Hi Yasutaka,
“.asc” file name extension means ASCII coding. These files are included into dictionary package from MedDRA. Pinnacle 21 validator utilizes only MedDRA files in ASCII format.
Could you clarify your case? Do you use a Japanese version of MedDRA dictionary? Do you have any specific request from PMDA?
Thank you,
Sergiy
To extend Sergiy’s anwer:
UTF-8 essentially corresponds to Unicode, covering all written languages in the world.
ASCII supports “American” characters only. Using “ASCII only” is essentially outdated (“neglecting the rest of the world” …)
However, ASCII character set should be a subset of Unicode (see Difference Between Unicode and ASCII | Difference Between | Unicode vs ASCII), meaning that in most cases, programs that can read UTF-8 also can read ASCII.
Java (P21 seems to be written in this programming language) stores everything as Unicode by default.
Conclusion: if some program asks you whether UTF-8 is ok to import, and your file is ASCII, you have a good chance that it works.
Hope this help!
Jozef Aerts
Professor in Medical Informatics
Hi Sergiy and Jozef,
Thank you for your quick answers. I just wanted to confirm if P21 has any specific requirements but it’s very helpful for me to understand the differences.
FYI: I don’t use Japanese version of MedDRA dictionary and no specific request from PMDA.
Best regards,
Yasutaka
Hi,
“UTF-8” is an appropriate encoding for five MedDRA dictionary files - pt.asc, soc.asc, llt.asc, hlt.asc and hlgt.asc to install into Pinnacle Community?
I cannot find this information in below.
Kind regards,