From ALB@immedia.ca Fri Dec 20 11:18:00 1993 Received: from Clouso.CRIM.CA by dkuug.dk with SMTP id AA24301 (5.65c8/IDA-1.4.4j for ); Mon, 20 Dec 1993 17:12:21 +0100 Received: from immedia.ca ([192.139.197.1]) by clouso.crim.ca (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA05938; Mon, 20 Dec 93 11:13:12 EST Return-Path: Received: by immedia.ca (3.2/2.D) id AA21817; 20 Dec 93 16:19:40 -0500 Date: 20 Dec 93 16:18:00 -0500 From: ALB@immedia.ca Message-Id: <199312201619.AA21817@immedia.ca> To: cpwg-mail@revcan.rct.ca, i18n@dkuug.dk, sc22wg20@dkuug.dk Cc: iso10646@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu Subject: Input methods to enter characters from the ISO 10646 repertoire X-Charset: ASCII X-Char-Esc: 29 ---------- I don't know if I already posted this on this list, but I'm sure I did not post it complete with the 3 documents SC18/WG9 N 1290R, 1291 and 1292 which form the base for an NP to be distributed to JTC!/SC18 member bodies for letter ballot. Have a merry Christmas for those of you who are Christians and others who share that event with this community and a happy new civil year 1994. Alain LaBont Ministre des Communications du Qubec ******************************************************************************* To : /Personnel/Umamaheswaran CC : /Personnel/Fred Subject : Input method to enter characters of the ISO/IEC 10646 repertoire Delivery : Reguliere From : ALB Type : EXPRESS Form : Mail Uma, following your phone call I found not 2 but 3 documents to make this dossier complete. As I am not sure I posted all of 3 on the ISO10646 list I will do it again and also send a copy to the SC22WG20 list. Joyeux Nol et bonne et heureuse anne 1994. J'espre que l'on pourra se voir les 2 et 3 mars Toronto. Amitis, Alain LaBont P.-S.: If you do not have TRANI850 to decode it, please do not hesitate to ask me this decoder; it should be readable as is relatively well but it has examples with accented characters (ex.: "tais pas Hursley, cela peut t'tre utile) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRANISCI <- 1992-01-22 ->TRANI850 ISO+/IEC JTC1+/SC18+/WG9 N1290R Title>> A simplistic but workable method to enter characters of the full repertoire of ISO+/IEC 10646 Source>> Alain LaBont/e Date>> 1993<-11<-08 Distribution>> SC18+/WG9 Action required>> For opening reference in a new work item to be presented at the SC18+/WG9 Hursley meeting _____________________________________________________________ 1. Introduction Today, there is a well<-known method in existence for inputing characters foreign to a given keyboard on PC compatibles. However this method is code<-dependent and is limited to 8<-bit character sets. There is a need to standardize such a method independently of coding even for these limited sets of characters. There is also an international standard, ISO+/IEC 9995<-3, for inputing on a standard 48<-key keyboard the repertoire of characters belonging to those European languages using the Latin script. But this standard is limited to the Latin script, even if it opens the door to the defining supplementary groups for other scripts. In the meanwhile, until other groups are well defined and documented, there should be an easy standard way to enter non<-Latin characters in a code<-independent fashion. This would avoid the multiplication of such methods, a situation that is never desirable for end<-users. Furthermore, ISO+/IEC JTC1 recently published a standard, ISO+/IEC 10646, titled "Universal multiple<-octet coded character set (UCS)", which is a superset of the repertoires of all standard character sets published so far by ISO+/IEC JTC1. For this one large character set (UCS), there is no standard input method in existence today. But there will be an increasing need to do so, which would also solve the problem of code independence. 2. Simplistic but workable proposal As an initial proposal, simplistic but workable, the following method, analogous to what exists now on PC compatibles, is proposed in 2.2. 2.1 Repertoire and "catalog number" to identify characters Immediately exploitable is the recently published Universal multiple<-octet coded character set, whose repertoire can be seen as the complete catalog of standard graphic characters previously published by ISO+/IEC JTC1 plus new subsets never published before. ??, While ISO 10646 uses a multi<-octet coding scheme, it includes characters which were previously accessible using a lot of different codings. It is possible to really know that some of these characters are the same, independently of their coding, by their names>> if the names of 2 characters included in 2 different codes are the same, then the characters are the same, whatever the coding. Hence, as a short<-cut, it is possible to use the code value of each character of ISO+/IEC 10646 as a "catalog number" that represents any character that an end<-user wants to use, even if it is not accessible on a given keyboard. This catalog number then represents an easy reference equivalent to the concept represented by the name of a character. Furthermore, this "catalog number" may easily represent the exact same character that exists in numerous non<-standard character sets, registered or not in the ISO+/IEC character registry (held by ECMA in Gen> 0000020+, 000020+, 0020+, 20+ are all equivalent catalog numbers corresponding to the character SPACE as documented in ISO+/IEC 10646; again, 20+ is not to be considered as a code reference>> it could represent the code point X"40" of EBCDIC in systems which use the latter code to represent the character SPACE, and 20+ would still be the reference to that character, whence code<-independence. The choice of the character SPACE as an ending delimiter has been especially chosen because it is assumed the space bar exists on all keyboards of the world. While it is not ideal, it is assumed that the 6 first letters ABCDEF of the Latin alphabet exist on all keyboards, plus the 10 digits 0123456789. It would have been better to use fully decimal references (and avoid, again, using the Latin script, which is a cultural bias) but ISO 10646 references are better found in hexadecimal than in full decimal values. 