Files
cdesktop/cde/doc/C/guides/i18nGuide/ch01.sgm

717 lines
46 KiB
Plaintext

<!-- $XConsortium: ch01.sgm /main/10 1996/09/08 19:38:50 rws $ -->
<!-- (c) Copyright 1995 Digital Equipment Corporation. -->
<!-- (c) Copyright 1995 Hewlett-Packard Company. -->
<!-- (c) Copyright 1995 International Business Machines Corp. -->
<!-- (c) Copyright 1995 Sun Microsystems, Inc. -->
<!-- (c) Copyright 1995 Novell, Inc. -->
<!-- (c) Copyright 1995 FUJITSU LIMITED. -->
<!-- (c) Copyright 1995 Hitachi. -->
<chapter id="IPG.intro.div.1">
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.1">Introduction to Internationalization</title>
<para>Internationalization<indexterm><primary>internationalization</primary>
<secondary>definition</secondary></indexterm> is the designing of computer
systems and applications for users around the world. Such users have different
languages and may have different requirements for the functionality and user
interface of the systems they operate. In spite of these differences, users
want to be able to implement enterprise-wide applications that run at their
sites worldwide. These<indexterm><primary>application requirements</primary>
</indexterm> applications must be able to <emphasis>interoperate</emphasis>
across country boundaries, run on a variety of hardware configurations from
multiple vendors, and be localized to meet local users' needs. This open,
distributed computing environment is the reasoning behind<indexterm><primary>Common Desktop Environment</primary><secondary>description</secondary></indexterm> common
open software environments. The internationalization technology identified
within this specification provides these benefits to a global market.</para>
<sect1 id="IPG.intro.div.2">
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.2">Overview of Internationalization</title>
<para>Multiple environments may exist within a common open system for support
of different national languages. Each of these national<indexterm><primary>locales</primary><secondary>definition</secondary></indexterm> environments
is called a <emphasis>locale,</emphasis> which considers the language, its
characters, fonts, and the customs used to input and format data. The Common
Desktop Environment is fully internationalized such that any application
can run using any locale installed in the system.</para>
<para>A locale defines the behavior of a program at run time according to
the language and cultural conventions of a user's geographical area. Throughout
the system,<indexterm><primary>locales</primary><secondary>behavior</secondary>
</indexterm> locales affect the following:</para>
<itemizedlist remap="Bullet1"><listitem><para>Encoding and processing of text
data</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>Identifying the language and encoding of resource
files and their text values</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>Rendering and layout of text strings</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>Interchanging text that is used for interclient
text communication</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>Selecting the input method (which code set will
be generated) and the processing of text data</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>Encoding and decoding for interclient text communication
</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>Bitmap/icon files</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>Actions and file types</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>User Interface Definition (UID) files</para>
</listitem></itemizedlist>
<para>An internationalized application contains no code that is dependent
on the user's locale, the characters needed to represent that locale, or
any formats (such as date and currency) that the user expects to see and
interact with. The desktop accomplishes this by separating language- and
culture-dependent information from the application and saving it outside
the application.</para>
<para>Figure&numsp;1-1 shows the kinds of information that should be external
to an application to simplify internationalization.</para>
<figure>
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.3">Information external to the application</title>
<graphic id="IPG.intro.grph.1" entityref="IPG.intro.fig.1"></graphic>
</figure>
<para>By keeping the language- and culture-dependent information separate
from the application source code, the application does not need to be rewritten
or recompiled to be marketed in different countries. Instead, the only requirement
is for the external information to be localized to accommodate local language
and customs.</para>
<para>An internationalized application is also adaptable to the requirements
of different native languages, local customs, and character-string encodings.
The process of adapting the operation to a particular native language, local
custom, or string encoding is called<indexterm><primary>localization</primary>
<secondary>definition</secondary></indexterm> <emphasis>localization</emphasis>.
