After importing MIDI, Chinese characters display scrambled code.

[dangguidan]

After importing MIDI, Chinese track names and Chinese lyrics will be scrambled. Is Reaper's poor support for Chinese characters? Or other settings?

[EvilDragon]

Screenshot please?

[dangguidan]

I don't know how to show the picture. The screenshots are attached.

[schwa]

Could you attach one of these .mid files, please?

[EvilDragon]

Possibly related, schwa:

https://www.midi.org/forum/3678-how-...les#reply-3680

[dangguidan]

Originally Posted by schwa

Could you attach one of these .mid files, please?

No problem. MIDI files and screenshots are uploaded to the attachment.

You've had a long day.

[schwa]

I think the text events in this file are encoded as UTF-16. If you are exporting the files from another program, do you have an option to encode as UTF-8?

[dangguidan]

The MIDI file I exported from cakewalk 9, cakewalk has no choice of encoding.
The same MIDI file can correctly display Chinese characters in Skaiju, an open source software.
In addition, I import Chinese Txt documents directly into Reaper, which will be a little better, but there will still be a lot of scrambling.
I uploaded the lyrics file.

[schwa]

This file appears to use the encoding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GB_18030 (or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GB_2312). Unfortunately I don't see anything in the file itself that indicates the encoding, so I'm not sure what we can do on our side to support it.

[EvilDragon]

Add an option to support different encodings? There's an option to choose when exporting MIDI, so why not have an option when importing, too?

[schwa]

This is a legacy encoding, though. Far more useful would be a separate tool to update MIDI text event legacy encodings to UTF-8, but that's somewhat out of scope for us.

[schwa]

How useful would it be to have an online tool to convert MIDI files to/from various encodings? I don't have any sense of how common it is to have MIDI files with legacy encodings out there in the wild, or how many such encodings might be common.

[EvilDragon]

I'm not sure if any such tool exists, honestly, so some tool is better than none. But I suppose us Westerners would use Latin-1 or (more rarely) UTF-8 for text events in MIDI files, but then you have the whole Asia and Japan (so that's already A WHOLE LOT of people) who would probably rely on those legacy encodings rather than UTF-8 (probably also due to old software they'd use for stuff like karaoke MIDI files, all of them done way before UTF-8 was a thing, etc.)...

How big is Asian contingent of Reaper's userbase?


That said, I do think that supporting all those old encodings directly in Reaper might be a tall order. But having a separate tool for that seems like a very nice thing to offer to the community.


EDIT: However, it seems there has been absolutely no directives in MIDI specs as to which encodings can be used in MIDI file's meta events that are text-based (basic ASCII is suggested for maximum interchangeability). Looks like any encoding is fair game, as long as the other side knows how to decode it? So that suggested tool of yours would need to support any combination of encodings, really? Tricky. Could probably just deal with the most often used ones (but then again, which of those legacy encodings were the most used ones, and where?)...

[dangguidan]

The character settings provided in the open source software "Sekaiju" can be consulted.

[schwa]

I made a little online tool to convert MIDI files that use legacy text encoding. The attached file (which was probably created using 20th century software) uses GB18030 encoding. If it's converted to UTF-8, REAPER displays the text events properly.

The online tool is here: https://user.cockos.com/~schwa/midi-iconv/

Sample file: https://stash.reaper.fm/36588/legacy-encoded-lyrics.mid

Screenshot:

[EvilDragon]

Awesome, schwa!

[dangguidan]

Great! Thank you!
Will this function be put into software in the future?

[EvilDragon]

Probably not, that's why it's online now.

[schwa]

If we built every possible encoding into REAPER, it would add about 700kB to the download for what is really a specialty use, so we don't plan to add it.

[mschnell]

Originally Posted by schwa

If we built every possible encoding into REAPER, it would add about 700kB to the download for what is really a specialty use, so we don't plan to add it.

