Code page 437
What does Code page 437 mean?
Definition
Code page 437 is a character encoding standard used in the original IBM PC and its clones. It is a single-byte character encoding standard that defines a set of 256 characters and symbols, including upper- and lowercase letters, numerals, punctuation marks, and various graphical symbols.
Code page 437 is also known as the "OEM character set", as it was originally used by the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of the IBM PC to display text on the screen and to print text on a printer. It is still widely used today in certain legacy applications and operating systems that support text-based user interfaces, such as MS-DOS and some older versions of Microsoft Windows.
The characters and symbols defined by Code page 437 include the standard ASCII character set, as well as additional characters and symbols commonly used in many Western European and Scandinavian languages, such as the various accented letters, the pound symbol, and the euro symbol. Despite its limited character set, Code page 437 is still in use today due to its simplicity and its compatibility with older software and hardware systems.