A<indexterm><primary>internationalization</primary><secondary>goals of</secondary>
</indexterm> goal of internationalization is to permit localization without
program source modifications or recompilation.</para>
<para>For a quick overview of internationalization, refer to <emphasis>X/Open
CAE Specification System Interface Definition</emphasis>, Issue 4, X/Open
Company Ltd., 1992, ISBN: 1- 872630-46-4.</para>
<sect2 id="IPG.intro.div.3">
<title>Current State of Internationalization</title>
<para>Previously, the industry supplied many variants of internationalization
from proprietary functions to the new set of standard functions published
by X/Open. Also, there have been different levels of enabling, such as simple
ASCII support, Latin/European support, Asian multibyte support, and Arabic/Hebrew
bidirectional support.</para>
<para>The interfaces defined<indexterm><primary>internationalization</primary>
<secondary>supported languages</secondary></indexterm> within the X/Open specification
are capable of supporting a large set of languages and territories,<indexterm>
<primary>languages</primary></indexterm> including:</para>
<informaltable>
<tgroup cols="2" colsep="0" rowsep="0">
<?PubTbl tgroup dispwid="4.29in">
<colspec align="left" colwidth="123*">
<colspec align="left" colwidth="285*">
<thead>
<row><entry align="left" valign="bottom"><para><literal>Script</literal></para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top">Description</entry></row></thead>
<tbody>
<row>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>Latin Language</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>Americas, Eastern/Western European
</para></entry></row>
<row>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>Greek</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>Greece</para></entry></row>
<row>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>Turkish</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>Turkey</para></entry></row>
<row>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>East Asia</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>Japanese, Korean, and Chinese</para></entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>Indic</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>Thai</para></entry></row>
<row>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>Bidirectional</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>Arabic and Hebrew</para></entry></row>
</tbody></tgroup></informaltable>
<para>Furthermore, the<indexterm><primary>Common Desktop Environment</primary>
<secondary>goal of</secondary></indexterm> goal of the Common Desktop Environment
is that localization of these technologies (translation of messages and documentation
and other adaptation for local needs) be done in a consistent way, so that
a supported user anywhere in the world will find the same <emphasis>common
localized environment</emphasis> from vendor to vendor.<indexterm><primary>localization</primary><secondary>results of</secondary></indexterm> End users
and administrators can expect a consistent set of localization features that
provide a complete application environment for support of global software.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="IPG.intro.div.4">
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.4">Internationalization Standards</title>
<para><indexterm><primary>standards</primary></indexterm>Through the work
of many companies, the functionality of the internationalization application
program interface has been standardized over time to include additional requirements
and languages, particularly those of East Asia. This work has been centered
primarily in the Portable Operating System Interface for Computer Environments
(POSIX) and<indexterm><primary>X/Open specifications</primary></indexterm> X/Open
specifications. The original X/Open specification was published in the second
edition of the <emphasis>X/Open Portability Guide</emphasis> (XPG2) and was
based on the Native Language Support product released by Hewlett-Packard.
The latest published X/Open internationalization standard is referred to
as XPG4.</para>
<para>It is important that each layer within the desktop use the proper set
of<indexterm><primary>standards</primary></indexterm> standards interfaces
defined for internationalization to ensure end users get a consistent, localized
interface. The definition of a locale and the common open set of locale-dependent
functions are based on the following<indexterm><primary>internationalization</primary><secondary>specifications</secondary></indexterm> specifications:
</para>
<itemizedlist remap="Bullet1"><listitem><para><emphasis>X Window System, The
Complete Reference to Xlib, Xprotocol, ICCCM, XLFD - X Version, Release 5</emphasis>, Digital Press, 1992, ISBN 1-55558-088-2.</para>
</listitem><listitem><para><emphasis>ANSI/IEEE Standard Portable Operating
System Interface for Computer Environments</emphasis>, IEEE.</para>
</listitem><listitem><para><emphasis>OSF</emphasis>&trade; <emphasis>Motif
1.2 Programmer' Reference, Revision 1.2</emphasis>, Open Software Foundation,
Prentice Hall, 1992, ISBN 0-13-643115-1.</para>
</listitem><listitem><para><emphasis>X/Open CAE Specification Commands and
Utilities</emphasis>, Issue 4, X/Open Company Ltd., 1992, ISBN 1-872630-48-0.
</para>
</listitem></itemizedlist>
<para><indexterm><primary>standard interfaces, benefit of using</primary>
</indexterm>Within this environment, software developers can expect to develop <emphasis>worldwide applications</emphasis> that are portable, can interoperate across
distributed systems (even from different vendors), and can meet the diverse
language and cultural requirements of multinational users supported by the
desktop standard locales.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="IPG.intro.div.5">
<title>Common Internationalization System</title>
<para><!--Original XRef content: 'Figure&numsp;1&hyphen;2 on page&numsp;6'--><xref
role="CodeOrFigOrTabAndPNum" linkend="IPG.intro.mkr.5"> shows a view of how<indexterm><primary>internationalization</primary><secondary>common system</secondary></indexterm>
internationalization is pervasive across a specific
single-host system. The goal is that the applications (<emphasis>clients</emphasis>)
are built to be shipped worldwide for the set of locales supported in the
underlying system. Using standard interfaces improves access to global markets
and minimizes the amount of localization work needed by application developers.
In addition, country representatives can be ensured of consistent localization
within systems adhering to the principles of the desktop.</para>
<figure>
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.5">Common internationalized system</title>
<graphic id="IPG.intro.grph.2" entityref="IPG.intro.fig.2"></graphic>
</figure>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="IPG.intro.div.6">
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.6">Locales<indexterm><primary>Common Desktop Environment</primary><secondary>National Language Support</secondary><tertiary>using
locales</tertiary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>Common Desktop Environment</primary><secondary>National Language Support</secondary><tertiary>setlocale
function</tertiary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>setlocale function</primary>
<secondary>for internationalization</secondary></indexterm></title>
<para>Most single-display clients operate in a single locale that is determined
at run time from the setting of the environment variable, which is usually <computeroutput>$LANG</computeroutput> or the <computeroutput>xnlLanguage</computeroutput>
resource. Locale environment variables, such as <filename>LC_ALL</filename>,
<computeroutput>LC_CTYPE</computeroutput>, and <computeroutput>LANG</computeroutput>,
can be used to control the environment.
