Re: about starting off
One more thing: If you compile PHP with GD and FreeType2 support, you can generate .png graphics with nicely antialiased text in many scripts on the fly. Just feed UTF-8 strings directly to the ImageFTText() function. Take a look at my test script at php.net under the ImageFTText() documentation (http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.imagefttext.php) to see what you can (and can't) do. Of course this technique is useful for displaying non-latin scripts without having to worry about whether your users are using a supported browser and have the necessary fonts. On Thu, 19 Sep 2002, Edward H Trager wrote: > > Hi, Roslyn, > > The tools you choose might to some extent depend on your development > environment. Using PHP on GNU/Linux or another *NIX environment, the > following tools will certainly get you started in the right direction. > Plan on using UTF-8 encoding for everything: so you need to calculate > database column widths that will be wide enough to support the UTF-8 > strings: > > -- Yudit (www.yudit.org). > This is a fantastic Unicode editor. It has keyboard maps for just > about every language imaginable, has correct shaping for Arabic and > a number of Indic scripts, and even some handwriting recognition for > Kanji/Hanzi. Command-line tools are also provided for converting > files in different encodings. Of course UTF-8 is supported. > > -- Latest version of Mozilla (www.mozilla.org). Mozilla provides very > good support for rendering a lot of scripts and is very > standards-compliant, maybe the most standards-compliant > browser available. > > -- Edith (www.zfc.nl) is a possibly little-known editor for X11. It is > *not* unicode aware at all, but it has lots of other indispensible features > for coding and development, such as regex-based searching and > replacement, column-wise cut-and-paste, etc. > > What I do is type all non-ASCII strings in Yudit and save the file, write > the ASCII PHP code in Edith (substitute your favorite editor here), open > up the UTF-8 Yudit file in another Edith window, and copy and paste in the > UTF-8 strings (which look awful in a non-unicode-aware editor, but a > good editor doesn't mess with them). > > > On Thu, 19 Sep 2002, roslyn jose wrote: > > > > > hi, > > > > im new to unicode, and am working on a project in php/postgresql. i need > > some info on how to start off with unicode. i went thro the web site and > > only saw explanations on what it is, its char set,etc. do i need to > > download or install anything to work with unicode, pls let me know soon. > > and also once downloaded do i need to import any classes or files when > > working with it, as im scripting in php and html. thanx > > > > regards, > > > > roslyn > > > > > > > > - > > Do you Yahoo!? > > New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! > > >
Re: about starting off
Roslyn, I am working on a postgres database too - I haven't yet gotten to extensively testing the unicode aspects, but be sure to set the character set of the database to unicode when you create it. Otherwise all is probably lost - I don't know that you can simply change the char set later, and if you have to dump and import the data, you'd have to do some sort of conversions. Why bother making extra work for yourself? As for the code in php (I am using Perl myself and something similar applies) every time you manipulate text (every time!) get used to asking yourself if you (or php) are making any assumptions that one byte is the same as one character. The answer needs to be no, but will often be yes. Reconciling these issues is the bulk of making Unicode work for you. Barry Caplan Publisher, www.i18n.com On Thu, 19 Sep 2002, roslyn jose wrote: >> >> hi, >> >> im new to unicode, and am working on a project in php/postgresql. i need >> some info on how to start off with unicode. i went thro the web site and >> only saw explanations on what it is, its char set,etc. do i need to >> download or install anything to work with unicode, pls let me know soon. >> and also once downloaded do i need to import any classes or files when >> working with it, as im scripting in php and html. thanx >> >> regards, >> >> roslyn >>
Re: about starting off
Hi, Roslyn, The tools you choose might to some extent depend on your development environment. Using PHP on GNU/Linux or another *NIX environment, the following tools will certainly get you started in the right direction. Plan on using UTF-8 encoding for everything: so you need to calculate database column widths that will be wide enough to support the UTF-8 strings: -- Yudit (www.yudit.org). This is a fantastic Unicode editor. It has keyboard maps for just about every language imaginable, has correct shaping for Arabic and a number of Indic scripts, and even some handwriting recognition for Kanji/Hanzi. Command-line tools are also provided for converting files in different encodings. Of course UTF-8 is supported. -- Latest version of Mozilla (www.mozilla.org). Mozilla provides very good support for rendering a lot of scripts and is very standards-compliant, maybe the most standards-compliant browser available. -- Edith (www.zfc.nl) is a possibly little-known editor for X11. It is *not* unicode aware at all, but it has lots of other indispensible features for coding and development, such as regex-based searching and replacement, column-wise cut-and-paste, etc. What I do is type all non-ASCII strings in Yudit and save the file, write the ASCII PHP code in Edith (substitute your favorite editor here), open up the UTF-8 Yudit file in another Edith window, and copy and paste in the UTF-8 strings (which look awful in a non-unicode-aware editor, but a good editor doesn't mess with them). On Thu, 19 Sep 2002, roslyn jose wrote: > > hi, > > im new to unicode, and am working on a project in php/postgresql. i need > some info on how to start off with unicode. i went thro the web site and > only saw explanations on what it is, its char set,etc. do i need to > download or install anything to work with unicode, pls let me know soon. > and also once downloaded do i need to import any classes or files when > working with it, as im scripting in php and html. thanx > > regards, > > roslyn > > > > - > Do you Yahoo!? > New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo!
about starting off
hi, im new to unicode, and am working on a project in php/postgresql. i need some info on how to start off with unicode. i went thro the web site and only saw explanations on what it is, its char set,etc. do i need to download or install anything to work with unicode, pls let me know soon. and also once downloaded do i need to import any classes or files when working with it, as im scripting in php and html. thanx regards, roslynDo you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo!
