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References to Special Characters

References to Special Characters

It is easy to reference any Unicode character in Java source provided you know its four digit code. For example, the copyright symbol can be placed in a String as follows;

 String copyright = "Copyright u00A9 1998, YourName.";

But the following tiny class will make such references to special characters much more legible.

 public final class Unicode {    public static final String COPYRIGHT  = "u00A9";    public static final String REGISTERED = "u00AE";    public static final String DEGREE     = "u00B0";    public static final String PLUSMINUS  = "u00B1";    public static final String SQUARED    = "u00B2";    public static final String CUBED      = "u00B3";// Private constructor, prevents instantiation    private Unicode() {}}

With this class, the original line of code becomes;

 String copyright = "Copyright " + Unicode.COPYRIGHT + " 1998, YourName.";

Of course, you can add the definitions for any other characters that your application needs.

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