diff -r 00b61a6ecacf java.api.common/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/api/common/project/ui/Bundle.properties
--- a/java.api.common/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/api/common/project/ui/Bundle.properties	Thu Mar 12 21:08:41 2009 -0500
+++ b/java.api.common/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/api/common/project/ui/Bundle.properties	Mon Mar 16 14:44:27 2009 -0500
@@ -68,3 +68,5 @@
 LBL_Properties_Action=Properties
 # {0} - folder name
 JavaSourceNodeFactory.gensrc=Generated Sources ({0})
+UNSUPPORTED_ENCODING=Project {0} specifies an unknown character encoding {1}
+CLOSE=Close
diff -r 00b61a6ecacf java.api.common/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/api/common/project/ui/ProjectUISupport.java
--- a/java.api.common/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/api/common/project/ui/ProjectUISupport.java	Thu Mar 12 21:08:41 2009 -0500
+++ b/java.api.common/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/api/common/project/ui/ProjectUISupport.java	Mon Mar 16 14:44:27 2009 -0500
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 
 package org.netbeans.modules.java.api.common.project.ui;
 
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import javax.swing.AbstractAction;
 import javax.swing.Icon;
 import org.netbeans.api.project.Project;
@@ -108,4 +109,8 @@
         return new JavaSourceNodeFactory.PreselectPropertiesAction(project, nodeName, panelName);
     }
 
+    public static Charset showUnsupportedEncodingDialog(String projectName, String unknownCharset) {
+        return UnsupportedEncodingDialog.showDialog (projectName, unknownCharset);
+    }
+
 }
diff -r 00b61a6ecacf java.api.common/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/api/common/project/ui/UnsupportedEncodingDialog.form
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/java.api.common/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/api/common/project/ui/UnsupportedEncodingDialog.form	Mon Mar 16 14:44:27 2009 -0500
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
+
+<Form version="1.5" maxVersion="1.7" type="org.netbeans.modules.form.forminfo.JPanelFormInfo">
+  <AuxValues>
+    <AuxValue name="FormSettings_autoResourcing" type="java.lang.Integer" value="1"/>
+    <AuxValue name="FormSettings_autoSetComponentName" type="java.lang.Boolean" value="false"/>
+    <AuxValue name="FormSettings_generateFQN" type="java.lang.Boolean" value="true"/>
+    <AuxValue name="FormSettings_generateMnemonicsCode" type="java.lang.Boolean" value="false"/>
+    <AuxValue name="FormSettings_i18nAutoMode" type="java.lang.Boolean" value="true"/>
+    <AuxValue name="FormSettings_layoutCodeTarget" type="java.lang.Integer" value="2"/>
+    <AuxValue name="FormSettings_listenerGenerationStyle" type="java.lang.Integer" value="0"/>
+    <AuxValue name="FormSettings_variablesLocal" type="java.lang.Boolean" value="false"/>
+    <AuxValue name="FormSettings_variablesModifier" type="java.lang.Integer" value="2"/>
+    <AuxValue name="designerSize" type="java.awt.Dimension" value="-84,-19,0,5,115,114,0,18,106,97,118,97,46,97,119,116,46,68,105,109,101,110,115,105,111,110,65,-114,-39,-41,-84,95,68,20,2,0,2,73,0,6,104,101,105,103,104,116,73,0,5,119,105,100,116,104,120,112,0,0,0,80,0,0,1,-113"/>
+  </AuxValues>
+
+  <Layout class="org.netbeans.modules.form.compat2.layouts.DesignGridBagLayout"/>
+  <SubComponents>
+    <Component class="javax.swing.JLabel" name="instructions">
+      <Properties>
+        <Property name="labelFor" type="java.awt.Component" editor="org.netbeans.modules.form.ComponentChooserEditor">
+          <ComponentRef name="charsetComboBox"/>
+        </Property>
+        <Property name="text" type="java.lang.String" editor="org.netbeans.modules.i18n.form.FormI18nStringEditor">
+          <ResourceString bundle="org/netbeans/modules/javacard/project/ui/Bundle.properties" key="UnsupportedEncodingDialog.instructions.text" replaceFormat="org.openide.util.NbBundle.getMessage({sourceFileName}.class, &quot;{key}&quot;, {arguments})"/>
+        </Property>
+      </Properties>
+      <Constraints>
+        <Constraint layoutClass="org.netbeans.modules.form.compat2.layouts.DesignGridBagLayout" value="org.netbeans.modules.form.compat2.layouts.DesignGridBagLayout$GridBagConstraintsDescription">
