(Init Syntax): Mention the -*-coding:-*- tag if .emacs uses non-ASCII

characters in strings.

1 files changed, 10 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/man/custom.texi b/man/custom.texi
index e27b295ab4e..efd421fd74e 100644
--- a/man/custom.texi
+++ b/man/custom.texi
@@ -2088,6 +2088,16 @@ sequences are mandatory.
 a Meta character, as in @samp{\M-a} for @kbd{Meta-A} or @samp{\M-\C-a} for
 @kbd{Control-Meta-A}.@refill
 
+@cindex international characters in @file{.emacs}
+@cindex non-ASCII characters in @file{.emacs}
+If you want to include non-ASCII characters in strings in your init
+file, you should consider putting a @samp{-*- coding: -*-} tag on the
+first line which states the coding system used to save your
+@file{.emacs}, as explained in @ref{Recognize Coding}.  This is
+because the defaults for decoding non-ASCII text might not yet be set
+up by the time Emacs reads those parts of your init file which use
+such strings, and Emacs might decode those strings incorrectly.
+
 @item Characters:
 Lisp character constant syntax consists of a @samp{?} followed by
 either a character or an escape sequence starting with @samp{\}.