</para>
<para>The <computeroutput>LC_CTYPE</computeroutput> category of the locale
is used by the environment to identify the locale-specific features used
at run time. The fonts and input method loaded by the toolkit are determined
by the <computeroutput>LC_CTYPE</computeroutput> category.</para>
<para>Programs that are enabled for internationalization are expected to call
the <computeroutput>XtSetLanguageProc()</computeroutput> function (which
calls <computeroutput>setlocale()</computeroutput> by default) to set the
locale desired by the user. None of the libraries call the <computeroutput>setlocale()</computeroutput> function to set the locale, so it is the responsibility
of the application to call <computeroutput>XtSetLanguageProc()</computeroutput>
with either a specific locale or some value loaded at run time. If applications
are internationalized and do not use <computeroutput>XtSetLanguageProc()</computeroutput>, obtain the locale name from one of the following prioritized
sources to pass it to the <computeroutput>setlocale()</computeroutput> function:</para>
<itemizedlist remap="Bullet1"><listitem><para>A command-line option</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>A resource</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>The empty string (&ldquo; &rdquo;)</para>
</listitem></itemizedlist>
<para>The empty string makes the <computeroutput>setlocale()</computeroutput>
function use the <filename>$LC_*</filename> and <computeroutput>$LANG</computeroutput>
environment variables to determine locale settings. Specifically, setlocale
(<computeroutput>LC_ALL</computeroutput>, &ldquo; &rdquo;) specifies that
the locale should be checked and taken from environment variables in the
order shown in Table 1-1 for the various locale categories.</para>
<table id="IPG.intro.tbl.1" frame="Topbot">
<title>Locale Categories</title>
<tgroup cols="4" colsep="0" rowsep="0">
<colspec colwidth="1.68in">
<colspec colwidth="1.20in">
<colspec colwidth="1.46in">
<colspec colwidth="1.55in">
<thead>
<row><entry align="left" valign="bottom"><para><literal>Category</literal></para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="bottom"><para><literal>1st Env. Var.</literal></para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="bottom"><para><literal>2nd Env. Var.</literal></para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="bottom"><para><literal>3rd Env. Var.</literal></para></entry>
</row></thead>
<tbody>
<row>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_CTYPE:</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_ALL</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_TYPE</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LANG</para></entry></row>
<row>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_COLLATE:</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_ALL</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_COLLATE</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LANG</para></entry></row>
<row>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_TIME:</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_ALL</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_TIME</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LANG</para></entry></row>
<row>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_NUMERIC:</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_ALL</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_NUMERIC</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LANG</para></entry></row>
<row>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_MONETARY:</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_ALL</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_MONETARY</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LANG</para></entry></row>
<row>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_MESSAGES:</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_ALL</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LC_MESSAGES</para></entry>
<entry align="left" valign="top"><para>LANG</para></entry></row></tbody></tgroup>
</table>
<para>The toolkit already defines a standard command-line option ( <command>-lang</command>) and a resource (<systemitem>xnlLanguage</systemitem>). Also,
the resource value can be set in the server <filename>RESOURCE_MANAGER</filename>,
which may affect all clients that connect to that server.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="IPG.intro.div.7">
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.7">Fonts, Font Sets, and Render Tables<indexterm>
<primary>National Language Support</primary><secondary>understanding</secondary>
<tertiary>fonts</tertiary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>National Language
Support</primary><secondary>understanding</secondary><tertiary>font sets</tertiary>
</indexterm><indexterm><primary>National Language Support</primary><secondary>font sets</secondary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>National Language Support</primary><secondary>fonts</secondary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>National
Language Support</primary><secondary>understanding</secondary><tertiary>render
tables</tertiary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>National Language Support</primary><secondary>render tables</secondary></indexterm></title>
<para>All X clients use fonts for drawing text. The basic object used in drawing
text is <command>XFontStruct</command>, which identifies the font that contains
the images to be drawn.</para>
<para>The desktop already supports fonts by way of the <computeroutput>XFontStruct</computeroutput> data structure defined by Xlib; yet, the encoding of the
characters within the font must be known to an internationalized application.
To communicate this information, the program expects that all fonts at the
server are identified by an X Logical Font Description (XLFD) name. The XLFD
name enables users to describe both the base characteristics and the charset
(encoding of font glyphs). The term <symbol role="Variable">charset</symbol>
is used to denote the encoding of glyphs within the font, while the term <emphasis>code set</emphasis> means the encoding of characters within the locale. The
charset for a given font is determined by the CharSetRegistry and CharSetEncoding
fields of the XLFD name. Text and symbols are drawn as defined by the codes
in the fonts.</para>
<para>A <emphasis>font set</emphasis> (for example, an <computeroutput>XFontSet</computeroutput> data structure defined by Xlib) is a collection of one
or more fonts that enables all characters defined for a given locale to be
drawn. Internationalized applications may be required to draw text encoded
in the code sets of the locale where the value of an encoded character is
not identical to the glyph index. Additionally, multiple fonts may be required
to render all characters of the locale using one or more fonts whose encodings
may be different than the code set of the locale. Since both code sets and
charsets may vary from locale to locale, the concept of a font set is introduced
through <computeroutput>XFontSet</computeroutput>.</para>
<para>While fonts are identified by their XLFD name, font sets are identified
by a list of XLFD names. The list can consist of one or more XLFD names with
the exception that only the base characteristics are significant; the encoding
of the desired fonts is determined from the locale. Any charsets specified
in the XLFD base name list are ignored and users need only concentrate on
specifying the base characteristics, such as point size, style, and weight.
