How can I fix the invalid character display in CSV files?

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I need to create .csv files from an .xslx file. I am doing it manuall, by saving each tab as .csv. In one of the cells in a tab, there is a string 'InH₂O'. When I create .csv file for this tab, the above string is written in the csv file as 'InH?O'. How can I fix this? I would like to create a csv file having values which is in the xlsx file as it is. Appreciate any help.

Posted 18-Jun-15 20:24pm

Sumith Peringathara

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Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 19-Jun-15 11:02am

Platform? language? any other detail?
—SA

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Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-18T21:05:00

It simply means that the H₂O was stored in the database as Unicode, using one of the UTFs (the subscript code point U+2082, "subscript two") and you wrote the Unicode string in one of the non-Unicode encodings, such as ASCII. The question mark you got is the usual "fallback" character used when the Unicode string is attempted serialize in some legacy encoding not supporting some of the characters of the character repertoire using in the original Unicode string.

The solution is to write output CSV file in one of the UTF encodings; usually the most practical for persistent storage UTF-8 is used. Further detail depends on your platform and language which you did not share with us. If you explain all the relevant detail, you could get further help, if you need it.

—SA