???
Translating UTF-16 <-> UTF-8 should be a simple algorithm, not involving the actual UTF character meaning.
BTW.: Regarding UTF-16 there even is a high byt first and a low byte first variant !
-MichAEL

[schwa]

The OP's file is not UTF-16, it is GB18030, a legacy Chinese encoding. A typical iconv implementation is aware of over 1000 encodings.

schwa@user:~$ iconv -l
437, 500, 500V1, 850, 851, 852, 855, 856, 857, 860, 861, 862, 863, 864, 865, 866, 866NAV, 869, 874, 904, 1026, 1046, 1047, 8859_1, 8859_2, 8859_3, 8859_4, 8859_5, 8859_6, 8859_7, 8859_8, 8859_9, 10646-1:1993, 10646-1:1993/UCS4/ANSI_X3.4-1968, ANSI_X3.4-1986, ANSI_X3.4, ANSI_X3.110-1983, ANSI_X3.110, ARABIC, ARABIC7, ARMSCII-8, ASCII, ASMO-708, ASMO_449, BALTIC, BIG-5, BIG-FIVE, BIG5-HKSCS, BIG5, BIG5HKSCS, BIGFIVE, BRF, BS_4730, CA, CN-BIG5, CN-GB, CN, CP-AR, CP-GR, CP-HU, CP037, CP038, CP273, CP274, CP275, CP278, CP280, CP281, CP282, CP284, CP285, CP290, CP297, CP367, CP420, CP423, CP424, CP437, CP500, CP737, CP770, CP771, CP772, CP773, CP774, CP775, CP803, CP813, CP819, CP850, CP851, CP852, CP855, CP856, CP857, CP860, CP861, CP862, CP863, CP864, CP865, CP866, CP866NAV, CP868, CP869, CP870, CP871, CP874, CP875, CP880, CP891, CP901, CP902, CP903, CP904, CP905, CP912, CP915, CP916, CP918, CP920, CP921, CP922, CP930, CP932, CP933, CP935, CP936, CP937, CP939, CP949, CP950, CP1004, CP1008, CP1025, CP1026, CP1046, CP1047, CP1070, CP1079, CP1081, CP1084, CP1089, CP1097, CP1112, CP1122, CP1123, CP1124, CP1125, CP1129, CP1130, CP1132, CP1133, CP1137, CP1140, CP1141, CP1142, CP1143, CP1144, CP1145, CP1146, CP1147, CP1148, CP1149, CP1153, CP1154, CP1155, CP1156, CP1157, CP1158, CP1160, CP1161, CP1162, CP1163, CP1164, CP1166, CP1167, CP1250, CP1251, CP1252, CP1253, CP1254, CP1255, CP1256, CP1257, CP1258, CP1282, CP1361, CP1364, CP1371, CP1388, CP1390, CP1399, CP4517, CP4899, CP4909, CP4971, CP5347, CP9030, CP9066, CP9448, CP10007, CP12712, CP16804, CPIBM861, CSA7-1, CSA7-2, CSASCII, CSA_T500-1983, CSA_T500, CSA_Z243.4-1985-1, CSA_Z243.4-1985-2, CSA_Z243.419851, CSA_Z243.419852, CSDECMCS, CSEBCDICATDE, CSEBCDICATDEA, CSEBCDICCAFR, CSEBCDICDKNO, CSEBCDICDKNOA, CSEBCDICES, CSEBCDICESA, CSEBCDICESS, CSEBCDICFISE, CSEBCDICFISEA, CSEBCDICFR, CSEBCDICIT, CSEBCDICPT, CSEBCDICUK, CSEBCDICUS, CSEUCKR, CSEUCPKDFMTJAPANESE, CSGB2312, CSHPROMAN8, CSIBM037, CSIBM038, CSIBM273, CSIBM274, 