short description|Unicode block containing some special codepoints and two non-characters}} {{Infobox Unicode block | blockname = Specials | rangestart = FFF0 | rangeend = FFFF | script1 = Common | 1_0_0 = 1 | 2_1 = 1 | 3_0 = 3 | nonchar = 2 | note = {{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/ucd/|title=Unicode character database|work=The Unicode Standard|access-date=2023-07-26}}{{Cite web|url=https://www...."

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Created page with "{{short description|Unicode block containing some special codepoints and two non-characters}} {{Infobox Unicode block | blockname = Specials | rangestart = FFF0 | rangeend = FFFF | script1 = Common | 1_0_0 = 1 | 2_1 = 1 | 3_0 = 3 | nonchar = 2 | note = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/ucd/|title=Unicode character database|work=The Unicode Standard|access-date=2023-07-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www...."

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{{short description|Unicode block containing some special codepoints and two non-characters}}
{{Infobox Unicode block
| blockname = Specials
| rangestart = FFF0
| rangeend = FFFF
| script1 = [[Script (Unicode)#Special script property values|Common]]
| 1_0_0 = 1
| 2_1 = 1
| 3_0 = 3
| nonchar = 2
| note = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/ucd/|title=Unicode character database|work=The Unicode Standard|access-date=2023-07-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/enumeratedversions.html|title=Enumerated Versions of The Unicode Standard|work=The Unicode Standard|access-date=2023-07-26}}</ref>
}}

'''Specials''' is a short [[Unicode]] block of characters allocated at the very end of the [[Basic Multilingual Plane]], at U+FFF0–FFFF, containing these [[code point]]s:
* {{unichar|FFF9|INTERLINEAR ANNOTATION ANCHOR}}, marks start of [[Interlinear gloss|annotated text]]
* {{unichar|FFFA|INTERLINEAR ANNOTATION SEPARATOR}}, marks start of annotating character(s)
* {{unichar|FFFB|INTERLINEAR ANNOTATION TERMINATOR}}, marks end of annotation block
* <span id="OBJ">{{unichar|FFFC|OBJECT REPLACEMENT CHARACTER}}</span>, placeholder in the text for another unspecified object, for example in a [[compound document]].
* {{unichar|FFFD|REPLACEMENT CHARACTER}} used to replace an unknown, unrecognised, or unrepresentable character
* {{unichar|FFFE|}} not a character.
* {{unichar|FFFF|}} not a character.

{{unichar|FFFE|}} and {{unichar|FFFF|}} are [[Universal Character Set characters#Non-characters|noncharacters]], meaning they are reserved but do not cause ill-formed Unicode text. Versions of the Unicode standard from 3.1.0 to 6.3.0 claimed that these characters should never be interchanged, leading some applications to use them to guess text encoding by interpreting the presence of either as a sign that the text is not Unicode. However, Corrigendum #9 later specified that noncharacters are not illegal and so this method of checking text encoding is incorrect.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unicode.org/versions/corrigendum9.html|title=Corrigendum #9: Clarification About Noncharacters|work=The Unicode Standard|access-date=2023-06-07|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610160203/http://www.unicode.org/versions/corrigendum9.html |archive-date=Jun 10, 2023}}</ref> An example of an internal usage of U+FFFE is the [[CLDR algorithm]]; this extended Unicode algorithm maps the noncharacter to a minimal, unique primary weight.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr35/tr35-collation.html#Algorithm_FFFE|title=Unicode Technical Standard #35|work=Unicode Locale Data Markup Language (LDML)|access-date=2024-08-27}}</ref>

Unicode's {{unichar|FEFF|[[Byte order mark]]}} character can be inserted at the beginning of a Unicode text as a [[byte order mark]] to signal its [[endianness]]: a program reading a text encoded in for example [[UTF-16]] and encountering {{unichar|FFFE|}}would then know that it should switch the byte order for all the following characters.

