martin v löwis qpnyslvloewisde please explain web programs normally need detect encoding instead specified always unless talking browsers specifically need support web pages specify encoding incorrectly program needs examine contents documentsfeedswhatever web needs deal incorrectlyspecified encodings thats true programs need examine contents web page dont need guess encoding programs encoding hardcoded declared encoding correct programs know page webscraping else couldnt extract information want get feeds give examples incorrectly encoded one dont ever use feeds honestly dont know whether typically encoded incorrectly ive heard often xml case strongly doubt incorrectly encoded whatever give specific examples sadly rather common set programs programs need functionality probably set needs beautifulsoupi think set larger browsers give specific examples web browsers programs needing beautifulsoup may still need encoding guessing since still might able hardcode encoding web page want process case im skeptical general guess encoding module would meaningful thing applied incorrectly encoded html pages regards martin _______________________________________________ pythondev mailing list zvlllneumpythonorg httpmailpythonorgmailmanlistinfopythondev unsubscribe httpmailpythonorgmailmanoptionspythondevpythondev40tangomucom fri 08 aug 2008 003343 0200 pythondev encoding detection standard library