A font set is said to be <emphasis>locale-sensitive</emphasis> and is used
to draw text that is encoded in the code set of the locale. Internationalized
applications should use font sets instead of font structs to render text
data.</para>
<para>Render tables are collections of renditions that specify how text is
to be rendered. They are summarized elsewhere in this section.</para>
<sect2 id="IPG.intro.div.8">
<title>Font Specification</title>
<para>The <emphasis>font specification</emphasis> can be either an X Logical
Function Description (XLFD) name or an alias for the XLFD name. For example,
the following are valid font specifications for a 14-point font:</para>
<programlisting>-dt-application-medium-r-normal-serif-*-*-*-*-p-*-iso8859-1
</programlisting>
<para>OR</para>
<programlisting>-*-r-*-14-*iso8859-1</programlisting>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="IPG.intro.div.9">
<title>Font Set Specification<indexterm><primary>font sets</primary><secondary>internationalizing</secondary></indexterm></title>
<para>The <emphasis>font set specification</emphasis> is a list of names (XLFD
names or their aliases) and is sometimes called a <emphasis>base name list</emphasis>. All names are separated by commas, with any blank spaces before
or after the comma being ignored. Pattern-matching (wildcard) characters
can be specified to help shorten XLFD names.</para>
<para>Remember that a font set specification is determined by the locale that
is running. For example, the ja_JP Japanese locale defines three fonts (character
sets) necessary to display all of its characters; the following identifies
the set of Gothic fonts needed.</para>
<itemizedlist remap="Bullet1"><listitem><para>Example of full XLFD name list:
</para>
<programlisting>-dt-mincho-medium-r-normal--14-*-*-m-*-jisx0201.1976-0,-dt-mincho-medium-r-normal--28-*-*-*-m-*-jisx0208.1983-0:</programlisting>
</listitem><listitem><para>Example of single XLFD pattern name:</para>
<programlisting>-dt-*-medium-*-24-*-m-*:</programlisting>
</listitem></itemizedlist>
<para>The preceding two cases can be used with a Japanese locale as long as
fonts exist that match the base name list.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="IPG.intro.div.10">
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.8">Base Font Name List Specification<indexterm>
<primary>font sets</primary><secondary>specifying base name list</secondary>
</indexterm><indexterm><primary>National Language Support</primary><secondary>specifying</secondary><tertiary>base name list</tertiary></indexterm><indexterm>
<primary>internationalization</primary><secondary>specifying base name lists</secondary></indexterm></title>
<para>The <emphasis>base font name list</emphasis> is a list of base font
names associated with a font set as defined by the locale. The base font
names are in a comma-separated list and are assumed to be characters from
the portable character set; otherwise, the result is undefined. Blank space
immediately on either side of a separating comma is ignored.<indexterm>
<primary>base font name list</primary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>base
font name list</primary></indexterm></para>
<para>Use of XLFD font names permits international applications to obtain
the fonts needed for a variety of locales from a single locale-independent
base font name. The single base font name specifies a family of fonts whose
members are encoded in the various charsets needed by the locales of interest.<indexterm>
<primary>X Logical Font Description (XLFD)</primary><secondary>font names
for international locale</secondary></indexterm></para>
<para>An XLFD base font name can explicitly name the font's charset needed
for the locale. This enables the user to specify an exact font for use with
a charset required by a locale, fully controlling the font selection.</para>
<para>If a base font name is not an XLFD name, an attempt is made to obtain
an XLFD name from the font properties for the font.</para>
<para>The following algorithm is used to select the fonts that are used to
display text with font sets.<indexterm><primary>font selection algorithm,
displaying text with font sets</primary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>base font name list</primary></indexterm></para>
<para>For each charset required by the locale, the base font name list is
searched for the first of the following cases that names a set of fonts that
exist at the server.</para>
<itemizedlist remap="Bullet1"><listitem><para>The first XLFD-conforming base
font name that specifies the required charset or a superset of the required
charset in its CharSetRegistry and CharSetEncoding fields.</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>The first set of one or more XLFD-conforming base
font names that specify one or more charsets that can be remapped to support
the required charset. The Xlib implementation can recognize various mappings
from a required charset to one or more other charsets and use the fonts for
those charsets. For example, JIS Roman is ASCII with the ~ (tilde) and \
(backslash) characters replaced by the yen and overbar characters; Xlib can
load an ISO8859-1 font to support this character set if a JIS Roman font
is not available.</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>The first XLFD-conforming font name, or the first
non-XLFD font name for which an XLFD font name can be obtained, combined
with the required charset (replacing the CharSetRegistry and CharSetEncoding
fields in the XLFD font name). In the first instance, the implementation
can use a charset that is a superset of the required charset.</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>The first font name that can be mapped in some