Its block name in Unicode 1.0 was '''Special'''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode1.0.0/CodeCharts2.pdf |work=The Unicode Standard |version=Version 1.0 |title=3.8: Block-by-Block Charts |publisher=[[Unicode Consortium]] |access-date=2020-09-30 |archive-date=2021-02-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211080017/https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode1.0.0/CodeCharts2.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Replacement character ==
[[File:Replacement character but in a different font.svg|180px|thumb|Replacement character|class=skin-invert-image]]
The '''replacement character''' � (often displayed as a [[rhombus]] with a question mark) is a symbol found in the [[Unicode]] standard at code point U+FFFD in the ''Specials'' table. It is used to indicate problems when a system is unable to render a stream of data to correct symbols.<ref name="Wichary fallback">{{cite web |last1=Wichary |first1=Marcin |title=When fonts fall |date=September 29, 2020 |url=https://www.figma.com/blog/when-fonts-fall/ |publisher=Figma |access-date=6 June 2021 |archive-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613175106/https://www.figma.com/blog/when-fonts-fall/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

At one time, the replacement character was often used when there was no glyph available in a font for that character, as in [[font substitution]]. However, most modern text rendering systems instead use a font's {{tt|[[.notdef]]}} character, which in most cases is an empty box, or a <code>?</code> or <code>X</code> in a box<ref>{{cite web |title=Recommendations for OpenType Fonts (OpenType 1.7) - Typography |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/opentype/otspec170/recom#shape-of-notdef-glyph |website=Microsoft Learn |access-date=18 October 2020 |language=en-us |archive-date=19 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019135242/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/opentype/otspec170/recom#shape-of-notdef-glyph |url-status=live }}</ref> (the browser rendering this page displays 􏿾 for U+10FFEE), sometimes called a "[[Noto fonts#Etymology|tofu]]". There is no Unicode code point for this symbol.

Thus the replacement character is now only seen for encoding errors.

As an example, an [[E-mail]] message that is encoded in [[Windows-1252]] and contains non-breaking spaces in it will contain the byte <code>0xA0</code> for each non-breaking space. The message is then opened in a client that assumes the input is [[UTF-8]]. Since bytes between <code>0x80</code> and <code>0xFF</code> are not valid as standalone bytes in UTF-8, the client opening this message could replace these bytes with the replacement character to produce a valid string of Unicode code points for display.<ref name="Mozilla">{{cite web|author= |date=6 December 2017 |title=Why do my sent messages magically add "ï¿½" at the end of my sentences? |url=https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1193450 |access-date=2 August 2026}}</ref>

The replacement character (<code>{{nowrap|0xEF 0xBF 0xBD}}</code>) may get written out if the viewer saves or copies the text; these three bytes will then replace every encoding error. Even if the result is viewed as Windows-1252, these will now all display identically as <code>ï¿½</code>.<ref name="Mozilla" /> As all UTF-8 encoding errors are turned into the same sequence, it is impossible to recover the original text. Some software programs translate invalid UTF-8 bytes to matching characters in [[Windows-1252]] (since that is the most common source of these errors) or into {{mono|U+CDxx}}, so less information is lost,{{facts|date=February 2026}} and the result that the replacement character is never seen.

== Unicode chart ==
{{Unicode chart Specials}}

== History ==
The following Unicode-related documents record the purpose and process of defining specific characters in the Specials block:

