Console Application Issues
The 8-bit console functions use the OEM code page. All other functions use the ANSI code page by default. This means that strings returned by the console functions may not be processed correctly by the other functions and vice versa. For example, if FindFirstFileA returns a string that contains certain extended ANSI characters, WriteConsoleA will not display the string properly.
The best long-term solution for a console application is to use Unicode. The console will accept UTF-16 encoding on the W variant of the APIs or UTF-8 encoding on the A variant of the APIs after using SetConsoleCP and SetConsoleOutputCP to 65001 (CP_UTF8 constant) for the UTF-8 code page.
Barring that solution, a console application should use the SetFileApisToOEM function. That function changes relevant file functions so that they produce OEM character set strings rather than ANSI character set strings.
The following are file functions:
CopyFile
CreateDirectory
CreateFile
CreateProcess
DeleteFile
FindFirstFile
FindNextFile
GetCurrentDirectory
GetDiskFreeSpace
GetDriveType
When dealing with command lines, a console application should obtain the command line in Unicode form and convert it to OEM form, using the relevant character-to-OEM functions. Note, also, that argv uses the ANSI character set.
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