2.2 Simplistic method of entry per se Given such a catalog number, it is proposed to allow the entry of any character included in the repertoire of ISO+/IEC 10646, whatever the resulting code assigned by the target machine environment in the following way>> While the Control key (as described in ISO+/IEC 9995<-7) and the Alternate key (as described in the same standard) are simultaneously depressed [preferably by activating the Alternate key first, then the Control key], typing the hexadecimal value targeting the desired character and ending the "catalog number" by depressing the space bar shall generate a coded graphic character equivalent to the one corresponding to this "catalog number" in ISO+/IEC 10646. ??, For example, if the sequence 00C0+ is typed while + and + were previously depressed and held depressed during the typing, character "> Input methods to enter graphic characters from the repertoire of ISO+/IEC 10646 with a keyboard or other input devices Source>> SC18+/WG9 SWGK Date>> 1993<-11<-04 Distribution>> SC18+/WG9 and SC18 Action required>> For SC18 letter ballot and forwarding to JTC1 for approval in the programme of work of SC18+/WG9 _____________________________________________________________ NP (New work item Proposal) in FORM 3 format of PROCEDURES 1 Title of Project. Input Method(s) to enter graphic characters from the repertoire of ISO+/IEC 10646 with a keyboard or other input devices 2 Scope (and field of application) This project will define methods to allow entering characters belonging to the repertoire of ISO+/IEC 10646 in a code independent manner using a keyboard or other input devices. It is also expected that for implementations of different character set coding schemes, this method will be useable, provided that the target character sets have repertoires that are subsets of the one for ISO+/IEC 10646. 3 Purpose and Justification Today, there is a well<-known method in existence for inputing characters foreign to a given keyboard on PC compatibles. However this method is code<-dependent and is limited to 8<-bit character sets. There is a need to standardize such a method independently of coding even for these limited sets of characters. There is also an international standard, ISO+/IEC 9995<-3, for inputing on a standard 48<-key keyboard the repertoire of characters belonging to those European languages using the Latin script. But this standard is limited to the Latin script, even if it opens the door to the defining supplementary groups for other scripts. Furthermore, ISO+/IEC JTC1 recently published a standard, ISO+/IEC 10646, titled "Universal multiple<-octet coded character set (UCS)", which is a superset of the repertoires of all standard character sets published so far by ISO+/IEC JTC1. For this one large character set (UCS), there is no standard input method in existence today. But there will be an increasing need to do so, which would also solve the problem of code independence. ??, 4 Programme of work A single<-part international standard is expected to be developed for this project. 5 Relevant documents to be considered Initially, the following document will be referenced>> ISO+/IEC JTC1+/SC18+/WG9 N1290>> A simplistic but workable method to enter characters of the full repertoire of ISO+/IEC 10646 6 Cooperation and liaison The potential cooperation and liaisons identified would be with>> ISO+/IEC JTC1 SC2 <- Character Sets and Information Coding ISO+/IEC JTC1 SC22+/WG20 <- Internationalisation Note>> a liaison with SC2 is already established. A formal liaison with SC22+/WG20 remains to be established. 7 Preparatory work offered and target dates Alain LaBont/e (Minist> WD to be sent for comments in April 1994 CD to be sent for registration and ballot in October 1994 8 References to External Authorities For this particular project, no registration authority is foreseen. Developments (addenda, corrigenda and extensions) on ISO+/IEC 10646 will have to be followed. The proposed standard does not concern known patented items. +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+! +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+! +* ISO+/IEC JTC1+/SC18+/WG9 N1292 Title>> Draft User Requirements for a Standard on a method to enter characters of the repertoire of ISO+/IEC 10646 Source>> Alain LaBont/e Date>> 1993<-11<-04 Distribution>> SC18+/WG9 and SC18+/WG1 Action required>> For consideration by SC18+/WG1 alongside with documents WG9 N1290 and WG9 N1291 (NP) _____________________________________________________________ The primary users of such a standard will be all keyboard users which require to enter characters that are part of the character set in use in their machine but that are not allocated on the keyboard they use. 1 Today, there is a well<-known method in existence for inputing characters foreign to a given keyboard on PC compatibles. However this method is code<-dependent and is limited to 8<-bit character sets. There is a need to standardize such a method independently of coding even for these limited sets of characters. 2 There is also an international standard, ISO+/IEC 9995<-3, for inputing on a standard 48<-key keyboard the repertoire of characters belonging to those European languages using the Latin script. But this standard is limited to the Latin script, even if it opens the door to the defining supplementary groups for other scripts. In the meanwhile, until other groups are well defined and documented, there should be an easy standard way to enter non<-Latin characters in a code<-independent fashion. This would avoid the multiplication of such methods, a situation that is never desirable for end<-users. 3 Furthermore, ISO+/IEC JTC1 recently published a standard, ISO+/IEC 10646, titled "Universal multiple<-octet coded character set (UCS)", which is a superset of the repertoires of all standard character sets published so far by ISO+/IEC JTC1. For this one large character set (UCS), there is no standard input method in existence today. But there will be an increasing need to do so, which would also solve the problem of code independence. 4 Finally, the arrival of notebook computers has seen many of these machines without an easily accessible numeric keypad (a logical fallback is then often provided, difficult to use and often disturbing the normal use of the alphanumeric section), and even some without even a fallback for the missing numeric keypad. The method proposed should make use of a standard keyboard, preferably any keyboard used in the world which has digits and Latin letters.