Migration to Unicode

This is a summary of the recommendations for adapting applications to handle Unicode.

General rule

1. Never use STRING_8 or any variant of it unless you write a program that is going to be deleted in 5 minutes after running it. Do not even consider using STRING_8 or its variant. Always use IMMUTABLE_STRING_32, READABLE_STRING_32 or STRING_32.
2. Do not use classes from third-party libraries that take STRING_8 rather than STRING_32.

Temporary solution

1. Replace types using the following table:

1. Consider using READABLE_STRING_32 for argument types. If you cannot immediately change argument types to take READABLE_STRING_32, e.g. because this is a library class, use READABLE_STRING_GENERAL and perform all the necessary conversions inside the routine.
2. If you need to convert one UTF encoding into another one, use UTF_CONVERTER. This is an expanded class, so it's possible to declare a local variable of this type and call features on it without explicit object creation.
3. Consider using SHARED_EXECUTION_ENVIRONMENT to access EXECUTION_ENVIRONMENT_32.
4. If you want to operate on files with an unknown string type for their names (i.e. READABLE_STRING_GENERAL), use FILE_UTILITIES. This is an expanded class and can be used as described for UTF_CONVERTER.