21. A word processing system for handling text pasted into a document, the pasted text using a foreign code page that is different than a native code page of the word processing system, comprising: (a) a computer that executes predefined instructions for processing text, said computer including a memory in which the predefined instructions are loaded, a display screen, and a user interface that enables a user to enter text to produce a document; (b) a non-volatile memory in which data developed on the computer using the word processing system are stored in files; (c) means for producing in the memory of the computer an array of character positions that reference each character of the document with a position coordinate, said array of character positions comprising a plurality of pieces, each piece including a sequence of characters disposed adjacent to each other in the document and having a common format; (d) means for producing an array of data records, each data record corresponding to one of the pieces comprising the array of character positions and including a pointer to a file in which the characters referenced by the position coordinates of said piece are stored in the non-volatile memory; (e) for each file in which text used in the document is stored, means for recording data indicating the code page used for the text stored in the file; and (f) means for determining the code page used by any character of the document that is displayed by reference to the array of character positions, the array of data records, and the file control block for the file in which the character is stored, and if the character uses a foreign code page, means for translating between the foreign code page used by the character and the native code page to display a best available mapping of the character, any references to the foreign code page for characters of the text in the document being retained when the document is saved to a file so that characters that cannot be accurately mapped from the foreign code page to the native code page are not lost.
21. A word processing system for handling text pasted into a document, the pasted text using a foreign code page that is different than a native code page of the word processing system, comprising: (a) a computer that executes predefined instructions for processing text, said computer including a memory in which the predefined instructions are loaded, a display screen, and a user interface that enables a user to enter text to produce a document; (b) a non-volatile memory in which data developed on the computer using the word processing system are stored in files; (c) means for producing in the memory of the computer an array of character positions that reference each character of the document with a position coordinate, said array of character positions comprising a plurality of pieces, each piece including a sequence of characters disposed adjacent to each other in the document and having a common format; (d) means for producing an array of data records, each data record corresponding to one of the pieces comprising the array of character positions and including a pointer to a file in which the characters referenced by the position coordinates of said piece are stored in the non-volatile memory; (e) for each file in which text used in the document is stored, means for recording data indicating the code page used for the text stored in the file; and (f) means for determining the code page used by any character of the document that is displayed by reference to the array of character positions, the array of data records, and the file control block for the file in which the character is stored, and if the character uses a foreign code page, means for translating between the foreign code page used by the character and the native code page to display a best available mapping of the character, any references to the foreign code page for characters of the text in the document being retained when the document is saved to a file so that characters that cannot be accurately mapped from the foreign code page to the native code page are not lost. 23. The word processing system of claim 21, wherein the means for recording data indicating the code page include means for recording an exception specifier indicating the code page for any text stored within the file that does not use the default code page.