arndt@ZYX.SE (Arndt Jonasson) (09/27/89)
This is a request for information. We are in the process of developing software which among other things will handle natural languages other than English in a useful manner. This software will mostly run in an environment using the X Window System. Among the languages that raise the most problems is Japanese, since the set of characters is so much larger than the Latin alphabet. We already have some information regarding handling of Japanese characters (Kanji) on various manufacturers' systems (as well as some knowledge of Japanese), but we would like to know more, so we can decide how best to design a system that will work satisfactorily on most systems. Areas of interest are: character encodings, encoding conversion algorihms, terminal emulators using Kanji for input/output, editors using Kanji, availability of Kanji on IBM PC compatibles and Unix workstations, implementation and ergonomics of Kanji input mechanisms, algorithms for Kana->Kanji conversion, handling of Kanji in various programming language implementations, etc. While using Japanese as an example, information on Korean and Chinese would also be welcome, as well as about other window systems than X. Thank you in advance. Please send mail, don't post. I will post a summary. -- Arndt Jonasson, ZYX Sweden AB, Styrmansgatan 6, 114 54 Stockholm, Sweden email address: arndt@zyx.SE or <backbone>!mcvax!enea!zyx!arndt -- Arndt Jonasson, ZYX Sweden AB, Styrmansgatan 6, 114 54 Stockholm, Sweden email address: arndt@zyx.SE or <backbone>!mcvax!enea!zyx!arndt
rws@EXPO.LCS.MIT.EDU (Bob Scheifler) (09/28/89)
User-contributed software that will be in R4 (I can't promise it any sooner than that, at present): Japanese Input System Specification (written in JIS Kanji), defines interface between application and xwnmo. Japanese Input Library (XJp library), supports the above specification. Japanese Input Frontend Processor (xwnmo), between application and Jserver. EUC Output Library, convenience functions for drawing EUC encoded text. XJpterm and XJpuwm, handling Japanese text input and output. Kana-to-Kanji conversion server (Jserver). Front-end processor for Japanese character terminals (Uum, alias Wnn). Library for using Jserver from application. Ramaji-to-Kana conversion library. Dictionary maintenance utilities. Japanese dictionary for Kana-to-Kanji conversion. This software and documentation is being donated by: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. Fujitsu Limited Omron Tateisi Electronics Co. Digital Computer Limited dit Co., Ltd. NEC Corp. Toshiba Corp. Information-Technology Promotion Agency, Japan Sigma System Project Kyoto University Research Institute for Mathematical Science Astec, Inc. PUBDIC project, JUNET