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jeffchwu
Joined: 03 Sep 2005
Posts: 13
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 Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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Hi, Cfynn,
Yes, copy that DLL into local directory is good method. But I just try to think the way as the FWJ's, it maybe possible that somebody ask FWJ "Why my MS word can show this well, but Pechamaker cannot!". Then just find that, the MS update the DLL, but PechaMake not update it to local directory.
In order to avoid that problem, 1) just use MS's system DLL, do not copy to local, or 2) check the dll update? if update the copy to local (manual or auto?) or..... 3) update by user.. <-- this way, FWJ do not like it.
^_- But that's all FWJ's choice, I just pray for it come true.
ཨོཾ་མ་ནི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུྃ། |
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cfynn
Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 16
Location: Thimphu, Bhutan
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| Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 5:29 am Post subject: Re: When to support Unicode Tibetan fonts? |
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| FWJ wrote: | | I have just returned from India/Nepal where I visited a half dozen Monasteries, the LTWA and TCRC and other Tibetan publishing organizations. I found that PechaMaker is appreciated and well received. However, I did not find a single Tibetan who was actually using Unicode for any project or document. Only about 3% of the computers available were running Vista. |
Isn't this a bit of a "chicken and egg" situation? As long as it is difficult for people to format pecha using Unicode fonts then people will continue to use legacy systems that they are more familiar with where automatic formatting is available. Once there is a way to format pecha easily using Unicode fonts then people will begin to migrate.
In 2006-2007 we input the whole 12 volumes of Padma Lingpa's Ter Chö in Unicode here in Bhutan - and formatted it all as pecha using simple manusl (non-automated) templates in Word on windows XP. This works but it is certainly not as convenient as Pecha Maker.
I don't know about India, but the Loden Foundation now also has a project here in Bhutan inputting texts using Unicode and there are several individuals here doing the same. There is also now an Electronic Kangyur Project in Tibet which is inputting the whole of the Kangyur in Unicode. ~ a Unicode compatible version of Pecha Maker would certainly be useful for formatting the data from these projects and others - so I hope you will keep working on this.
The government and most other institutions in Bhutan now almost exclusively use Unicode (on Windows XP systems) - so it is certainly not the case that there is no one using Unicode for documents written in Tibetan script. Earlier this year I also found a way to make Unicode Tibetan script fonts work in Adobe's InDesign (CS2 & CS3) - so now Dzongkha language newspapers are published using Unicode fonts. It should be possible to make pecha templates or a plug-in for InDesign - but that professional publishing software is expensive and you need to be familair with it to use it properly.
with all good wishes
- Chris
_________________
Christopher J Fynn
Dzongkha Development Commission
Thimphu, Bhutan
Last edited by cfynn on Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:32 am; edited 3 times in total |
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cfynn
Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 16
Location: Thimphu, Bhutan
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| Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 5:55 am Post subject: |
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| jeffchwu wrote: | Hi, Cfynn,
Yes, copy that DLL into local directory is good method. But I just try to think the way as the FWJ's, it maybe possible that somebody ask FWJ "Why my MS word can show this well, but Pechamaker cannot!". Then just find that, the MS update the DLL, but PechaMake not update it to local directory.
In order to avoid that problem, 1) just use MS's system DLL, do not copy to local, or 2) check the dll update? if update the copy to local (manual or auto?) or..... 3) update by user.. <-- this way, FWJ do not like it.
^_- But that's all FWJ's choice, I just pray for it come true.
ཨོཾ་མ་ནི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུྃ། |
Unfortunately MS do not update USP10.DLL even in the latest service pack for XP - so on XP systems if you want support for Unicode Tibetan script outside of MS Office you have to update it yourself ~ either by installing an updated version in the \WINDOWS\System32\ directory, which can be quite awkward to do due to the built-in protection for system DLLs; or by installing a copy of the updated USP10.DLL in the start-up directory of each application where you need Tibetan script support.
If Office 2003 or above is installed on a system the USP10.DLL can be copied from there - if not, another legitimate way to get an updated USP10.DLL is to download and install Microsoft's free Word Viewer application.
Perhaps a way round this is for the PechaMaker install program to look for an Office installation and copy the DLL from there - if Office is not installed there might be be an option to dowload and install WordViewer which would provide the same. (You also get an updated version of USP10.DLL when you install Google Earth). In my experience this does not interfere with properly made "ANSI" fonts.
The only other practical way I can see round this would be for PechaMaker to use an alternate to USP10.DLL such as provided by ICU, Pango or HarfBuzz. Inkscape does this and works well with Tibetan script Unicode fonts - but I suspect this would involve major changes to the Pecha Maker code.
Of course on Vista and Windows 7 systems this USP10.DLL business is not an issue - but in India, Bhutan and Nepal most people are still using XP systems. Of course nearly every one of these systems also has Word 2003 or 2007 installed so a version of USP10.DLL with Tibetan script support is almost always available on the system and could be used.
with all good wishes
- Chris
_________________
Christopher J Fynn
Dzongkha Development Commission
Thimphu, Bhutan |
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