Technical Study Desktop Internationalization NIC CH A E L T S T U D Y [This page intentionally left blank] X/Open Technical Study Desktop Internationalisation X/Open Company Ltd. December 1995, X/Open Company Limited All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners. X/Open Technical Study Desktop Internationalisation X/Open Document Number: E501 Published by X/Open Company Ltd., U.K. Any comments relating to the material contained in this document may be submitted to X/Open at: X/Open Company Limited Apex Plaza Forbury Road Reading Berkshire, RG1 1AX United Kingdom or by Electronic Mail to: [email protected] ii X/Open Technical Study (1995) Contents Chapter 1 Internationalisation.............................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Character Sets and Encodings.................................................................. 2 1.3 The C Programming Language................................................................ 5 1.4 Internationalisation Support in POSIX .................................................. 6 1.5 Internationalisation Support in the X/Open CAE............................... 7 1.5.1 XPG4 Facilities.......................................................................................... 7 1.6 Current Work............................................................................................... 8 1.6.1 Distributed Internationalisation Requirements ................................ 8 1.6.2 Definition and Registration of Locales................................................ 8 1.6.3 Complex Text Languages....................................................................... 9 1.6.4 Use of the UNICODE standard/ISO/IEC10646 ............................... 9 1.6.5 Testing of Internationalised Components .......................................... 9 1.6.6 Distributed Internationalisation Framework..................................... 9 Chapter 2 The X/Open Common Desktop Environment...................... 11 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 11 2.2 Elements of the XCDE................................................................................ 11 2.3 Internationalisation .................................................................................... 12 Chapter 3 X Specifications ....................................................................................... 15 3.1 X Window System Protocol...................................................................... 15 3.1.1 Description................................................................................................ 15 3.1.2 Internationalisation Issues..................................................................... 15 3.1.2.1 Character Representations.................................................................. 15 3.1.2.2 Keyboard Input ..................................................................................... 15 3.1.2.3 Defined KEYSYM Alphabets.............................................................. 15 3.1.2.4 ErrorStrings........................................................................................... 16 3.1.2.5 String Identifiers.................................................................................... 16 3.1.2.6 Text Drawing ......................................................................................... 16 3.2 Xlib - C Language Binding........................................................................ 17 3.2.1 Description................................................................................................ 17 3.2.2 Internationalisation Features................................................................. 17 3.2.3 Internationalisation Issues..................................................................... 17 3.2.3.1 String Identifiers.................................................................................... 17 3.2.3.2 Font Attributes ...................................................................................... 18 3.2.3.3 Text Directionality ................................................................................ 18 3.2.3.4 ErrorStrings........................................................................................... 18 3.2.3.5 Keyboard Input ..................................................................................... 18 3.2.3.6 Simplified Keyboard Event Functions.............................................. 18 3.2.3.7 String Properties.................................................................................... 18 3.2.3.8 Command Strings................................................................................. 19 Desktop Internationalisation iii Contents 3.2.3.9 Resource Files ........................................................................................ 19 3.2.3.10 Cut Buffers.............................................................................................. 19 3.3 X Toolkit Intrinsics...................................................................................... 20 3.3.1 Description................................................................................................ 20 3.3.2 Internationalisation Features................................................................. 20 3.3.3 Internationalisation Issues..................................................................... 20 3.3.3.1 String Identifiers.................................................................................... 20 3.3.3.2 Default Font Resource.......................................................................... 20 3.3.3.3 ErrorStrings........................................................................................... 20 3.3.3.4 Translation Table Syntax ..................................................................... 21 3.4 File Formats and Application Conventions .......................................... 22 3.4.1 Introduction.............................................................................................. 22 3.4.2 Inter-Client Communications Conventions Manual (ICCCM) ..... 22 3.4.2.1 Description............................................................................................. 22 3.4.2.2 Internationalisation Issues.................................................................. 22 3.4.3 X Logical Font Description (XLFD)...................................................... 23 3.4.3.1 Description............................................................................................. 23 3.4.3.2 Internationalisation Issues.................................................................. 23 3.4.4 Compound Text ....................................................................................... 24 3.4.4.1 Description............................................................................................. 24 3.4.4.2 Internationalisation Features.............................................................. 24 3.4.4.3 Internationalisation Issues.................................................................. 24 3.4.5 Bitmap Distribution Format (BDF)....................................................... 25 3.4.5.1 Description............................................................................................. 25 3.4.5.2 Internationalisation Issues.................................................................. 25 Chapter 4 XCDE Specifications ............................................................................ 27 4.1 Motif Toolkit API ........................................................................................ 27 4.1.1 Description................................................................................................ 27 4.1.2 Internationalisation Features................................................................. 27 4.1.3 Internationalisation Issues..................................................................... 27 4.1.3.1 String Identifiers.................................................................................... 27 4.1.3.2 Argument Lists...................................................................................... 28 4.1.3.3 Accelerator Descriptions ..................................................................... 28 4.1.3.4 Uil String Formats................................................................................. 28 4.1.3.5 Scale Widget Number Formats.......................................................... 28 4.1.3.6 String Manipulation ............................................................................. 28 4.1.3.7 Text Directionality ................................................................................ 28 4.1.3.8 Text Widget Values............................................................................... 28 4.2 XCDE Definitions and Infrastructure..................................................... 29 4.2.1 Introduction.............................................................................................. 29 4.2.2 XCDE Data Format Naming.................................................................. 29 4.2.2.1 Description............................................................................................