locale-dependent manner to one or more fonts that support imaging text in
the charset.</para>
</listitem></itemizedlist>
<para>For example, assume a locale requires the following charsets:</para>
<itemizedlist remap="Bullet1"><listitem><para>ISO8859-1</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>JISX0208.1983</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>JISX0201.1976</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>GB2312-1980.0</para>
</listitem></itemizedlist>
<para>You can supply a base font name list that explicitly specifies the charsets,
ensuring that specific fonts are used if they exist, as shown in the following
example:</para>
<programlisting>&ldquo;-dt-mincho-Medium-R-Normal-*-*-*-*-*-M-*-JISX0208.1983-0,\
-dt-mincho-Medium-R-Normal-*-*-*-*-*-M- \
*-JISX0201.jisx0201\.1976-1,\
-dt-song-Medium-R-Normal-*-*-*-*-*-M-*-GB2312-1980.0,\
-*-default-Bold-R-Normal-*-*-*-*-M-*-ISO8859-1&ldquo;</programlisting>
<para>You can supply a base font name list that omits the charsets, which
selects fonts for each required code set, as shown in the following example:
</para>
<programlisting>&ldquo;-dt-Fixed-Medium-R-Normal-*-*-*-*-*-M-*,\
-dt-Fixed-Medium-R-Normal-*-*-*-*-*-M-*,\
-dt-Fixed-Medium-R-Normal-*-*-*-*-*-M-*,\
-*-Courier-Bold-R-Normal-*-*-*-*-M-*&rdquo;</programlisting>
<para>Alternatively, the user can supply a single base font name that selects
from all available fonts that meet certain minimum XLFD property requirements,
as shown in the following example:</para>
<programlisting>&ldquo;-*-*-*-R-Normal--*-*-*-*-*-M-*&rdquo;</programlisting>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="IPG.intro.div.12">
<title>Render Tables<indexterm><primary>render tables</primary><secondary>internationalizing</secondary></indexterm></title>
<para>A <emphasis>render table</emphasis> consists of one or more entries
called <emphasis>renditions</emphasis>.<indexterm><primary>rendition</primary>
</indexterm> Each rendition is tagged with a name that is used when drawing
a compound string. For internationalized applications, renditions and render
tables should be specified in resource files to ensure the independence of
application binaries from the different needs of various locales. For detailed
information about renditions and render tables, refer to &MotifProgGd;.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="IPG.intro.div.13">
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.9">Text Drawing</title>
<para>The desktop provides various functions for rendering localized text,
including simple text, compound strings, and some widgets. These include
functions within the Xlib and Motif libraries.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="IPG.intro.div.14">
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.10">Input Methods<indexterm><primary>National Language
Support</primary><secondary>entering input</secondary></indexterm><indexterm>
<primary>National Language Support</primary><secondary>using input methods</secondary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>Common Desktop Environment</primary>
<secondary>National Language Support</secondary><tertiary>input areas</tertiary>
</indexterm><indexterm><primary>National Language Support</primary><secondary>input areas</secondary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>Common Desktop Environment</primary><secondary>input area</secondary><tertiary>details of</tertiary>
</indexterm></title>
<para>The Common Desktop Environment provides the ability to enter localized
input for an internationalized application that is using the Motif Toolkit.
Specifically, the <computeroutput>XmText[Field]</computeroutput> widgets
are enabled to interface with input methods provided by each locale. In addition,
the <computeroutput>dtterm</computeroutput> client is enabled to use input
methods. For detailed information on input methods, refer to <citetitle>Motif
Programmer's Guide</citetitle>.</para>
<para>By default, each internationalized client that uses the Motif Toolkit
uses the input method associated with a locale specified by the user. The
<systemitem class="Resource">XmNinputMethod</systemitem> resource is provided
as the input method portion of the
locale modifiers to allow a user to specify any alternative
input method.</para>
<para>The user interface of the input method consists of several elements.
The need for these areas is dependent on the input method being used. They
are usually needed by input methods that require complex input processing
and dialogs. See Figure&numsp;1-3 for an illustration of these areas.</para>
<figure>
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.11">Example of VendorShell widget with auxiliary
(Japanese)</title>
<graphic id="IPG.intro.grph.3" entityref="IPG.intro.fig.3"></graphic>
</figure>
<para>The <classname>VendorShell</classname> may contain the <systemitem class="Resource">XmNinputPolicy</systemitem> resource.<indexterm><primary>VendorShell</primary>
<secondary>input policy</secondary></indexterm> This dictates whether its
children widgets share input contexts or not. When using a root window input
method style,
for example, the input context would probably be shared by several widgets, while in an off-the-spot
input method style, the input context might be shared between more than one widget, although it might
not. However, with an over-the-spot input method style, an input context would almost certainly
belong to a single widget. The possible values of <systemitem class="Resource">XmNinputPolicy</systemitem> are <systemitem class="Constant">XmPER_WIDGET</systemitem>, which will provide a new input context for each widget, and <systemitem class="Constant">XmPER_SHELL</systemitem>, which will cause the children widgets
of a common shell to share a single input context.
