Can Double Byte Codes be used in SharePoint 2013?

Question

Hello,
I am looking to create a SharePoint but for Japanese users.  I understand that Double Byte Codes will need to be used when entering information due to the Japanese language.  I have been informed that this can sometimes cause an issue with SharePoint.
I am looking to test this however I wanted to understand if this can be done / are there any considerations when using DBC's on SharePoint etc and any limitations.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
KP

Answer 1

Hi KP,
Yes, SharePoint 2013 supports Double Byte Unicode characters:
If you have non-standard ASCII characters, such as high-ASCII or double-byte Unicode characters, in the SharePoint URL, each of those characters is URL-encoded into two or more ASCII characters when they are passed to the Web browser. Thus, a URL with many
high-ASCII characters or double-byte Unicode characters can become longer than the original un-encoded URL. The list below gives examples of the multiplication factors:
High-ASCII characters — for example, (!, ", #, $, %, &, [Space]): multiplication factor = 3
Double byte Unicode characters — for example, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hindi: multiplication factor = 9
For example, when you translate the names of sites, library, folder, and file in the URL path http://www.contoso.com/sites/marketing/documents/Shared%20Documents/Promotion/Some%20File.xlsx into Japanese, the resulted encoded URL path will become something
like the following:
http://www.contoso.com/sites/%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B1%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0/%E6%96%87%E6%9B%B8/DocLib/%E3%83%97%E3%83%AD%E3%83%A2%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3/%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB.xlsx. This path is 224 characters,
whereas the original URL path is only 94 characters.
In most cases, one UTF-16 character equals one UTF-16 code unit. However, characters that use Unicode code points greater than U+10000 will equal two UTF-16 code units. These characters include, but are not limited to, Japanese or Chinese surrogate pair
characters. If your paths include these characters, the URL length will exceed the URL length limitation with fewer than 256 or 260 characters.
Reference:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff919564%28v=office.14%29.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396
Best Regards,
Eric
TechNet Community Support
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