Re: [idn] Dots, and a path to working IDNs

[liana.ydisg@juno.com]

On Fri, 1 Jun 2001 02:55:34 +0000 "Adam M. Costello"
<amc@cs.berkeley.edu> writes:
> liana.ydisg@juno.com wrote:
> 
> > Allow me to comment on your UTF-8 as a long term solution.
> 
> If I understand correctly, you are proposing an alternative model 
> for
> representing characters.  Currently, characters are represented as
> indices into a table.  If a character is not in the table, it cannot 
> be
> represented.
> 
> You are proposing that instead of a table of characters, we have a
> table of character-building-blocks, and to represent characters as
> instructions for how to compose them from the building blocks.  This
> would allow new/obscure characters to be used without deploying new
> fonts everywhere.
> 
> (You also propose to represent the building blocks phonetically 
> using
> ASCII, but I think that's an orthogonal issue.)
> 
> Is my understanding roughly correct?
>

Yes.
 
> It's an interesting idea, but dramatically different from the 
> current
> text model.  I suspect that you'd have to change lots of things in 
> all
> applications and all operating systems to make this work.
> 

1. For people don't want to change anything of the current 
environment, leave current file format alone. Only when 
it needs to be sent over the wire as ASCII file, then 
convert it into StepCode format.  So you may attach it on a
e-mail and not be garbled on the other end (especially 
through one legacy system on its way).

2. For DNS registrar, it may provide a StepCode convertion
program of their own locale. I do not see anything else
 needed, unless someone wants to take the full advantage 
of StepCode.
.
> Regarding the use of English keyboards, I'm not sure what your point 
> is.
> The representation of text in a file or on a wire is unrelated to 
> how
> users type that text, right?
> 
> AMC
> 
Not quite, but good catch. It is depending on which operating 
model you are asuming.  But that is another subject.

Liana Ye