Python, windows console and encodings (cp 850 vs cp1252)

Question

I thought I knew everything about encodings and Python, but today I came across a weird problem: although the console is set to code page 850 - and Python reports it correct

Answer 1

I tried the solutions. It may still have some encoding problems. We need to use true type fonts. Fix:

1. Run chcp 65001 in cmd to change the encoding to UTF-8.
2. Change cmd font to a True-Type one like Lucida Console that supports the preceding code pages before 65001

Here's my complete fix for the encoding error:

def fixCodePage():
    import sys
    import codecs
    import ctypes
    if sys.platform == 'win32':
        if sys.stdout.encoding != 'cp65001':
            os.system("echo off")
            os.system("chcp 65001") # Change active page code
            sys.stdout.write("\x1b[A") # Removes the output of chcp command
            sys.stdout.flush()
        LF_FACESIZE = 32
        STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE = -11
        class COORD(ctypes.Structure):
        _fields_ = [("X", ctypes.c_short), ("Y", ctypes.c_short)]

        class CONSOLE_FONT_INFOEX(ctypes.Structure):
            _fields_ = [("cbSize", ctypes.c_ulong),
            ("nFont", ctypes.c_ulong),
            ("dwFontSize", COORD),
            ("FontFamily", ctypes.c_uint),
            ("FontWeight", ctypes.c_uint),
            ("FaceName", ctypes.c_wchar * LF_FACESIZE)]

        font = CONSOLE_FONT_INFOEX()
        font.cbSize = ctypes.sizeof(CONSOLE_FONT_INFOEX)
        font.nFont = 12
        font.dwFontSize.X = 7
        font.dwFontSize.Y = 12
        font.FontFamily = 54
        font.FontWeight = 400
        font.FaceName = "Lucida Console"
        handle = ctypes.windll.kernel32.GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE)
        ctypes.windll.kernel32.SetCurrentConsoleFontEx(handle, ctypes.c_long(False), ctypes.pointer(font))

Note: You can see a font change while executing the program.