XCON: Exchange Connector for Novell GroupWise Incorrectly Translates Nordic Characters

If you use the Microsoft Exchange Connector for Novell GroupWise, you may experience problems converting Nordic characters. For example, if you send a message that contains Nordic characters from Microsoft Outlook 2000 through an Exchange Server 5.5 computer to a GroupWise recipient, when by the GroupWise client receives the message, the characters are not translated properly. This problem also occurs if a message that contains Nordic characters is sent from a GroupWise client to an Outlook 2000 recipient through an Exchange Server 5.5 computer.

This problem can occur for the following reasons, all of which need to addressed for messages to be received correctly both on Exchange Server and GroupWise:

• The GroupWise postoffice needs to have the code page 850 translation tables installed for the application programming interface (API) gateway. For further information, contact Novell Technical Support.
• The following parameter needs to be added to the [LME-GWISE] section in the Exchconn.ini file in the Exchsrvr\Connect\Exchconn folder:
  GWCodePage=850
  This parameter forces the gateway to use code page 850 for character translation to and from Exchange Server. You must restart the Exchange Connector for Novell GroupWise for this change to take effect.
• The default locale on the Exchange Server computer needs to be changed to a Nordic code page, for example, Norwegian or Swedish.

If you correctly implement the preceding three changes, you can solve most character translation problems. However, you may still experience problems with the combined character "AE" or "ae" (produced by ALT+0198 for the uppercase character or ALT+0230 for the lowercase character). These single characters may be translated to two characters, "AE" and "ae", respectively. To resolve this problem, apply the fix in the "Resolution" section of this article. This fix needs to be applied in conjunction with the preceding three changes.

A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Apply it only to computers that are experiencing this specific problem. This fix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5 service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:NOTE: In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The typical support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

Component: Exchange Connector for Novell GroupWise

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5.