Overview
ISO/IEC TR 2375:2024 is a Technical Report that archives the registered escape sequences and coded character sets formerly maintained by the ISO/IEC International Register. This first-edition TR replaces ISO/IEC 2375:2003 (registration procedure removed) and consolidates the registered data published by the former Registration Authority to preserve interoperability with legacy ISO/IEC 2022-encoded digital data.
- Title: Information technology – Registered escape sequences and coded character sets
- Type: Technical Report (first edition, 2024)
- Purpose: Provide the escape sequences, coded character sets, and related registration metadata as an archival International Register (electronic attachments and catalogue)
Key topics and technical requirements
ISO/IEC TR 2375:2024 documents the structure, contents and maintenance records of the archived International Register, including:
- International Register contents: cover pages, code tables, lists of character names, and descriptive text for coding systems not conformant with ISO/IEC 2022.
- Escape sequences: registered ISO/IEC 2022 escape sequences (including ESC F sequences and the standard return sequence) that control code extension procedures.
- Catalogue structure: classification of registered sets into graphic character types (94‑char, 96‑char, multiple‑byte and subtypes) and control character sets.
- Registration metadata: registration numbers, sponsoring authority, origin, copyright and mapping tables.
- Machine readability: notes on which registered materials are machine‑readable (e.g., ISO/IEC 10646 mapping tables) and which are preserved as scanned images.
- Supervisory and maintenance records: editorial maintenance, corrections, revisions, mapping updates to ISO/IEC 10646, and withdrawal history.
- Annexes: detailed registrations, special considerations, criteria for ESC F allocation, code table layouts, and example mapping tables.
Applications and who uses it
ISO/IEC TR 2375:2024 is valuable for practitioners working with legacy and archival text encodings:
- Software developers and systems engineers implementing or maintaining ISO/IEC 2022 code extension handling.
- Data archivists and digital preservation specialists preserving or migrating historical text encoded with ISO/IEC 2022 escape sequences.
- Localization and font engineers needing code tables and character-name references for legacy encodings.
- Standards bodies, implementers of ISO/IEC 10646 (Unicode) mapping, and interoperability testers reconciling registered character sets.
- Libraries and national archive systems ensuring consistent interpretation of archived text files.
Practical use cases include decoding legacy message streams, building converters to Unicode (ISO/IEC 10646), validating archived documents, and documenting encoding provenance.
Related standards
For the archived register and electronic attachments, see the ISO online entry: https://standards.iso.org/iso-iec/tr/2375/ed-1/en
