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Sample Script Implementations

Lorna A. Priest, 2003-06-23; 28055 reads

From January to October of 2003, SIL International was engaged in a cooperative project with UNESCO as part of UNESCO’s Initiative B@bel effort. The goal was to enable the development of complex script support in information and communication technologies (ICTs). This was done through preparation of documents to guide development, technical tools for complex script support, and two example script implementations. All of these are available from a general UNESCO page.

This paper describes two sample script implementations prepared as part of the project. These include an implementation for Myanmar and a pan-African implementation (a single implementation for many Roman writing systems across Africa). Included in each package are fonts, keyboards and sample text files. The font files also contain the Graphite source. The keyboard files include the Keyman source. The sample text files are in the form of WorldPad files, screenshots and html. This page can also be downloaded in both Word and PDF formats:

Sample Script Implementations - Word
Lorna A. Priest, 2003-06-23
Download "SampleScriptImp_Word.zip", ZIP archive, 16KB [15465 downloads]

Sample Script Implementations - PDF
Lorna A. Priest, 2003-06-23
Download "SampleScriptImp_PDF.pdf", Acrobat PDF document, 167KB [4658 downloads]

Contents

    Myanmar
        Font related
        Keyboard
        Sample data in the Myanmar script for demonstration purposes
    Africa
        Font related
        Keyboard
            Kenya
            Pan-Africa
                using deadkeys
                using deadkeys and shift keys (for US keyboards only)
        Sample data in the pan-Africa font for demonstration purposes
            Web files
            WorldPad files
            Screenshots
    For Developers: Creating your own Graphite-enabled font
    Creating your own keyboard in Keyman

Myanmar

Font related

Myanmar font, keyboard and sample texts
Martin Hosken, 2003-06-27
Download "MyanmarSample.zip", ZIP archive, 514KB [2229 downloads]

The following files are part of this package (under the fonts directory):

padauk.ttf – original regular font
padaukbold.ttf – original bold font
padaukg.ttf – Graphite-enabled regular font
padaukgbold.ttf – Graphite-enabled bold font
padauk.gdl – the font-specific GDL and main GDL file for padauk.ttf
padaukbold.gdl – the font-specific GDL and the main GDL file for padaukbold.ttf
myanmar.html – Unicode Myanmar description of the GDL
myanmar.gdl – This file contains the font independent GDL for rendering Myanmar from Unicode. It is designed to be used in conjunction with and included by the font-specific GDL code that is created automatically from the .ttf font and .xml attachment point database.

The GDL files are provided primarily as a sample for those who wish to learn to write GDL. However, these are all the files you need for recreating the Padauk Graphite enabled Myanmar font.

Keyboard

The following files are part of this package (under the Keyboards directory):

Layout_Uni.pdf – a description of the keyboard layout
MyanmarU5.kmx – the compiled keyboard file
MyanmarU5.kmn – the source file for the Myanmar keyboard
myankey.bmp – the bitmap file needed for compiling the source keyboard files

File names for legacy (non-Unicode) keyboard:

layout.pdf – a description of the keyboard layout
Myanmar5.kmx – the compiled keyboard file
Myanmar5.kmn – the source file for the Myanmar keyboard

These keyboards were developed for Keyman 5.0 or later. With this package you should have the source of this keyboards and can easily make modifications, or you may choose to look at the source to learn more about creating Keyman keyboards.

Sample data in the Myanmar script for demonstration purposes

The following files are part of this package (under the Sample Texts directory):

Myanmar_health.wpx – WorldPad file which can be used to show Graphite rendering in WorldPad
Myanmar_health.htm – HTML file which can be used to show Graphite rendering in a Graphite-enabled browser such as Mozilla
Myanmar_health.png – This is a screenshot from the WorldPad file showing correct rendering of the Myanmar text
Myanmar_health_word.png – This is a screenshot from the same text, but in Microsoft Word, showing incorrect rendering of the Myanmar text and lack of line breaking
Myanmar_health.pdf – This is a pdf of the Myanmar text as it should appear as well as an English translation of that text.
health_eng.txt – This is a text file of the English translation of the Myanmar text

Africa

Note!

Although these sample files may still be useful, there is a more up-to-date keyboard package found here: SIL Keyboarding Chart for Africa. These keyboards were updated so that no Private Use Area (PUA) characters are needed. All PUA-encoded characters that were in this keyboard are now in Unicode.

Font related

Doulos SIL Sample font, keyboards and sample texts
NRSI team, 2003-06-27
Download "AfricaSample.zip", ZIP archive, 2MB [1321 downloads]

The following files are part of this package (under the fonts directory):

sildlrg.gdl – GDL source file
- features.gdh – a gdl file that defines font features which allow for variant glyphs to be displayed (called by sildlrg.gdl).
- main.gdh – a gdl file that defines the main behavior of the glyphs (called by sildlrg.gdl).
- pitches.gdh – a gdl file that handles tone marks (is that the right term?) (called by sildlrg.gdl).
- stddef.gdh – a gdl file that defines standard constants used by many GDL files (called by sildlrg.gdl).
- viet.gdh – a gdl file that supports an alternate way of stacking diacritics (Vietnamese style) (called by sildlrg.gdl).
tmp1.ttf – original font
sildlrg.ttf – Graphite enabled font (with OpenType support as well)

These are all the files you need for recreating a Graphite enabled Roman font.

