5.0350 Multilingual WP (2/58)
Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Tue, 1 Oct 1991 20:43:00 EDT
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 5, No. 0350. Tuesday, 1 Oct 1991.
(1) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 1991 11:17:58 PDT (30 lines)
From: Diane_L._Olsen.osbu_north@xerox.com
Subject: Multilingual WP
(2) Date: Sat, 28 Sep 1991 19:24:47 EDT (28 lines)
From: Alan David Bulley <458507@UOTTAWA>
Subject: Re: 5.0340 Multilingual WP (More)
(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Sep 1991 11:17:58 PDT
From: Diane_L._Olsen.osbu_north@xerox.com
Subject: Multilingual WP
Many thanks to John Hughes for information on what little multilingual
word processing software is available for personal computers. I know of
a few others, particularly for Arabic WP, and will dig up my information
if people are interested. The company that seems to offer the widest
variety of non-Latin-based scripts (Hindi, Arabic, Thai, etc.) so far is:
Linguist's Software
P.O. Box 580
Edmonds, WA 98020
By the way, as a software developer for the "Xerox proprietary system"
that someone mentioned a while back, I feel compelled to add that
WYSIWYG WP of mixed-language, mixed-directional text with automatic
ligature insertion and floating diacritics is a (mostly) solved problem.
Unfortunately, Xerox's elegant solution to this problem is not available
for the Mac. It is available for the PC and the Sun workstation, but
only at great pain and expense. (Needless to say, all but one or two of
our customers are government agencies.)
Whether Xerox, or any company, will soon offer a truly WYSIWYG, truly
multilingual (i.e., not just Latin-based characters) WP system for the
Mac or PC that any scholar or university can afford is an open question.
I certainly hope that someone will do so.
Diane L. Olsen
dolsen.osbu_north@xerox.com
olsen@csli.stanford.edu
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------33----
Date: Sat, 28 Sep 1991 19:24:47 EDT
From: Alan David Bulley <458507@UOTTAWA>
Subject: Re: 5.0340 Multilingual WP (More) (1/394)
Re: John J. Hughes' <XB.J24@STANFORD.BITNET> reply to Richard Goerwitz on
multi-lingual WP.
At first I thought that my response to John Hughes might be seen as
borderline pickiness -- but now I realise that I have crossed the border
and am headed for the heartland.
In his points 2 b) and c), Hughes claims that Microsoft Word 4.0 on the
Mac makes no provision for type-sizes beyond 24 pt. This is not the case:
the selection "Character" under the Format menu allows the use of
characters ranging in size from 4 pt. to 127 pt. For those who love key-
stroking, the same selection may be made by typing "Command D".
Sure, this isn't exactly the 3,000 pt. type that Hughes is after, but
then, I've only got a lowly Mac Plus and I haven't found anyone I dislike
enough to unload it on. Ah well, back to life in the slow lane,
Alan Bulley
Saint Paul University, Ottawa
458507@UOTTAWA
458507@ACADVM1.UOTTAWA.CA