+          <GridBagConstraints gridX="-1" gridY="-1" gridWidth="1" gridHeight="1" fill="0" ipadX="0" ipadY="0" insetsTop="12" insetsLeft="12" insetsBottom="0" insetsRight="12" anchor="18" weightX="0.5" weightY="0.0"/>
+        </Constraint>
+      </Constraints>
+    </Component>
+    <Component class="javax.swing.JComboBox" name="charsetComboBox">
+      <Properties>
+        <Property name="model" type="javax.swing.ComboBoxModel" editor="org.netbeans.modules.form.editors2.ComboBoxModelEditor">
+          <StringArray count="1">
+            <StringItem index="0" value="[Loading all character sets]"/>
+          </StringArray>
+        </Property>
+        <Property name="enabled" type="boolean" value="false"/>
+      </Properties>
+      <Constraints>
+        <Constraint layoutClass="org.netbeans.modules.form.compat2.layouts.DesignGridBagLayout" value="org.netbeans.modules.form.compat2.layouts.DesignGridBagLayout$GridBagConstraintsDescription">
+          <GridBagConstraints gridX="0" gridY="1" gridWidth="1" gridHeight="1" fill="2" ipadX="0" ipadY="0" insetsTop="5" insetsLeft="12" insetsBottom="12" insetsRight="12" anchor="18" weightX="0.5" weightY="0.0"/>
+        </Constraint>
+      </Constraints>
+    </Component>
+  </SubComponents>
+</Form>
diff -r 00b61a6ecacf java.api.common/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/api/common/project/ui/UnsupportedEncodingDialog.java
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/java.api.common/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/api/common/project/ui/UnsupportedEncodingDialog.java	Mon Mar 16 14:44:27 2009 -0500
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+package org.netbeans.modules.java.api.common.project.ui;
+
+import java.awt.Cursor;
+import java.awt.EventQueue;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
+import java.text.MessageFormat;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.SortedMap;
+import javax.swing.DefaultComboBoxModel;
+import org.netbeans.api.queries.FileEncodingQuery;
+import org.openide.DialogDescriptor;
+import org.openide.DialogDisplayer;
+import org.openide.util.HelpCtx;
+import org.openide.util.NbBundle;
+import org.openide.util.RequestProcessor;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author Tim Boudreau
+ */
+final class UnsupportedEncodingDialog extends javax.swing.JPanel implements Runnable {
+
+    private final DefaultComboBoxModel mdl = new DefaultComboBoxModel();
+    private DialogDescriptor descriptor;
+
+    /** Creates new form UnsupportedEncodingDialog */
+    public UnsupportedEncodingDialog() {
+        initComponents();
+        Cursor cursor = Cursor.getPredefinedCursor(Cursor.WAIT_CURSOR);
+        setCursor(cursor);
+        instructions.setCursor(cursor);
+        charsetComboBox.setCursor(cursor);
+    }
+
+    void setDialogDescriptor(DialogDescriptor d) {
+        this.descriptor = d;
+    }
+
+    public static Charset showDialog(String projectName, String requestedCharset) {
+        UnsupportedEncodingDialog pnl = new UnsupportedEncodingDialog();
+        String s = pnl.instructions.getText();
+        MessageFormat.format(s, new Object[] { requestedCharset });
+        String title = NbBundle.getMessage(UnsupportedEncodingDialog.class,
+                "UNSUPPORTED_ENCODING", requestedCharset, projectName); //NO18N
+        String close = NbBundle.getMessage(UnsupportedEncodingDialog.class,
+                "CLOSE"); //NOI18N
+        DialogDescriptor des = new DialogDescriptor (pnl,
+                title, true, new Object[] { close },
+                close, DialogDescriptor.DEFAULT_ALIGN,
+                HelpCtx.DEFAULT_HELP, null); //NOI18N
+        pnl.setDialogDescriptor(des);
+        DialogDisplayer.getDefault().notify(des);
+        return pnl.getSelectedCharset();
+    }
+
+    private Charset getSelectedCharset() {
+        Object o = charsetComboBox.getSelectedItem();
+        if (o instanceof Entry) {
+            return ((Entry) o).charset;
+        } else {
+            //should never happen
+            return FileEncodingQuery.getDefaultEncoding();
+        }
+    }
+
+    /** This method is called from within the constructor to
+     * initialize the form.