Keyboard

Kenya

The following files are part of this package (under the KeyboardsKenya directory):

Kenya Unicode Keyboarding System.pdf – a description of the keyboard layout
KenyaU.kmx – the compiled keyboard file for the Kenya keyboard
KenyaU.kmn – the source file for the Kenya keyboard
Kenya.bmp – the bitmap file needed for compiling the source keyboard file

With this package you should have the source of this keyboard and can easily make modifications, or you may choose to look at the source to learn more about creating Keyman keyboards.

Pan-Africa

With this package you should have the source of this keyboard and can easily make modifications, or you may choose to look at the source to learn more about creating Keyman keyboards.

The following files are part of this package (under the KeyboardsPanAfrica directory):

using deadkeys

SIL Unicode Keyboard Chart for Africa using deadkeys.pdf – a description of the keyboard layout
AfricaDeadKey.kmx – the compiled keyboard file for the pan-Africa keyboard
AfricaDeadKey.kmn – the source file for the pan-Africa keyboard
AFR.bmp – the bitmap file needed for compiling the source keyboard file

using deadkeys and shift keys (for US keyboards only)

SIL Unicode Keyboard Chart for Africa using shiftkeys.pdf – a description of the keyboard layout
AfricaUS.kmx – the compiled keyboard file for the pan-Africa keyboard
AfricaUS.kmn – the source file for the pan-Africa keyboard
AFR.bmp – the bitmap file needed for compiling the source keyboard file

Sample data in the pan-Africa font for demonstration purposes

Web files

The following files are included in the package under the Web files directory:

Pokomo_4friends.htm – This is a “Shell” book which was produced for the Pokomo people of Kenya. Shell books are designed to be easily converted for use in different languages. The format (“shell”) is already there, just the text has to be changed. This book is a Health book teaching about HIV/AIDS. The drawings in the book were used by permission from UNICEF Uganda. The Pokomo use no special characters in their alphabet, but they do have two diacritics which appear below some of letters. When used in a non-Graphite enabled browser the position of these diacritics is not accurate.
Ife book - Tsoko.htm – This is a “Shell” book which was produced for the Ife people of Togo and Benin. Ife is spoken by approximately 155,000 spanning both countries. The book is about “Onyadon farms without getting into debt.” The Ife use many diacritics, including diacritics on top of diacritics. When viewed in a non-Graphite enabled browser the position of these diacritics is not accurate.
ShellBook.css – a Cascading Style Sheet that is called by the .htm file for purposes of display formatting.

All graphics for the above files are included in the Web filesgraphics directory.

These files were not produced with WorldPad. Because they included graphics, which are not yet implemented in WorldPad, they were created by hand.

WorldPad files

The following files are included in the package under the Sample Texts directory:

Pokomo_4friends.wpx – This is a selection of the file Pokomo_4friends.htm. It was created in WorldPad.
Ife book - Tsoko.wpx – This is a selection of the file Ife book - Tsoko.htm. It was created in WorldPad.
Pokomo_4friends.htm – This file was produced by using WorldPad's Save As XHTML feature, which uses an XSL transformation to convert WorldPad's proprietary XML to XHTML.
Ife book - Tsoko.htm – This file was produced by using WorldPad's Save As XHTML feature, which uses an XSL transformation to convert WorldPad's proprietary XML to XHTML.

Screenshots

The following files are included in the package under the Sample Texts directory:

Pokomo_4friends.png – This is a screenshot from the WorldPad file (Pokomo_4friends.wpx) for you to see what the file should look like on your computer in WorldPad.
Ife book - Tsoko.png – This is a screenshot from the WorldPad file (Ife book - Tsoko.wpx) for you to see what the file should look like on your computer in WorldPad.
Ife book - Tsoko_DOC.png – This is a screenshot from the same text which was imported into Microsoft Word. You can see that the rendering is incorrect. Multiple diacritics clash with each other. Diacritics on uppercase characters do not even appear.

For Developers: Creating your own Graphite-enabled font

This is an overview of how to create your own font. The Graphite website gives more detailed information.

Download and install the Graphite compiler and the WorldPad application which will be used to test your font. The WorldPad package includes the Graphite rendering engine.
Locate the font containing the glyphs for your writing system. You will need a font whose license allows you to modify it. It may be helpful to make some initial modification to the font, although this is rarely absolutely necessary. Such modifications might include adding attachment points to the glyph curves, or assigning postscript names to the glyphs. In the case of Myanmar we use the “original” regular and bold Padauk font to create the “Graphite-enabled” regular and bold Padauk font.
Write a program using the Graphite Description Language (GDL), describing the smart behavior you want in your font. In this instance, the GDL is provided for you.
Compile the GDL program and the font together, using the Graphite compiler. The output is the Graphite-enabled version of the font. (The Graphite documentation describes this process.)
Test the font using WorldPad. You will also need to use the appropriate keyboard to input your data. Fix any bugs in your GDL program and recompile.

Creating your own keyboard in Keyman

Keyman may be downloaded from: http://www.tavultesoft.com.

For complete instructions on keyboard installation and usage, read the section on Keyman keyboards in “Keyboard Installation and Use”.

We gratefully acknowledge that this material was produced with the financial assistance of UNESCO.

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