When working with files that contain Unicode, non-English, or special characters; for example, a CSV file using scientific characters, please ensure the file to be imported is encoded using UTF-8. This will allow Posit programs to read the characters stored in the file correctly.
Files may be converted to UTF-8 in several ways, feel free to use other programs such as Excel, Sublime, or Notepad++ to accomplish this. However, the below methods should be accessible to most users.
To save a file using UTF-8 encoding in Windows:
- Open the file using Notepad.
- Click File > Save As.
- In the dialog window that appears - select "UTF-8" from the Encoding field, then save the file.
- Your non-English characters should now be displayed correctly when imported into Posit Workbench, Desktop Pro, or Connect applications.
To convert a file to UTF-8 via the command-line in *nix systems such as OSX and Linux, use the iconv command.
First, find the encoding of the current file:
file -i originalfile.csv
Next, run the iconv command. Replace original_charset with the current encoding of the file (e.g; ASCII), originalfile.csv with the current name of the file, and newfile.csv with the name you wish to give the UTF-8 file.
iconv -f original_charset -t utf-8 originalfile.csv > newfile.csv
Then import the new UTF-8 encoded file back into your Posit code. The characters should now display correctly.