+     * WARNING: Do NOT modify this code. The content of this method is
+     * always regenerated by the Form Editor.
+     */
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+    // <editor-fold defaultstate="collapsed" desc="Generated Code">//GEN-BEGIN:initComponents
+    private void initComponents() {
+        java.awt.GridBagConstraints gridBagConstraints;
+
+        instructions = new javax.swing.JLabel();
+        charsetComboBox = new javax.swing.JComboBox();
+
+        setLayout(new java.awt.GridBagLayout());
+
+        instructions.setLabelFor(charsetComboBox);
+        instructions.setText(org.openide.util.NbBundle.getMessage(UnsupportedEncodingDialog.class, "UnsupportedEncodingDialog.instructions.text", new Object[] {})); // NOI18N
+        gridBagConstraints = new java.awt.GridBagConstraints();
+        gridBagConstraints.anchor = java.awt.GridBagConstraints.NORTHWEST;
+        gridBagConstraints.weightx = 0.5;
+        gridBagConstraints.insets = new java.awt.Insets(12, 12, 0, 12);
+        add(instructions, gridBagConstraints);
+
+        charsetComboBox.setModel(new javax.swing.DefaultComboBoxModel(new String[] { "[Loading all character sets]" }));
+        charsetComboBox.setEnabled(false);
+        gridBagConstraints = new java.awt.GridBagConstraints();
+        gridBagConstraints.gridx = 0;
+        gridBagConstraints.gridy = 1;
+        gridBagConstraints.fill = java.awt.GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
+        gridBagConstraints.anchor = java.awt.GridBagConstraints.NORTHWEST;
+        gridBagConstraints.weightx = 0.5;
+        gridBagConstraints.insets = new java.awt.Insets(5, 12, 12, 12);
+        add(charsetComboBox, gridBagConstraints);
+    }// </editor-fold>//GEN-END:initComponents
+
+    @Override
+    public void addNotify() {
+        super.addNotify();
+        RequestProcessor.getDefault().post(this);
+    }
+    
+    // Variables declaration - do not modify//GEN-BEGIN:variables
+    private javax.swing.JComboBox charsetComboBox;
+    private javax.swing.JLabel instructions;
+    // End of variables declaration//GEN-END:variables
+
+    @Override
+    public void run() {
+        if (!EventQueue.isDispatchThread()) {
+            try {
+                Entry use = null;
+                Charset def = FileEncodingQuery.getDefaultEncoding();
+                if (!EventQueue.isDispatchThread()) {
+                    SortedMap<String, Charset> m = Charset.availableCharsets();
+                    for (Map.Entry<String, Charset> e : m.entrySet()) {
+                        Entry entry = new Entry(e.getKey(), e.getValue());
+                        if (def.equals(e.getValue())) {
+                            use = entry;
+                        }
+                        mdl.addElement(entry);
+                    }
+                }
+                if (use != null) {
+                    mdl.setSelectedItem(use);
+                }
+            } finally {
+                EventQueue.invokeLater(this);
+            }
+        } else {
+            charsetComboBox.setModel(mdl);
+            charsetComboBox.setEnabled(true);
+            Cursor cursor = Cursor.getPredefinedCursor(Cursor.DEFAULT_CURSOR);
+            setCursor(cursor);
+            instructions.setCursor(cursor);
+            charsetComboBox.setCursor(cursor);
+            if (descriptor != null) {
+                descriptor.setValid(false);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static final class Entry {
+
+        String nm;
+        Charset charset;
+
+        public Entry(String nm, Charset charset) {
+            this.nm = nm;
+            this.charset = charset;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public String toString() {
+            return charset.displayName();
+        }
+    }
+}
diff -r 00b61a6ecacf java.j2seproject/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/j2seproject/J2SEProject.java
--- a/java.j2seproject/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/j2seproject/J2SEProject.java	Thu Mar 12 21:08:41 2009 -0500
