John, PMFJI here, but is it your position that because the *implementations* of Unicode character conversion routines (have been / are) flawed, that the *concept* of character conversions between UTF-16 and UTF-8 is useless? From my admittedly limited knowledge and research about the UTF-8 and UTF-16 character formats, ISTM that provably correct character-by-character conversion algorithms are and ought to be absolutely achievable. Not *language* conversion mind you, only *character* conversion. Language conversion is an entirely different kettle of fish.
I won't argue that such character conversion algorithms currently exist, of course. I have not done sufficient research or experimentation to make that statement. Peter -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of John Gilmore Sent: Friday, January 10, 2014 4:10 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Subject Unicode I am familiar with Unicode. Wikipedia assertions of this or that about it do not persuade me of much of anything. Moreover, as a review of the archives will show, I am an advocate of its use. I have, however, found all of the UTF-8 implementations I have used both unsatisfactory and unreliable in the literal sense that conversions into UTF-8 from UTF-16 using them do not always yield the same results. If I have one, I suppose that English is my mother tongue; but, unlike some of you, my preoccupations ane not exclusively or even predominantly anglophone. I am a polyglot. There is no effective appeal from my determination that a passage from Leopardi, say, is mangled when it is converted/moved from UTF-16 to UTF-8 I have of course reported these anomalies to the appropriate Unicode bodies. John Gilmore, Ashland, MA 01721 - USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
