C# Unicode string output

Question

I have a function to convert a string to a Unicode string:

private string UnicodeString(string text)
{
    return Encoding.UTF8.GetString(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(text));
}

But when I am calling this function the output result is wrong. It looks like my function is not working.

Console.WriteLine(UnicodeString("добры дзень")) printing on console just questions like that: ????? ????

Is there a way to say to console to display it correct?

UPDATE

It looks like the problem not in Unicode. I think maybe it is displaying question marks because I am not having the correct locale in the system (Windows 7)?

Is there a way to make it work without changing locale?

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:00:21Z

58

First, change the output encoding to UTF8:

Console.OutputEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;
Console.WriteLine("добры дзень");

Now you'll still see question marks. The reason is that the default console's font doesn't support Cyrillic letters. Change the font of the console:

enter image description here

If you're lucky, you should find a different font with Unicode support:

enter image description here

Change the font, and you should be able to see your text:

enter image description here

In the general case, if you want to display all Unicode characters reliably, the Console is probably not right for you. See also: C# console font (the comments are interesting too)

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:00

CommunityBot

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answered Feb 20, 2011 at 7:16

Kobi

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Comments

Peter Mortensen · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-01 14:11:14Z

1

private string UnicodeString(string text)
{
    return text;
}

The string text is already in Unicode. All internal C# strings are Unicode. When you convert it to ASCII you lose characters. That is why you get ????? ????.

edited Jul 1, 2017 at 14:11

Peter Mortensen

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answered Feb 20, 2011 at 6:48

Albin Sunnanbo

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Comments

EliotVU · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-20 06:53:25Z

0

Just do plain simple Console.WriteLine("добры дзень"); no need for any conversion.

answered Feb 20, 2011 at 6:53

EliotVU

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2 Comments

Reg Over a year ago

It was like that initially, it won't work, the output just question marks.

EliotVU Over a year ago

It's probably the Console object printing in ASCII then. Try changing the OutputEncoding property e.g. Console.OutputEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;

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