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Code page
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<p> In <a href="/facts/Computing/Kghtm9fX">computing</a>, a code page is a <a href="/facts/Character_encoding/ShJHIMoA">character encoding</a> and as such it is a specific association of a set of printable <a href="/facts/Character_(computing)/X2zKLFFB">characters</a> and <a href="/facts/Control_character/jkWgHvfC">control characters</a> with unique numbers. Typically each number represents the binary value in a single byte. (In some contexts these terms are used more precisely; see <a href="/facts/Character_encoding/ShJHIMoA">Character encoding § Terminology</a>.) </p><p>The term "code page" originated from <a href="/facts/IBM/QszA7nwd">IBM</a>'s <a href="/facts/EBCDIC/qAhmvgj0">EBCDIC</a>-based mainframe systems, but <a href="/facts/Microsoft/nGIDDXdx">Microsoft</a>, <a href="/facts/SAP_AG/pVwH8lks">SAP</a>, and <a href="/facts/Oracle_Corporation/0z14FygH">Oracle Corporation</a> are among the vendors that use this term. The majority of vendors identify their own character sets by a name. In the case when there is a plethora of character sets (like in IBM), identifying character sets through a number is a convenient way to distinguish them. Originally, the code page numbers referred to the <a href="/facts/Page_number/hEa9KDlQ"><i>page</i> numbers</a> in the IBM standard character set manual, a condition which has not held for a long time. Vendors that use a code page system allocate their own code page number to a character encoding, even if it is better known by another name; for example, <a href="/facts/UTF-8/xlaVHSyf">UTF-8</a> has been assigned page numbers 1208 at IBM, 65001 at Microsoft, and 4110 at SAP. </p><p><a href="/facts/Hewlett-Packard/abuNSYNu">Hewlett-Packard</a> uses a similar concept in its <a href="/facts/HP-UX/hIvLDdJF">HP-UX</a> operating system and its <a href="/facts/Printer_Command_Language/M7C1zrrg">Printer Command Language</a> (PCL) protocol for printers (either for HP printers or not). The terminology, however, is different: What others call a <i>character set</i>, HP calls a <i>symbol set</i>, and what IBM or Microsoft call a <i>code page</i>, HP calls a <i>symbol set code</i>. HP developed a series of symbol sets, each with an associated symbol set code, to encode both its own character sets and other vendors’ character sets. </p><p>The multitude of character sets leads many vendors to recommend <a href="/facts/Unicode/DDu3MfPV">Unicode</a>. </p>