# 8.1.4 Invalid special characters

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/8-1-4-invalid-special-characters/46832>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Created:** [May 18, 2021, 1:35pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/8-1-4-invalid-special-characters/46832 "2021-05-18T13:35:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![robin.dupuis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ad7895/32.png) [@robin.dupuis](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/robin.dupuis)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 1:35pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/8-1-4-invalid-special-characters/46832/1 "2021-05-18T13:35:35Z")

</div>

Hello,  
In my project i need to display words store in a plc using OPC UA Server.  
My problem is the display of special characters is not woriking. For example ‘é’ is encode as $A9 in the plc but i can’t see it in ignition (see image). Currently, the encoding is such that the ‘é’ will display only if in the plc, the encode is $C3$A9. So, it is possible the change that or all tags in PLC need to be  
rewrite for be able to see correctly °,é,è and other characters?  
 ![Capture](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/8/c/8ceba9f683b204fc69ce1dffc2c83e747b2f7c5c.png)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JordanCClark](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/jordancclark/32/83362_2.png) [@JordanCClark](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/JordanCClark)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 3:23pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/8-1-4-invalid-special-characters/46832/2 "2021-05-18T15:23:03Z")

</div>

You should be able to encode the string.

> [@robin.dupuis](#):
>
> ‘é’ is encode as $A9 in the plc

I believe that it is really $E9 in the PLC, so that is what I will use in my example.

```python
stringIn = 'pr\xE9paration'

print stringIn
print stringIn.encode('utf-8')

```

Output:

```plaintext
pr�paration
préparation
>>> 

```

You didn't mention whether this was in vision or perspective, but this should get you in the right direction.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![robin.dupuis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ad7895/32.png) [@robin.dupuis](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/robin.dupuis)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 4:06pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/8-1-4-invalid-special-characters/46832/3 "2021-05-18T16:06:34Z")

</div>

Thanks for your answer, it is for vision. I would like to see the ‘é’ inside the tag directly when he come from the OPC, it is possible to change the encode somewhere for all the project or something like that?

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/1/8/18249521a552879f094c588e67b0a19b9708daf8.png)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kevin.Herron](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/kevin.herron/32/7259_2.png) [@Kevin.Herron](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Kevin.Herron)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 4:10pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/8-1-4-invalid-special-characters/46832/4 "2021-05-18T16:10:28Z")

</div>

If you’re using Ignition’s Logix driver then all String data is assumed to be UTF-8 encoded. There are no settings to change this, it is automatic when a String value is decoded or encoded.