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CSIBM11621162, CSISO4UNITEDKINGDOM, CSISO10SWEDISH, CSISO11SWEDISHFORNAMES, CSISO14JISC6220RO, CSISO15ITALIAN, CSISO16PORTUGESE, CSISO17SPANISH, CSISO18GREEK7OLD, CSISO19LATINGREEK, CSISO21GERMAN, CSISO25FRENCH, CSISO27LATINGREEK1, CSISO49INIS, CSISO50INIS8, CSISO51INISCYRILLIC, CSISO58GB1988, CSISO60DANISHNORWEGIAN, CSISO60NORWEGIAN1, CSISO61NORWEGIAN2, CSISO69FRENCH, CSISO84PORTUGUESE2, CSISO85SPANISH2, CSISO86HUNGARIAN, CSISO88GREEK7, CSISO89ASMO449, CSISO90, CSISO92JISC62991984B, CSISO99NAPLPS, CSISO103T618BIT, CSISO111ECMACYRILLIC, CSISO121CANADIAN1, CSISO122CANADIAN2, CSISO139CSN369103, CSISO141JUSIB1002, CSISO143IECP271, CSISO150, CSISO150GREEKCCITT, CSISO151CUBA, CSISO153GOST1976874, CSISO646DANISH, CSISO2022CN, CSISO2022JP, CSISO2022JP2, CSISO2022KR, CSISO2033, CSISO5427CYRILLIC, CSISO5427CYRILLIC1981, CSISO5428GREEK, CSISO10367BOX, CSISOLATIN1, CSISOLATIN2, CSISOLATIN3, CSISOLATIN4, CSISOLATIN5, CSISOLATIN6, CSISOLATINARABIC, CSISOLATINCYRILLIC, CSISOLATINGREEK, CSISOLATINHEBREW, CSKOI8R, CSKSC5636, CSMACINTOSH, CSNATSDANO, CSNATSSEFI, CSN_369103, CSPC8CODEPAGE437, CSPC775BALTIC, CSPC850MULTILINGUAL, CSPC862LATINHEBREW, CSPCP852, CSSHIFTJIS, CSUCS4, CSUNICODE, CSWINDOWS31J, CUBA, CWI-2, CWI, CYRILLIC, DE, DEC-MCS, DEC, DECMCS, DIN_66003, DK, DS2089, DS_2089, E13B, EBCDIC-AT-DE-A, EBCDIC-AT-DE, EBCDIC-BE, EBCDIC-BR, EBCDIC-CA-FR, EBCDIC-CP-AR1, EBCDIC-CP-AR2, EBCDIC-CP-BE, EBCDIC-CP-CA, EBCDIC-CP-CH, EBCDIC-CP-DK, EBCDIC-CP-ES, EBCDIC-CP-FI, EBCDIC-CP-FR, EBCDIC-CP-GB, EBCDIC-CP-GR, EBCDIC-CP-HE, EBCDIC-CP-IS, EBCDIC-CP-IT, EBCDIC-CP-NL, EBCDIC-CP-NO, EBCDIC-CP-ROECE, EBCDIC-CP-SE, EBCDIC-CP-TR, EBCDIC-CP-US, EBCDIC-CP-WT, EBCDIC-CP-YU, EBCDIC-CYRILLIC, EBCDIC-DK-NO-A, EBCDIC-DK-NO, EBCDIC-ES-A, EBCDIC-ES-S, EBCDIC-ES, EBCDIC-FI-SE-A, EBCDIC-FI-SE, EBCDIC-FR, EBCDIC-GREEK, EBCDIC-INT, EBCDIC-INT1, EBCDIC-IS-FRISS, EBCDIC-IT, EBCDIC-JP-E, EBCDIC-JP-KANA, EBCDIC-PT, EBCDIC-UK, EBCDIC-US, EBCDICATDE, EBCDICATDEA, EBCDICCAFR, EBCDICDKNO, EBCDICDKNOA, EBCDICES, EBCDICESA, EBCDICESS, EBCDICFISE, EBCDICFISEA, EBCDICFR, EBCDICISFRISS, EBCDICIT, EBCDICPT, EBCDICUK, EBCDICUS, ECMA-114