---
name: "charset"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "console-tools"
version: "1:0.2.3dbs-70"
release: "Debian 7 (Wheezy)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/charset"
---

# charset(1)

Set an ACM for use in one of the G0/G1 charset slots.

## NAME

charset - Set an ACM for use in one of the G0/G1 charset slots.

## SYNOPSIS

**charset \[***-v***\]** *G0***\|***G1* **\[***cp437***\|***iso01***\|***vt100***\|***user***\|***\<acm\_name\>***\]**

## DESCRIPTION

The linux console has 2 slots for charsets, labeled *G0* and *G1*. **charset** changes the slot in use by the current VT to either *G0* or *G1*, and fills the slot either with one of the 3 predefined ACMs (*cp437*, *iso01*, *vt100*) or with a user-defined ACM.

You can ask for the current user-defined ACM by specifying *user*, or ask a new ACM to be loaded from a file into the user slot, by specifying a filename.

You will note that, although each VT has its own slot settings, there is only one user-defined ACM for all the VTs.  That is, whereas you can have tty1 using  *G0=cp437* and *G1=vt100*, at the same time as tty2 using *G0=iso01* and *G1=iso02* (user-defined), you **cannot** have at the same time tty1 using  *iso02* and tty2 using *iso03*. This is a limitation of the linux kernel.

Note that you can emulate such a setting using the [**filterm**(1)](/filterm/1.md) utility, with your console in UTF8-mode, by telling **filterm** to translate screen output on-the-fly to UTF8.

You'll find [**filterm**(1)](/filterm/1.md) in the [**konwert**(1)](/konwert/1.md) package, by Marcin Kowalczyk, which is available from *http://qrczak.home.ml.org/*.

## OPTIONS

- *-v*

  be verbose. **charset** will then print what it does as it does it.

## BUGS

**charset** cannot determine which of the 2 slots is in use at a given time, so you have to tell him which one you want, even if you don't want to change to the other one.  This is a limitation of the console driver.

## SEE ALSO

[**consolechars**(8)](/consolechars/8.md), [**unicode\_start**(1)](/unicode_start/1.md), [**filterm**(1)](/filterm/1.md).