</para>
<sect2 id="IPG.intro.div.15">
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.12">Preedit Area<indexterm><primary>Common Desktop
Environment</primary><secondary>input area</secondary><tertiary>preedit area</tertiary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>preedit areas</primary><secondary>description</secondary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>VendorShell widget
class</primary><secondary>preedit area</secondary></indexterm><indexterm>
<primary>preedit areas</primary><secondary>VendorShell widget class</secondary>
</indexterm></title>
<para>A preedit area is used to display the string being preedited. An input
method can support the following modes of preediting: OffTheSpot, OnTheSpot (default)
OverTheSpot, Root, and None.</para>
<note>
<para>A string that has been committed <emphasis>cannot</emphasis> be reconverted.
The status of the string is moved from the preedit area to the location where
the user is entering characters.<indexterm><primary>Japanese Input Method</primary><secondary>preediting, reconverted strings</secondary></indexterm></para>
</note>
<sect3 id="IPG.intro.div.16">
<title>OffTheSpot<indexterm><primary>preedit areas</primary><secondary>Off &lt;#1e>The &lt;#1e>Spot mode</secondary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>Off &lt;#1e>The &lt;#1e> Spot mode, preedit area</primary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>modes of preediting</primary><secondary>OffTheSpot</secondary></indexterm></title>
<para>In OffTheSpot mode preediting using an input method, the location of
preediting is usually inside the application window
on the right side
of the status area as shown in <!--Original XRef content:
'Figure&numsp;1&hyphen;4'--><xref role="CodeOrFigureOrTable" linkend="IPG.intro.mkr.13">.
A Japanese input method is used for the example.</para>
<figure>
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.13">Example of OffTheSpot preediting with the VendorShell
widget (Japanese)</title>
<graphic id="IPG.intro.grph.4" entityref="IPG.intro.fig.4"></graphic>
</figure>
<para>When preediting using an input method, the
preedit string being preedited may be highlighted in some form depending
on the input method.</para>
<para>To use OffTheSpot mode, set the <systemitem>XmNpreeditType</systemitem>
resource of the <computeroutput>VendorShell</computeroutput> widget either
with the <computeroutput>XtSetValues()</computeroutput> function or with a
resource file. The <systemitem>XmNpreeditType</systemitem> resource can also
be set as the resource of a <computeroutput>TopLevelShell</computeroutput>, <computeroutput>ApplicationShell</computeroutput>, or <computeroutput>DialogShell</computeroutput>
widget, all of which are subclasses of the <computeroutput>VendorShell</computeroutput>
widget class.</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="IPG.intro.div.17">
<title>OverTheSpot<indexterm><primary>preedit areas</primary><secondary>OverTheSpot mode</secondary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>preedit areas</primary><secondary>default mode</secondary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>OverTheSpot mode, preedit area</primary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>modes of preediting</primary><secondary>OverTheSpot</secondary></indexterm></title>
<para>In OverTheSpot mode, the location of the preedit
area is set to where the user is trying to enter characters (for example,
the insert cursor position of the <computeroutput>Text</computeroutput> widget
that has the current focus). The characters in a preedit area are displayed
at the cursor position as an overlay window, and they can be highlighted
depending on the input method.</para>
<para>Although a preedit area may consist of multiple lines in OverTheSpot mode. The preedit area is always within the MainWindow area and
cannot cross its edges in any direction.</para>
<para>Keep in mind that although the preedit string under construction may
be displayed as though it were part of the <computeroutput>Text</computeroutput>
widget's text, it is not passed to the client and displayed in the underlying
edit screen until preedit ends. See <!--Original XRef content: 'Figure&numsp;1&hyphen;5
on page&numsp;17'--><xref role="CodeOrFigOrTabAndPNum" linkend="IPG.intro.mkr.14">
for an illustration.</para>
<para>To use OverTheSpot mode explicitly, set the <systemitem>XmNpreeditType</systemitem> resource of the <computeroutput>VendorShell</computeroutput>
widget either with the <computeroutput>XtSetValues()</computeroutput> function
or with a resource file. The <systemitem>XmNpreeditType</systemitem> resource
can be set as the resource of a <computeroutput>TopLevelShell</computeroutput>, <computeroutput>ApplicationShell</computeroutput>, or <computeroutput>DialogShell</computeroutput>
widget because these are subclasses of the <computeroutput>VendorShell</computeroutput>
widget class.</para>
<figure>
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.14">Example of OverTheSpot preediting with the VendorShell
widget (Japanese)</title>
<graphic id="IPG.intro.grph.5" entityref="IPG.intro.fig.5"></graphic>
</figure>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="IPG.intro.div.17a">
<title>OnTheSpot (Default)</title>
<indexterm><primary>preedit areas</primary><secondary>OnTheSpot</secondary>
</indexterm><indexterm><primary>OnTheSpot mode, preedit area</primary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>modes of preediting</primary><secondary>OnTheSpot</secondary>
</indexterm>
<para>In OnTheSpot mode, the preedit string is displayed in the text widget
window. The preedit string is considered part of the text widget value, and
its integrity can be ensured by the verify callbacks of the text widget (the
verify callbacks are controlled by the
<systemitem class="resource">verifyPreedit</systemitem> resource, which defaults
to <literal>False</literal>).
