FreeBMDFreeBMD FreeBMD Character Set

This page describes the character set used to encode the index data transcribed by FreeBMD and stored in the FreeBMD database. It also describes the encodings accepted for input into the FreeBMD database (using File Management or an external agent such as WinBMD) which are translated into the FreeBMD encoding before being stored in the database. It does not describe the character set used by the FreeBMD website.

Character encoding

The character encoding used by FreeBMD is ISO/IEC 8859-1 and the character set (the allowable characters) is a subset of ISO/IEC 8859-1. This roughly corresponds to 'normal' graphic characters (sometimes referred to as ANSII) plus accented characters. However, not all characters in the FreeBMD subset represent the characters (or, technically, the glyphs) indicated by ISO/IEC 8859-1. The following characters are used to indicate uncertainty in the transcription of an entry as defined by the Uncertain Character Format (which should be consulted for definitive usage):
Character Meaning
_ One unreadable character
* A number of unreadable characters
? No characters in field
[ Start of character class
] End of character class
{ Start of repetition range
} End of repetition range

Within the FreeBMD subset there are restrictions on the use of certain characters depending on the field concerned (e.g. Surname). The following table gives the FreeBMD subset and the restrictions to particular fields:The following table shows the legal non-standard characters. On a PC, you should enter what is shown under PC Alt (using the ALT key, of course).

CharacterHTMLPC AltHex
ÀÀ192C0
ÁÁ193C1
ÂÂ194C2
ÃÃ195C3
ÄÄ196C4
ÅÅ197C5
ÆÆ198C6
ÇÇ199C7
ÈÈ200C8
ÉÉ201C9
ÊÊ202CA
ËË203CB
ÌÌ204CC
ÍÍ205CD
ÎÎ206CE
ÏÏ207CF
ÑÑ209D1
ÒÒ210D2
ÓÓ211D3
ÔÔ212D4
ÕÕ213D5
ÖÖ214D6
ØØ216D8
ÙÙ217D9
ÚÚ218DA
ÛÛ219DB
ÜÜ220DC
ÝÝ221DD
ßß223DF
àà224E0
áá225E1
ââ226E2
ãã227E3
ää228E4
åå229E5
ææ230E6
çç231E7
èè232E8
éé233E9
êê234EA
ëë235EB
ìì236EC
íí237ED
îî238EE
ïï239EF
ññ241F1
òò242F2
óó243F3
ôô244F4
õõ245F5
öö246F6
øø248F8
ùù249F9
úú250FA
ûû251FB
üü252FC
ýý253FD
ÿÿ255FF

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