Subject:
Persian developers (was Re: Detecting installed fonts in a
browser window)
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[EMAIL PROTECTED] said:
>That has created a major problem for Persian developers trying
to maintain a web page. They should check the page for any case
of medial form of ARABIC LETTER FARSI YEH, and replace it with
ARABIC LETTER YEH, because they look like each other in the
medial form. But that also creates a problem when the users
uses a local search on the document.
This raises a question that I've been wondering about:
It has been my impression that many Persion applications use
the Arabic YEH code point (Windows character 237, U+064A) for
the Farsi Yeh, and then depend on the font to have been
modified to show the final and isolate without dots. This, of
course, would not be considered "correct Unicode", but it was a
way to adapt Arabic software to Farsi needs. Similar hacks, if
I may call them that, are typically made with a couple of other
characters, namely Teh Marbuta (Windows 201, U+0629) and Kaf
(223, U+0643), to get the correct Farsi shapes.
With wider Unicode coverage from Microsoft and other vendors
(albeit with occasional bugs as you have pointed out), these
hacks are no longer necessary. But there is surely a large body
of Farsi text already encoded using the hacks. What is the
general mood of Persian software industry towards this problem:
Are they moving rapidly to Unicode or are they staying with the
old? Is a standard mechanism (e.g., import/export filters)
being developed for migrating and exchanging the data?
I'd appreciate any insight you or others on this list have.
Bob Hallissy