If the
verify callbacks of the text widget do not accept any part of the preedit
buffer, the preedit string is committed (for information on user actions that
cause the preedit string to be committed, refer to &MotifProgGd;).</para>
<para>When preediting using an input method, the
preedit string being preedited may be highlighted in some form depending
on the input method.</para>
<para>To use OnTheSpot mode, set the <systemitem>XmNpreeditType</systemitem>
resource of the <computeroutput>VendorShell</computeroutput> widget either
with the <computeroutput>XtSetValues()</computeroutput> function or with a
resource file. The <systemitem>XmNpreeditType</systemitem> resource can also
be set as the resource of a <computeroutput>TopLevelShell,</computeroutput> <computeroutput>ApplicationShell</computeroutput>, or <computeroutput>DialogShell</computeroutput>
widget, all of which are subclasses of the <computeroutput>VendorShell</computeroutput>
widget class.</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="IPG.intro.div.18">
<title>Root<indexterm><primary>preedit areas</primary><secondary>Root mode</secondary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>Root mode, preedit area</primary>
</indexterm><indexterm><primary>modes of preediting</primary><secondary>Root</secondary></indexterm></title>
<para>In Root mode, the preedit and status areas are located separate from
the client's window. The Root mode behavior is similar to OffTheSpot. See
<!--Original XRef content: 'Figure&numsp;1&hyphen;6'--><xref role="CodeOrFigureOrTable"
linkend="IPG.intro.mkr.15"> for an illustration.</para>
<figure>
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.15">Example of Root preediting with the VendorShell
widget (Japanese)</title>
<graphic id="IPG.intro.grph.6" entityref="IPG.intro.fig.6"></graphic>
</figure>
</sect3>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="IPG.intro.div.19">
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.16">Status Area<indexterm><primary>Common Desktop
Environment</primary><secondary>input area</secondary><tertiary>status area</tertiary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>status area</primary></indexterm><indexterm>
<primary>VendorShell widget class</primary><secondary>status area</secondary>
</indexterm></title>
<para>A status area reports the input or keyboard status
of the input method to the users. For OverTheSpot and OffTheSpot styles,
the status area is located at the lower left corner of the VendorShell window.
</para>
<itemizedlist remap="Bullet1"><listitem><para>If Root style, the status area
is placed outside the client window.</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>If the preedit style is OffTheSpot mode, the preedit
area is displayed to the right of the status area.</para>
</listitem></itemizedlist>
<para>The <computeroutput>VendorShell</computeroutput> widget provides geometry
management so that a status area is rearranged at the bottom corner of the
VendorShell window.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="IPG.intro.div.20">
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.17">Auxiliary Area<indexterm><primary>Common Desktop
Environment</primary><secondary>input area</secondary><tertiary>auxiliary
area</tertiary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>auxiliary area</primary></indexterm><indexterm>
<primary>VendorShell widget class</primary><secondary>auxiliary area</secondary>
</indexterm></title>
<para>An auxiliary area helps the user with preediting. Depending on the particular
input method, an auxiliary area can be created. The Japanese input method
in <!--Original XRef content: 'Figure&numsp;1&hyphen;3 on page&numsp;14'--><xref
role="CodeOrFigOrTabAndPNum" linkend="IPG.intro.mkr.11"> creates the following
types of auxiliary areas:<indexterm><primary>auxiliary
area</primary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>Japanese Input Method</primary>
<secondary>auxiliary area</secondary></indexterm></para>
<itemizedlist remap="Bullet1"><listitem><para>ZENKOUHO</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>JIS NUMBER</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>Switching conversion method</para>
<itemizedlist remap="Bullet2"><listitem><para>SAKIYOMI-REN-BUNSETSU</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>IKKATSU-REN-BUNSETSU</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>TAN-BUNSETSU</para>
</listitem><listitem><para>FUKUGOU-GO</para>
</listitem></itemizedlist>
</listitem></itemizedlist>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="IPG.intro.div.22">
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.19">Focus Area<indexterm><primary>Common Desktop
Environment</primary><secondary>input area</secondary><tertiary>focus area</tertiary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>focus area</primary></indexterm><indexterm>
<primary>VendorShell widget class</primary><secondary>focus area</secondary>
</indexterm><indexterm><primary>focus management</primary><secondary>focus
area</secondary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>focus area</primary></indexterm></title>
<para>A focus area is any descendant widget under the <computeroutput>VendorShell</computeroutput> widget subtree that currently has focus. The Motif application
programmer using existing widgets does not need to worry about the focus area. The important information to remember is that only one widget
can have input method processing at a time. The input method processing moves
to the window (widget) that currently has the focus.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="IPG.intro.div.22a">
<title>Layout Direction</title>
<indexterm><primary>layout direction</primary></indexterm>
<para>Layout direction refers to the direction that is used to display visual
elements such as widget children, widget components, and text (controlled
by the <classname>VendorShell</classname> resource, <systemitem class="resource">XmNlayoutDirection</systemitem>). In general, this direction matches the direction
that people use when reading or writing in a particular language. Languages
such as English, French, German, and Swedish are read and written from left
to right. Therefore, when users working in those languages enter characters
from a computer keyboard, each new character is displayed to the right of
the preceding one. These same users would also expect the layout of other
visual elements to be displayed from left to right. For example, in a menu
bar, the cascade buttons would be laid out from left to right so that a simple
menu bar would position the "File" cascade button in the upper left corner,
and the "Help" cascade button would appear in the upper right corner of the
menu bar.</para>
<para>Languages such as Arabic and Hebrew are read and written from right
to left. To display text correctly in these languages on the screen, each
successive character that a user enters must appear to the left of the preceding
character. Using the example above for layout of other visual elements, these
users would expect a menu bar to lay out cascade buttons from right to left.
