Otto,
The most flexible way to implement the feature is with a control. But that
requires that browsers enable downloading of controls. This way you can
support browsers like Netscape. On Unix you can also link fonts but the
approach is very different. I suspect that there is probably some Open
Source code out there for Unix. Your big problem with Unix is a lack of
Unicode fonts on most platforms. You may have to bite the bullet and
provide a font. The problem then becomes one of having to provide different
fonts for different platforms.
You are right. Alan Wood's site is probably the best point to start.
I think that it is best to try to keep your code browser independent. I
used to be very reluctant to develop pages that were Netscape dependent
especially when they were charging for their browser. Still there are times
when you might develop browser specific code. For example server side XSL
is still not there, so where you need it, your might limit your application
to IE. Much of this depends on the market. If you want to attract a wide
audience that just visits then you have to develop browser independent code.
If you have a few users that use the site frequently, then a browser
specific implementation might be OK. When done, they can go back to their
favorite browser for everything else.
Carl
-----Original Message-----
From: unicode-bounce@unicode.org [mailto:unicode-bounce@unicode.org]On
Behalf Of Otto Stolz
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2001 11:12 AM
To: Unicode List
Cc: bhecht@dekker.com
Subject: [unicode] Re: Request for information - Subset of Unicode
character set
Am 2001-03-18 um 21:50 h UCT hat Carl W. Brown geschrieben:
> Since you appear to be targeting the Windows platform, have you considered
> using the mlang font linking?
Please, don't use a proprietary HTML extension! The idea of the WWW
is that the offers can be properly interpreted on any platform, with
any standard-conforming software. If an author uses proprietary ex-
tensions, a considerable number of prospective readers will be locked
out. For example, Microsoft's font linking will just work with Inter-
net Explorer, but not with most other brands of browsers, even on a
Windows platform.
On 2001-03-13, Bob Hecht had written:
> The content on our site will be delivered in either full text
> or via PDF for print output. [...] The full text will be [...]
> rendered on screen via XSL style sheets.
> Our long term solution is to provide to our users an "STM subset" of the
> Unicode character set. [...] The Microsoft Ariel Unicode font would be
> perfect, except that its 13 MB to download and about 23 MB to install,
> which makes it somewhat of a problem to provide via the internet.
I think, offering a font file for download is an additional courtesy to
the reader, but you should not try to force on your audience the exact
font, size, colour, or other aspects of visual style. Every user has
his/her own requirements and preferences. E. g., on my Unix display,
I use nominally larger print to compensate for the smaller pixel size;
on my PC I prefer Tahoma for display but Times New Roman for print-outs,
for reasons of better legibility. Cf.
<http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/webhints.html#author>
<http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/font.html>.
On 2001-03-13, Bob Hecht had also written:
> We are hoping we can come up with (or create) a character set that
> encompasses the following code pages:
> * Greek Extended 1F00 - 1FFF
> * Superscripts and Subscripts 2070 - 209F
> * Number Forms 2150 - 218F
> * Arrows 2190 - 21FF
> * Mathematical Operators 2200 - 22FF
> * Miscellaneous Technical 2300 - 23FF
> and likely 2 or 3 other sets that we have to evaluate.
It would perhaps be a good idea to indicate the range of characters used
to the prospective reader (e. g. in an introductory note on the portal
page), so they can get appropriate fonts (cf.
<http://www.hclrss.demon.co.uk/unicode/fonts.html> and set their browsers
accordingly.
TITUS Cyberbit Basic
<http://titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de/unicode/tituut.asp>
seems to comprise most of what you need.
Best wishes,
Otto Stolz
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