Private Use Areas

In Unicode are special areas as Private Use Areas ( PUA, engl. For " Unicode ranges for their own use " ) are reported. The code points in these areas can not be considered standardized characters in Unicode itself. Thus, this can be used for private- defined characters that must be arranged individually between the producers and users of the texts they contain. Such agreements may consist, for example, the common use of a font file in which such signs are provided for use.

Code areas

The Unicode Standard, the three areas as described below for your own use from the user determines.

Private Use Area

Which character has defined a font in the Private Use Zone, can use the template: to determine private -use zone test.

Private Use Planes

The Unicode planes 15 and 16 contain only the two blocks Supplementary Private Use Area -A and -B. Instead of PUA A PUA and B is therefore the speech partly summarized by Private Use Plan ( PUP).

Supplementary Private Use Area -A

The Supplementary Private Use Area -A includes the complete level 15, so the range of U F0000 to U FFFFD. These are 65534 code points.

What characters a font in the Supplementary Private Use Area -A has defined, with the template: are determined Supplementary -Private Use Area -A test.

Supplementary Private Use Area -B

The Supplementary Private Use Area -B includes the complete level 16, so the range U 100000 to U 10 FFFD. These are 65534 code points.

What characters a font in the Supplementary Private Use Area -B has defined, with the template: are determined Supplementary Private Use Area - B test.

Use

The assignment of characters to code points is not regulated in these areas by the Unicode Consortium. However, there are many different organizations and initiatives to coordinate the assignment of character codes in these areas.

Medieval Unicode Font Initiative

The Medieval Unicode Font Initiative ( MUFI ) coordinates the coding of historical characters, character variants and ligatures, and attribute a code point from the Private Use Zone, mainly from the range U E000 to U EFFF.

Use with Linux

Under Linux, the Private Use Zone was divided into two areas:

  • U E000 ... U EFFF: "End User Zone "
  • U U F000 ... F8FF: "Linux Zone"

The End User zone is freely available to the end user. The Linux zone is reserved for operating system- internal purposes. Here, the range U F000 to U F7FF is used to cover a 1:1 mapping of the screen font used. This allows programs such as consolechars all signs of screen font currently being used to represent. Because Linux supports a maximum of 512 characters in a screen font, this area is more than adequate. The range of U F800 to U F8FF is used for characters that are required or desired under Linux, but they are not included in the Unicode character set (yet).

The allocation of code points in the "Linux Zone" is coordinated by the Linux Assigned Names and Numbers Authority ( LANANA ).

ConScript Unicode Registry

This volunteer project coordinated the inclusion of fictional writings, which are used in novels or films, such as the languages ​​of the Middle Earth fantasy world of JRR Tolkien. You assigns code points in all three private Unicode blocks and out, together with LANANA, but not with the MUFI.

Other uses

  • SIL PUA world for special letters of various minority languages
  • Languagegeek for indigenous languages ​​of North America
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