The Blog Of Dysfunction

All English letters and common symbols reside in the computer in the form of a code called the ASCII. Since ASCII is the backbone of all letter-displays in computers, any English font coded with the correct ASCII value for each letter will display correctly on the computer. What is more, if a given font is not available on an English computer, another font is automatically used. Since the ASCII code for all English fonts is the same, there is no problem in rendering a text.

The problem comes when non English characters are displayed, because there is NO standard ASCII representation for non English languages. Worse, as I mentioned, people who encoded non English letters in ASCII did it independently of each other, so no representation is compatible with the other, and if the given font is not available then you get only a screenful of garbage. Unicode solves this problem by providing a unique number for every character of every language, no matter what the platform, no matter what the program, no matter what the language. This means that a if a given font is not available, then the same letters of another font of the same language will be substituted, making the text readable — even if the layout changes due to the change in font. Here lies another problem.

The majority of common fonts in non English languages are NOT in Unicode. Developing a font is a time consuming and tedious job, a science as well as an art. Worse, those who already use these fonts as part of an application package are very comfortable with the fonts and they do not have any special need for Unicode fonts. In turn this creates a lack of incentive for those who develop these application packages, as they gain little or nothing Immediately by adapting Unicode. Thus the development of Unicode has been hampered in every way. Thus there are few attractive Unicode fonts in any language.

Unicode, however, got a big push when Microsoft added a number of non English Unicode fonts as an integral part of Windows XP and higher. For example, for Hindi, the font Mangal is an integral part of Win XP and above. In Malayalam the font Revathi is similarly a part of it. This means that any website developed in these fonts will be clearly readable by anyone around the world who has Win XP and above. What is more, if he does not have this font due to some exception, he can easily use any of the more than a dozen free Unicode fonts in this language. Since the encoding for all the Unicode fonts is mutually compatible, there is no rendering problem.

All computer technologies have the tendency to stimulate and catalyze new growth, so by 2010 there will be a large number of attractive Unicode fonts in all the major Indian languages. Even as I write this article, I use a special Unicode font in Hindi (which I purchased for Rs. 400), which makes it very easy for me to read it onscreen. What is more, it gives beautiful conversion to PDF. Finally, when I post it to the web, (where this Hindi font is not available) the Unicode Hindi font Mangal automatically takes its place. I do not have to worry about readability.

To start blogging in a non English language, the first thing you should find out is whether Unicode fonts are available in that language. If yes, you can develop a website/blog even if that font is not integrated with the windows — though integration does make things a bit more easy. (To Continue … )

Dr. Johnson C. Philip (http://www.Sarathi.Info)

Blogging In Indian Languages 1