Ok, I'm almost complete with all the non-formatting classes in java.text. (I
did write the Format abstract class itself, plus all interfaces and
exceptions). The coding at least. None of them are tested yet. The only
thing I haven't written is the actual collation key generation stuff. A
quick 30 second perusal of the link Paul sent me to the Unicode technical
report on collation makes it look like it shouldn't be too hard for me to
finish off. Once I do that, I'm going to start testing, using the new
testing framework. Once that's done, I'll help Wes finish off the
formatting classes. Assuming he doesn't beat me to the punch.
The java.text package requires locale specific information for many
operations. I developed a system that I think could be useful for storing
all locale specific parameters in Classpath. Basically, I'm using a
ListResourceBundle per locale in a package called gnu.java.locale. The
classes are called LocaleInformation_xx_XX. You can check out the one I did
for a default. It's LocaleInformation_en.java and it's in CVS. It should
be easy to add any number of parameters to this.
I originally considered using PropertyResourceBundles because I thought
those would be easier for non-programmers to edit to customize their local
preferences. But it doesn't really support some of what I want/need to do,
such as store real objects.
The only snag I've hit to date is that I can't seem to locate a method for
retrieving a list of installed locales. Many java.text methods have a
getAvailableLocales() method that is supposed to do this. I've just
hardcoded it for now. If anyone has a pointer on this, let me know.
Well, I shouldn't say it's the only snag. The version of Japhar I'm using
doesn't support ResourceBundles. I'm guessing that's why Chris was asking
about systemresource: URL's earlier.
Oh, and I'd like to mention that a trick sent to me by Artur Biesiadowski
enables javac to compile my code regardless of CLASSPATH interference. Just
do the following:
java -classpath /usr/local/jdk1.1.5/lib/classes.zip sun.tools.javac.Main
-classpath /users/jcl/:/usr/local/japhar/share/ MyClass.java
with modifications to suit your environment of course. Brian, you might
want to experiement with this.
Artur, thanks for the help, both with this and the other contributions
you've made lately.
--
Aaron M. Renn ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.urbanophile.com/arenn/
