I have some code to modify a *.INI file on WinXP which is in UTF16. And it seems to work. But when I open said modified copy in either Notepad or TextPad it displays with the null chars as whitespace.

Anybody know what is up with that?

Please tell me it is not one of those wretched registry entries which is needed. Or if it is, please give very specific details how to handle it...or an example.

I'm writing this mostly for other folks to use on WinXP. And even though I do have WinXP at work and on one of my laptops, I'm basically a NetBSD guy. Start in with the MS-speak and I'll be totally lost. Thanks for being compassionate to an outsider.

use PerlIO::encoding;

# Modify a copy of a file...
sub foo {
  my $thing_to_do_ref = shift;
  my @lines;
  if (open IN, "<", "$some_path") {
    binmode IN, ":encoding(UTF-16LE)";
    while ( my $a_line = <IN> ) {
    
      # Do stuff to $a_line...
      
      }
      push @lines, $a_line;
    }
    close IN;
    
    if (open OUT, ">", "$some_other_path") {
      binmode OUT, ":encoding(UTF-16LE)";
      while (@lines) {
        my $line = shift @lines;
        print OUT "$line\n";
      }
      close OUT;
    } else {
      print "Oops! Could not write: $! \n";
    }
  } else {
    print "Oops! Could not read: $! \n";
  }
}
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