======Syntax======
[[encoding]] \\
[[encoding]] //rule// \\
[[encoding]] //rule// NONE \\
[[encoding]] //rule// //encoding//

======Overview======
The page [[encodings and locales]] discusses how to tell EPIC what encoding you are using locally.  

EPIC will automatically send all your messages to IRC in UTF-8, and will automatically handle any incoming messages in UTF-8.  But if you receive a non-UTF8 message, or you want to send a non-UTF8 message, you need to tell EPIC what encoding to use.

An ENCODING rule contains three parts

  -- A server part
  -- A slash
  -- A target part (a nick or a channel)

Either side is optional, along with the slash.  Server parts are expected to contain dots, and channels are expected to start with a channel name char (#, &, +, etc), and a nick is everything else.  You should always include the slash if you think EPIC might misinterpret your nick or server as the other (such as when you use server groups -- see examples below)

=====Syntax Forms=====
    /ENCODING
Show all encoding rules -- there are always three built in rules (discussed below)

    /ENCODING <rule>
Show one specific rule -- you must type the //<rule>// exactly 

    /ENCODING <rule> NONE
Delete a rule

    /ENCODING <rule> <encoding>
Create a new rule using the given encoding.

=====RULES=====
ENCODING rules have overlap -- so when EPIC needs to be able to choose between multiple rules, it does this:

^ Priority ^ Rule Form ^ Explanation ^
| 1 | server/nickname | A specific nick on a specific server |
| 2 | /nickname       | A specific nick on ALL servers |
| 3 | server/channel  | A specific channel on a specific server |
| 4 | /channel        | A specific channel on ALL servers |
| 5 | server/         | ALL nicks and channels for a server that don't have their own rule |
| 6 | "irc"           | There is a builtin rule "irc" used when no other rules apply |

The //server// part follows the same rules as /SERVER -UPDATE
  * A server refnum (a number)
  * A server "ourname"
  * A server "itsname"
  * A server group name
  * A server 005 NETWORK name
  * Any server altname

If your server description contains a port, that must match as well

====Examples====
    /ENCODING 4 KOI8-R
Server 4, and anybody on Server 4 that doesn't have its own rule uses KOI8-R

    /ENCODING EFNet/ CP437
Any server belonging to group "EFNet", and anybody who doesn't have their own rule uses CP437.  Note the trailing slash is necessary because otherwise "EFNet" would be considered a nickname.

    /ENCODING hop ISO-8859-1
Any hop I talk to uses ISO-8859-1

    /ENCODING EFNet/hop UTF-8
Except for the hop on EFNet, who uses UTF-8

    /ENCODING irc.rusnet.com:6679 KOI8-R
When I connect to irc.rusnet.com on port 6679, it uses KOI8-R

    /ENCODING irc.rusnet.com:6667 UTF-8
When I connect to irc.rusnet.com on port 6667, it uses UTF-8

=====Built In Rules=====
There are three built in encoding rules which you cannot delete and probably shouldn't change.

^ Rule ^ Explanation ^
| irc | Any non-utf8 message received from irc is assumed to be in this encoding (default: ISO-8859-1) |
| console | The encoding EPIC thinks you are using at the console (default: set from your locale) |
| scripts | Any non-utf8 script you [[load]] is assumed to be this encoding (default: CP437) |

=====History=====
The /ENCODING command first appeared in EPIC5-1.1.8