def setDefaultIREncoding(encoding):
    """
		setDefaultIREncoding - Sets the default encoding used by IndexedRedis.
		  This will be the default encoding used for field data. You can override this on a
		  per-field basis by using an IRField (such as IRUnicodeField or IRRawField)

		@param encoding - An encoding (like utf-8)
	"""
    try:
        b''.decode(encoding)
    except:
        raise ValueError(
            'setDefaultIREncoding was provided an invalid codec. Got (encoding="%s")'
             % (str(encoding),))
    global defaultIREncoding
    defaultIREncoding = encoding
