Re: [WMASTERS] Design goals of 8-bit Tamil encoding standard

["Mani M. Manivannan" <manim@ix.netcom.com>]

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At 10:32 PM 10/6/97 +0800, govindasamy wrote:

>Mani, thanks for pulling me in to give my comments. 

Govind, I am delighted to see your participate in these discussions.  I was
beginning to wonder if anybody in TNSC will ever comment on the discussions.

>The Draft version of the proposed  version of
>ISCII -1997, which is prepared by the Deparment of Electronics -
>committee, will take care of all the things that we are discussing- with
>slight modification.


Is the draft standard available for comments at any web site?  The only
reference to ISCII-97 that I could find on the net was the paper Mr.
Anbarasan presented at the Singapore conference.


> Mani, how many of us involved in this discussion has given thought for
>the proposed ISCII-97,  and the implication it will bring to UNCODE? The
>present Unicode is implemented with the recommendation of DoE and BIS
>(Bureau of Indian Standards) based on ISCII 91 version. If this Draft
>version of ISCII-97 is accepted as a standard, the next version of
>UNICODE, will have the new code. UNICODE is tied with ISCII, DoE & BIS. 
> Eventhough I am in TNSCommitte, I know pretty well, that the Tamil Nadu
>government cannot overrule DoE�s decision. TNSC can recommend to Tamil
>Nadu government, to put a proposal to make slight changes in the
>ISCII-97, provided we have a strong case to argue.  Tamil Nadu
>government cannot make new standard on encoding. 

I have raised this issue in private e-mails to some participants.  The
state  of Tamil Nadu cannot defy a national standard easily.  On the other
hand, ISCII-97 (as presented by Anbarasan) will cripple Tamil computing.
It is an  unfortunate attempt to fit all Indian language in the Devanagari
mold.  Because it is an 8-bit interim standard I wonder if Unicode
consortium will even pay attention to it.  Tamil is not just an Indian
language.  Because Tamil is used worldwide, international users, unlike
Tamil Nadu government, are not obligated to accept ISCII-97.  If the
International Tamil Computing and Manufacturers Association agrees on a
Unified 8-bit encoding interim standard, I believe the software
manufacturers will support it.


>On 11 Sep you posed some very good questions. (What the recommended
>process for character encoding standards creation and acceptance by
>international standard bodies? ) I hope somebody will answer you.

So would I.


>> Tamil character encoding standard design goals:
>> 
 
>> 2. Encode characters, not glyphs.
>
>on Sep 17 AnbuArasan clearly explain, that the proposed encodings should
>be based on basic characters  not glyphs, and he gave the reasons. At
>this point we have to look at his mail seriously. can any one of you
>repost that mail? 

Unfortunately I don't have that post.  I second this request.

>Mani, I am not a prof. just address me as Govind. 
>In fact I don�t want to participate in this discussion.. I preferred to
>be a silent observer and a silent worker. since I was dragged in, I may 
>give my comments in a few days.  

I am really glad you broke your silence.  Your responses have raised very
basic questions about this standards effort.  I look forward to your
comments and questions.


> I am eagerly waiting for his technical documentation of
>> TamilNet Font's character encoding
>
>There is a paper (INET96, Montreal, June 1996) lying in this site (
>http://aua.am/aua/auacs/inet'96/a5/ ) you will get some kind of
>technical explanation on  TamilNet font encodings

I am unable to reach this site.  Can you point me to an alternate site or
e-mail me the paper?


> and his comparison of TamilNet encoding
>> with alternate encoding conventions.
>
>Mani, I have not thought of that. If there is need, I may consider it. 

I believe that it is vital to compare all the 8-bit encoding conventions.
If we are to create a unified encoding standard we must understand design
principles behind each of the alternate schemes.  As somebody once
mentioned, one can come up with an encoding scheme in a few hours if one
understands all the issues.  And right now any 8-bit encoding convention
for Tamil appears better than the ISCII-97.


Mani M. Manivannan
Fremont, CA, USA.

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Mani M. Manivannan
Fremont, CA, USA.
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