+++ b/java.j2seproject/src/org/netbeans/modules/java/j2seproject/J2SEProject.java	Mon Mar 16 14:44:27 2009 -0500
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@
 import org.netbeans.modules.java.api.common.classpath.ClassPathModifier;
 import org.netbeans.modules.java.api.common.classpath.ClassPathProviderImpl;
 import org.netbeans.modules.java.api.common.project.ProjectProperties;
+import org.netbeans.modules.java.api.common.project.ui.ProjectUISupport;
 import org.netbeans.modules.java.api.common.queries.QuerySupport;
 import org.netbeans.modules.java.j2seproject.api.J2SEPropertyEvaluator;
 import org.netbeans.modules.java.j2seproject.ui.J2SELogicalViewProvider;
@@ -540,6 +541,28 @@
             //the updater is active only on the opened projects
 	    mainClassUpdater = new MainClassUpdater (J2SEProject.this, eval, updateHelper,
                     cpProvider.getProjectClassPaths(ClassPath.SOURCE)[0], J2SEProjectProperties.MAIN_CLASS);
+            String prop = eval.getProperty(J2SEProjectProperties.SOURCE_ENCODING);
+            Charset c = null;
+            boolean updated = false;
+            if (prop != null) {
+                try {
+                    c = Charset.forName(prop);
+                } catch (IllegalCharsetNameException e) {
+                    //Broken property, log & ignore
+                    Logger LOG = Logger.getLogger(J2SEProject.class.getName());
+                    LOG.warning("Illegal charset: " + prop + " in project: " + FileUtil.getFileDisplayName(getProjectDirectory())); //NOI18N
+                    } catch (UnsupportedCharsetException e) {
+                    //todo: Needs UI notification like broken references.
+                    Logger LOG = Logger.getLogger(J2SEProject.class.getName());
+                    LOG.warning("Unsupported charset: " + prop + " in project: " + FileUtil.getFileDisplayName(getProjectDirectory())); //NOI18N
+                    }
+                if (c == null) {
+                    String name = getLookup().lookup(ProjectInformation.class).getDisplayName();
+                    c = ProjectUISupport.showUnsupportedEncodingDialog(name, prop);
+                    updated = true;
+                }
+            }
+            final Charset updatedCharset = updated ? c : null;
 
             // Make it easier to run headless builds on the same machine at least.
             try {
@@ -586,6 +609,10 @@
 
                                 updateHelper.putProperties(AntProjectHelper.PRIVATE_PROPERTIES_PATH, ep);
                                 ep = helper.getProperties(AntProjectHelper.PROJECT_PROPERTIES_PATH);
+                                if (updatedCharset != null) {
+                                    ep.setProperty(J2SEProjectProperties.SOURCE_ENCODING,
+                                            updatedCharset.name());
+                                }
                                 if (!ep.containsKey(ProjectProperties.INCLUDES)) {
                                     ep.setProperty(ProjectProperties.INCLUDES, "**"); // NOI18N
                                 }
@@ -620,19 +647,6 @@
             if (physicalViewProvider != null &&  physicalViewProvider.hasBrokenLinks()) {   
                 BrokenReferencesSupport.showAlert();
             }
-            String prop = eval.getProperty(J2SEProjectProperties.SOURCE_ENCODING);
-            if (prop != null) {
-                try {
-                    Charset c = Charset.forName(prop);
-                } catch (IllegalCharsetNameException e) {
-                    //Broken property, log & ignore
-                    LOG.warning("Illegal charset: " + prop+ " in project: " + FileUtil.getFileDisplayName(getProjectDirectory())); //NOI18N
-                }
-                catch (UnsupportedCharsetException e) {
-                    //todo: Needs UI notification like broken references.
-                    LOG.warning("Unsupported charset: " + prop+ " in project: " + FileUtil.getFileDisplayName(getProjectDirectory())); //NOI18N
-                }
-            }
         }
         
         protected void projectClosed() {