The result would typically position the "File" cascade button in the upper
right corner and the "Help" cascade button in the upper left corner of the
menu bar. For more information, on layout direction, refer to &MotifProgGd;.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="IPG.intro.div.22b">
<title>Vertical Writing</title>
<indexterm><primary>vertical writing</primary></indexterm>
<para>In some Asian languages, texts are drawn vertically. When the <classname>VendorShell</classname> resource <systemitem class="resource">XmNlayoutDirection</systemitem> is set to <systemitem class="constant">XmTOP_TO_BOTTOM</systemitem>,
the vertical writing feature is enabled. In addition to drawing texts vertically,
this feature adapts the text widget in other ways appropriate for the user.
For example, when word wrapping is turned on, the text wraps from the bottom
of one column to the top of the next column. For more information on vertical
writing, refer to &MotifProgGd;.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="IPG.intro.div.23">
<title id="IPG.intro.mkr.20">Interclient Communications Conventions (ICCC)<indexterm>
<primary>National Language Support</primary><secondary>internationalized ICCC</secondary></indexterm></title>
<para>The Interclient Communications Conventions (ICCC) defines the mechanism
used to pass text between clients. Because the system is capable of supporting
multiple code sets, it may be possible that two applications that are communicating
with each other are using different code sets. ICCC defines how these two
clients agree on how the data is passed between them. If two clients have
incompatible character sets (for example, Latin1 and Japanese (JIS)), some
data may be lost when characters are transported.<indexterm><primary>libXm
library</primary></indexterm> <computeroutput><indexterm><primary>dtterm command</primary><secondary>ICCC</secondary></indexterm></computeroutput></para>
<para>However, if two clients have different code sets but compatible character
sets, ICCC enables these clients to pass information with no data lost. If
code sets of the two clients are not identical, CompoundText encoding is
used as the interchange with the <computeroutput>COMPOUND_TEXT</computeroutput>
atom used. If data being communicated involves only portable characters (7-bit,
ASCII, and others) or the ISO8859-1 code set, the data is communicated as
is with no conversion by way of the <computeroutput>XA_STRING</computeroutput>
atom.</para>
<para>Titles and icon names need to be communicated to the Window Manager
using the <computeroutput>COMPOUND_TEXT</computeroutput> atom if nonportable
characters are used; otherwise, the <computeroutput>XA_STRING</computeroutput>
atom can be used.
</para>
<para>Motif, for example, uses its own atoms to transfer
textual data:
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><literal>_MOTIF_COMPOUND_STRING</literal> transfers data in <Symbol>XmString</Symbol> format.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><literal>_MOTIF_RENDER_TABLE</literal> transfers the value of its render table
as type <Symbol>STRING</Symbol>
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>For more information, refer to <citetitle>Motif Widget Writer's Guide</citetitle>.
</para>
<para>Any other encoding is limited
to the ability to convert to the locale of the Window Manager. The Window
Manager runs in a single locale and supports only titles and icon names that
are convertible to the code set of the locale under which it is running.<indexterm>
<primary>National Language Support</primary><secondary>Window Manager</secondary>
<tertiary>communicating titles</tertiary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>National Language Support</primary><secondary>Window Manager</secondary><tertiary>communicating icon names</tertiary></indexterm><indexterm><primary>Window
Manager</primary><secondary>communicating titles and icon names</secondary>
</indexterm></para>
<para>The Motif library and all desktop clients should follow these conventions.
</para>
</sect1>
</chapter>
<!--fickle 1.14 mif-to-docbook 1.7 01/02/96 04:19:51-->