, ECMA-118, ECMA-128, ECMA-CYRILLIC, ECMACYRILLIC, ELOT_928, ES, ES2, EUC-CN, EUC-JISX0213, EUC-JP-MS, EUC-JP, EUC-KR, EUC-TW, EUCCN, EUCJP-MS, EUCJP-OPEN, EUCJP-WIN, EUCJP, EUCKR, EUCTW, FI, FR, GB, GB2312, GB13000, GB18030, GBK, GB_1988-80, GB_198880, GEORGIAN-ACADEMY, GEORGIAN-PS, GOST_19768-74, GOST_19768, GOST_1976874, GREEK-CCITT, GREEK, GREEK7-OLD, GREEK7, GREEK7OLD, GREEK8, GREEKCCITT, HEBREW, HP-GREEK8, HP-ROMAN8, HP-ROMAN9, HP-THAI8, HP-TURKISH8, HPGREEK8, HPROMAN8, HPROMAN9, HPTHAI8, HPTURKISH8, HU, IBM-803, IBM-856, IBM-901, IBM-902, IBM-921, IBM-922, IBM-930, IBM-932, IBM-933, IBM-935, IBM-937, IBM-939, IBM-943, IBM-1008, IBM-1025, IBM-1046, IBM-1047, IBM-1097, IBM-1112, IBM-1122, IBM-1123, IBM-1124, IBM-1129, IBM-1130, IBM-1132, IBM-1133, IBM-1137, IBM-1140, IBM-1141, IBM-1142, IBM-1143, IBM-1144, IBM-1145, IBM-1146, IBM-1147, IBM-1148, IBM-1149, IBM-1153, IBM-1154, IBM-1155, IBM-1156, IBM-1157, IBM-1158, IBM-1160, IBM-1161, IBM-1162, IBM-1163, IBM-1164, IBM-1166, IBM-1167, IBM-1364, IBM-1371, IBM-1388, IBM-1390, IBM-1399, IBM-4517, IBM-4899, IBM-4909, IBM-4971, IBM-5347, IBM-9030, IBM-9066, IBM-9448, IBM-12712, IBM-16804, IBM037, IBM038, IBM256, IBM273, IBM274, IBM275, IBM277, IBM278, IBM280, IBM281, IBM284, IBM285, IBM290, IBM297, IBM367, IBM420, IBM423, IBM424, IBM437, IBM500, IBM775, IBM803, IBM813, IBM819, IBM848, IBM850, IBM851, IBM852, IBM855, IBM856, IBM857, IBM860, IBM861, IBM862, IBM863, IBM864, IBM865, IBM866, IBM866NAV, IBM868, IBM869, IBM870, IBM871, IBM874, IBM875, IBM880, IBM891, IBM901, IBM902, IBM903, IBM904, IBM905, IBM912, IBM915, IBM916, IBM918, IBM920, IBM921, IBM922, IBM930, IBM932, IBM933, IBM935, IBM937, IBM939, IBM943, IBM1004, IBM1008, IBM1025, IBM1026, IBM1046, IBM1047, IBM1089, IBM1097, IBM1112, IBM1122, IBM1123, IBM1124, IBM1129, IBM1130, IBM1132, IBM1133, IBM1137, IBM1140, IBM1141, IBM1142, IBM1143, IBM1144, IBM1145, IBM1146, IBM1147, IBM1148, IBM1149, IBM1153, IBM1154, IBM1155, IBM1156, IBM1157, IBM1158, IBM1160, IBM1161, IBM1162, IBM1163, IBM1164, IBM1166, IBM1167, IBM1364, IBM1371, IBM1388, IBM1390, IBM1399, IBM4517, IBM4899, IBM4909, IBM4971, IBM5347, IBM9030, IBM9066, IBM9448, IBM12712, IBM16804, IEC_P27-1, IEC_P271, INIS-8, INIS-CYRILLIC, INIS, INIS8, INISCYRILLIC, ISIRI-3342, ISIRI3342, ISO-2022-CN-EXT, ISO-2022-CN, ISO-2022-JP-2, ISO-2022-JP-3, ISO-2022-JP, ISO-2022-KR, ISO-8859-1, ISO-8859-2, ISO-8859-3, ISO-8859-4, ISO-8859-5, ISO-8859-6, ISO-8859-7, ISO-8859-8, ISO-8859-9, ISO-8859-9E, ISO-8859-10, ISO-8859-11, ISO-8859-13, ISO-8859-14, ISO-8859-15, ISO-8859-16, ISO-10646, ISO-10646/UCS2/ISO-10646/UCS4/ISO-10646/UTF-8/ISO-10646/UTF8/ISO-CELTIC, ISO-IR-4, ISO-IR-6, ISO-IR-8-1, ISO-IR-9-1, ISO-IR-10, ISO-IR-11, ISO-IR-14, ISO-IR-15, ISO-IR-16, ISO-IR-17, ISO-IR-18, ISO-IR-19, ISO-IR-21, ISO-IR-25, ISO-IR-27, ISO-IR-37, ISO-IR-49, ISO-IR-50, ISO-IR-51, ISO-IR-54, ISO-IR-55, ISO-IR-57, ISO-IR-60, ISO-IR-61, ISO-IR-69, ISO-IR-84, ISO-IR-85, ISO-IR-86, ISO-IR-88, ISO-IR-89, ISO-IR-90, ISO-IR-92, ISO-IR-98, ISO-IR-99, ISO-IR-100, ISO-IR-101, ISO-IR-103, ISO-IR-109, ISO-IR-110, ISO-IR-111, ISO-IR-121, ISO-IR-122, ISO-IR-126, ISO-IR-127, ISO-IR-138, ISO-IR-139, ISO-IR-141, ISO-IR-143, ISO-IR-144, ISO-IR-148, ISO-IR-150, ISO-IR-151, ISO-IR-153, ISO-IR-155, ISO-IR-156, ISO-IR-157, ISO-IR-166, ISO-IR-179, ISO-IR-193, ISO-IR-197, ISO-IR-199, ISO-IR-203, ISO-IR-209, ISO-IR-226, ISO/TR_11548-1/ISO646-CA, ISO646-CA2, ISO646-CN, ISO646-CU, ISO646-DE, ISO646-DK, ISO646-ES, ISO646-ES2, ISO646-FI, ISO646-FR, ISO646-FR1, ISO646-GB, ISO646-HU, ISO646-IT, ISO646-JP-OCR-B, ISO646-JP, ISO646-KR, ISO646-NO, ISO646-NO2, ISO646-PT, ISO646-PT2, ISO646-SE, ISO646-SE2, ISO646-US, ISO646-YU, ISO2022CN, ISO2022CNEXT, ISO2022JP, ISO2022JP2, ISO2022KR, ISO6937, ISO8859-1, ISO8859-2, ISO8859-3, ISO8859-4, ISO8859-5, ISO8859-6, ISO8859-7, ISO8859-8, ISO8859-9, ISO8859-9E, ISO8859-10, ISO8859-11, ISO8859-13, ISO8859-14, ISO8859-15, ISO8859-16, ISO11548-1, ISO88591, ISO88592, ISO88593, ISO88594, ISO88595, ISO88596, ISO88597, ISO88598, ISO88599, ISO88599E, ISO885910, ISO885911, ISO885913, ISO885914, ISO885915, ISO885916, ISO_646.IRV:1991, ISO_2033-1983, ISO_2033, ISO_5427-EXT, ISO_5427, ISO_5427:1981, ISO_5427EXT, ISO_5428, ISO_5428:1980, ISO_6937-2, ISO_6937-2:1983, ISO_6937, ISO_6937:1992, ISO_8859-1, ISO_8859-1:1987, ISO_8859-2, ISO_8859-2:1987, ISO_8859-3, ISO_8859-3:1988, ISO_8859-4, ISO_8859-4:1988, ISO_8859-5, ISO_8859-5:1988, ISO_8859-6, ISO_8859-6:1987, ISO_8859-7, ISO_8859-7:1987, ISO_8859-7:2003, ... (truncated to 10000 characters)