[OS X TeX] Encoding problem with TexShop 3.5.9 and 3.6.0

[Rolf Schmolling]

> Am 12.02.2016 um 00:08 schrieb Herbert Schulz <herbs at wideopenwest.com>:
> 
>> On Feb 11, 2016, at 2:40 PM, Herbert Schulz <herbs at wideopenwest.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> On Feb 11, 2016, at 2:04 PM, Rolf Schmolling <rolf.schmolling at alumni.tu-berlin.de> wrote:
>>> 
>>> H…
>>> Rolf
>> 
>> Howdy,
>> 
>> The default encoding for recent versions of TeXShop has changed from MacOSRoman to IsoLatin9. Do you have a line like
>> 
>> % !TEX encoding = xxxx
>> 
>> where xxxx is the encoding used for the file?
>> 
>> Is there a reason you have the default set to UTF-16 rather than UTF-8? In any case, are you using xe(la)tex or lua(la)tex to compile your files? If you're using pdflatex do you have a line containing \usepackage[....]{inputenc} where .... is the encoding used for the file?
>> 
>> Good Luck,
>> 
>> Herb Schulz
>> (herbs at wideopenwest dot com)
> 
> Howdy,
> 
> By the way in TeXShop 3.59 and later there is a new Help document that is a Beginner's Guide to File Encoding.
> 
> I'll be your templates are NOT saved as UTF-16. I'd try to open them with UTF-8 (if they are traditional ASCII the UTF-8 setting will still be OK while I don't believe ASCII is a sub-set of UTF-16 since every character is 16 bits in that file version of Unicode.
> 
> DON'T simply try to change the file and save it. That can destroy the the contents of the file.
> 
> Also... ALL templates should have a 
> 
> % !TEX encoding = XXXXX
> 
> directive to tell TeXShop what encoding to use to open the file. It should also have a
> 
> \usepackage[xxxx]{inputenc}
> 
> line to tell latex or pdflatex what encoding is being used. If you are using xelatex or lualatex you should be using UTF-8 Unicode encoding by default or have some commands that tell those engines what encoding you are using.
> 
> PS: if your templates have accented characters you are are not using ASCII and you really NEED to have the information above. For German you usually use IsoLatin (latin1) or IsoLatin9 (latin9) but there are lots of possibilities.
…

Hello, 

many thanks for your responses!

This are the first lines of all of my (KOMA-script) templates:

„
%!TEX TS-program = pdflatex
%!TEX encoding = utf8

\documentclass[DIV=calc,fontsize=10pt, paper=a4, enlargefirstpage,%DINmtext
%,BCOR=1cm
]{scrlttr2}
\KOMAoptions{
fromalign=right,%Ausrichtung des Absenderbriefkopfes
fromphone=true,%Eigene Telefonnummer im Briefkopf
fromurl=true,%Homepageadresse im Briefkopf
fromemail=true,%Eigene E-Mailadresse im Briefkopf
%parskip=half, %für Absätze ohne Ersteinzug aber 1/3 Zeile Absatzabstand
fromrule=aftername%für unter dem Absendernamen, alternativ: true,für Linie unter dem Absenderbriefkopf
}
\usepackage[ngerman]{babel}
\usepackage[applemac]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
…
„

which caused no problem before TexShop 3.5.9 

_I have to clarify, I just do not know which encoding was set as default in TexShop prior my troubles, because I never had the reason to change anything. Stupid me, sorry about that._

Some things I have discovered: In the newer version of TexShop there seems to be a difference between: 
„
…
%!TEX encoding = utf8
„
and: 
„ 
…
% !TEX encoding = UTF-8 Unicode
„
At least when opening the file with ISOlatin 9 and this changed second line in the file, it causes no complaint from TexShop. But then, all the umlauts are gone. When I try to open this file as UTF-8: TexShop complains.

So I suppose I wrote the files with macosroman (?) as encoding before and now need to get things up to current.

I have discovered the new help file but am still at loss somewhat, what would be the proper settings for writing in German and would happily accept suggestions. 

What I would _really_ like is real umlauts in the source file, as I am not collaborating across systems and the occasional copy and paste into other (not TEX-related) programs then are easier.

I am quite sorry about the need to bother you with my problem but cannot just simply stay at TexShop 3.5.8 and ignore things.

Thank You,

Rolf

--
Rolf Schmolling M.A. Historian, Rolf.Schmolling at Alumni.TU-Berlin.DE
http://rolf_schmolling.macbay.de/