Characters in my transformer parameters are not the correct encoding

Symptom

When entering text into transformer parameters, the character encoding is lost. For example, Cyrillic words like "????? ??????????" become squares or question marks or some other incorrect character.

The same behavior may be seen with Arabic or other character encodings.

Cause

The character encoding used by FME Workbench is set by the Operating System.

Resolution

In Windows, go to "Regional and Language Options" in the Control Panel.

You may have to set the appropriate language under the Formats and Location tabs. These setting do not require a reboot.

You will have to set the "Language for non-Unicode programs" in the Administrative tab. This setting will require a reboot.

You can also try setting the locale for just FME by using the Microsoft AppLocale Utility:
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=2043