{{sticky header}}
{| class="wikitable collapsible sticky-header"
|-
! [[Unicode#Versions|Version]] !! {{nobr|Final code points<ref group=lower-alpha name=final/>}} !! Count !! [[Unicode Consortium|UTC]] ID !! [[International Committee for Information Technology Standards|L2]] ID !! [[ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 2|WG2]] ID !! Document
|-
| rowspan="5" | 1.0.0 || U+FFFD || 1 || || || || (to be determined)
|-
| rowspan="4" | U+FFFE..FFFF || rowspan="4" | 2 || || || || (to be determined)
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/consortium/utc-minutes/UTC-088-200108.html L2/01-295R]}} || || {{Citation|title=Minutes from the UTC/L2 meeting #88|date=2001-11-06|first=Lisa|last=Moore|section=Motion 88-M2|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2001/01355-FFFF_in_UTF-8.htm L2/01-355]}} || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/wg2/docs/n2369.htm N2369 (html],}} [https://www.unicode.org/wg2/docs/n2369.doc doc]) || {{Citation|title=Request to allow FFFF, FFFE in UTF-8 in the text of ISO/IEC 10646|date=2001-09-26|first=Mark|last=Davis|author-link=Mark Davis (Unicode)|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2002/02154-n2403-minutes.pdf L2/02-154]}} || [https://www.unicode.org/wg2/docs/n2403.pdf N2403] || {{Citation|title=Draft minutes of WG 2 meeting 41, Hotel Phoenix, Singapore, 2001-10-15/19|date=2002-04-22|first=V. S.|last=Umamaheswaran|section=9.3 Allowing FFFF and FFFE in UTF-8|ref=none}}
|-
| rowspan="8" | 2.1 || rowspan="8" | U+FFFC || rowspan="8" | 1 || {{nobr|UTC/1995-056}} || || || {{Citation|title=Recommendation to encode a WCH_EMBEDDING character|date=1995-12-06|first=Murray|last=Sargent|ref=none}}
|-
| {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1996-UTC/UTC67-Minutes.TXT UTC/1996-002]}} || || || {{Citation|title=UTC #67 Minutes|date=1996-03-05|first1=Joan|last1=Aliprand|first2=Edwin|last2=Hart|first3=Steve|last3=Greenfield|section=Embedded Objects|ref=none}}
|-
| || || N1365 || {{Citation|title=Proposal Summary – Object Replacement Character|date=1996-03-18|first=Murray|last=Sargent|ref=none}}
|-
| || || [https://web.archive.org/web/20200215052615/http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n1353.doc N1353] || {{Citation|title=Draft minutes of WG2 Copenhagen Meeting # 30|date=1996-06-25|first1=V. S.|last1=Umamaheswaran|first2=Mike|last2=Ksar|section=8.14|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|L2/97-288}} || [https://web.archive.org/web/20200215052615/http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n1603.doc N1603] || {{Citation|title=Unconfirmed Meeting Minutes, WG 2 Meeting # 33, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 20 June – 4 July 1997|date=1997-10-24|first=V. S.|last=Umamaheswaran|section=7.3|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1998/98004R.pdf L2/98-004R]}} || N1681 || {{Citation|title=Text of ISO 10646 – AMD 18 for PDAM registration and FPDAM ballot|date=1997-12-22|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1998/98070.pdf L2/98-070]}} || || {{Citation|title=Minutes of the joint UTC and L2 meeting from the meeting in Cupertino, February 25-27, 1998|first1=Joan|last1=Aliprand|first2=Arnold|last2=Winkler|section=Additional comments regarding 2.1|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1998/02n3188.pdf L2/98-318]}} || [https://web.archive.org/web/20200215052615/http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n1894_02n3188_fpdam%2018.pdf N1894] || {{Citation|title=Revised text of 10646-1/FPDAM 18, AMENDMENT 18: Symbols and Others|date=1998-10-22|ref=none}}
|-
| rowspan="18" | 3.0 || rowspan="18" | U+FFF9..FFFB || rowspan="18" | 3 || || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1997/97255r.pdf L2/97-255R]}} || || {{Citation|title=Approved Minutes – UTC #73 & L2 #170 joint meeting, Palo Alto, CA – August 4-5, 1997|date=1997-12-03|first=Joan|last=Aliprand|section=3.D Proposal for In-Line Notation (ruby)|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1998/98055.pdf L2/98-055]}} || || {{Citation|title=Support for Implementing Inline and Interlinear Annotations|date=1998-02-22|first=Asmus|last=Freytag|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1998/98070.pdf L2/98-070]}} || || {{Citation|title=Minutes of the joint UTC and L2 meeting from the meeting in Cupertino, February 25-27, 1998|first1=Joan|last1=Aliprand|first2=Arnold|last2=Winkler|section=3.C.5. Support for implementing inline and interlinear annotations|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|L2/98-099}} || N1727 || {{Citation|title=Support for Implementing Interlinear Annotations as used in East Asian Typography|date=1998-03-18|first=Asmus|last=Freytag|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1998/98158.html L2/98-158]}} || || {{Citation|title=Draft Minutes – UTC #76 & NCITS Subgroup L2 #173 joint meeting, Tredyffrin, Pennsylvania, April 20-22, 1998|date=1998-05-26|first1=Joan|last1=Aliprand|first2=Arnold|last2=Winkler|section=Inline and Interlinear Annotations|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|L2/98-286}} || [https://web.archive.org/web/20200215052615/http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n1703w97.doc N1703] || {{Citation|title=Unconfirmed Meeting Minutes, WG 2 Meeting #34, Redmond, WA, USA; 1998-03-16--20|date=1998-07-02|first1=V. S.|last1=Umamaheswaran|first2=Mike|last2=Ksar|section=8.14|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|L2/98-270}} || || {{Citation|title=Suggestion to the inline and interlinear annotation proposal|date=1998-07-29|first1=Hideki|last1=Hiura|first2=Tatsuo|last2=Kobayashi|author-link2=Tatsuo Kobayashi|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1998/98281r.pdf L2/98-281R (pdf],}} [https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1998/98281R.htm html]) || || {{Citation|title=Unconfirmed Minutes – UTC #77 & NCITS Subgroup L2 # 174 JOINT MEETING, Redmond, WA -- July 29-31, 1998|date=1998-07-31|first=Joan|last=Aliprand|section=In-Line and Interlinear Annotation (III.C.1.c)|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|L2/98-363}} || [https://www.unicode.org/wg2/docs/n1861.pdf N1861] || {{Citation|title=Ruby markers|date=1998-09-01|first=T. K.|last=Sato|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|L2/98-372}} || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/wg2/docs/n1884.pdf N1884R2 (pdf],}} [https://www.unicode.org/wg2/docs/n1884.doc doc]) || {{Citation|title=Additional Characters for the UCS|date=1998-09-22|first1=Ken|last1=Whistler|display-authors=etal|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|L2/98-416}} || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/wg2/docs/n1882.zip N1882.zip]}} || {{Citation|title=Support for Implementing Interlinear Annotations|date=1998-09-23|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1998/02n3210.pdf L2/98-329]}} || [https://web.archive.org/web/20200215052615/http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n1920_02n3210_text_pdam_30_addlatin.pdf N1920] || {{Citation|title=Combined PDAM registration and consideration ballot on WD for ISO/IEC 10646-1/Amd. 30, AMENDMENT 30: Additional Latin and other characters|date=1998-10-28|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1998/98421.htm L2/98-421R]}} || || {{Citation|title=Notes concerning the PDAM 30 interlinear annotation characters|date=1998-12-04|first1=Michel|last1=Suignard|first2=Hideki|last2=Hiura|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1999/n1903.rtf L2/99-010]}} || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/wg2/docs/n1903.pdf N1903 (pdf],}} [https://www.unicode.org/wg2/docs/n1903.htm html], [https://www.unicode.org/wg2/docs/n1903w97.doc doc]) || {{Citation|title=Minutes of WG 2 meeting 35, London, U.K.; 1998-09-21--25|date=1998-12-30|first=V. S.|last=Umamaheswaran|section=8.2.15|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1998/98419.pdf L2/98-419 (pdf],}} [https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1998/98419.doc doc]) || || {{Citation|title=Approved Minutes -- UTC #78 & NCITS Subgroup L2 # 175 Joint Meeting, San Jose, CA -- December 1-4, 1998|date=1999-02-05|first=Joan|last=Aliprand|section=Interlinear Annotation Characters|ref=none}}
|-
| {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1999-UTC/u1999-021.txt UTC/1999-021]}} || || || {{Citation|title=W3C XML CG statement on annotation characters|date=1999-06-08|first1=Martin|last1=Duerst|first2=Jon|last2=Bosak|author-link2=Jon Bosak|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L1999/99176.htm L2/99-176R]}} || || {{Citation|title=Minutes from the joint UTC/L2 meeting in Seattle, June 8-10, 1999|date=1999-11-04|first=Lisa|last=Moore|section=W3C Liaison Statement on Annotation Characters|ref=none}}
|-
| || {{nobr|[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2001/01301-deprecation.txt L2/01-301]}} || || {{Citation|title=Analysis of Character Deprecation in the Unicode Standard|date=2001-08-01|first=Ken|last=Whistler|section=E. Indicated as "strongly discouraged" for plain text interchange|ref=none}}
|- class="sortbottom"
| colspan="7" | {{reflist|group=lower-alpha|refs=<ref name=final>Proposed code points and characters names may differ from final code points and names</ref>}}
|}

== See also ==
* [[Unicode control characters]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Unicode navigation}}

[[Category:Unicode blocks|Specials]]

Specials (Unicode block) - Revision history