Re: Tech: Unicode (was...)

Oh. Let's try to summarize.

From 00.00.00 to 00.FF.FF ( 65,536 codes): modern
From 01.00.00 to 01.FF.FF ( 65,536 codes): obsolete
From 02.00.00 to 03.FF.FF (131,072 codes): obscure
Chinese
From 04.00.00 to 0E.FF.FF (720,896 codes): unassigned
From 0F.00.00 to 10.FF.FF (131,072 codes): private
Total available......... 1,114,112 codes = 17 * 256 *
256

From 11.00.00 to FF.FF.FF (lots of codes): out of
range

So at first sight, this is a 3-byte system, but if we
consider that the max value is 10.FF.FF, it only
requires 5 + 8 + 8 = 21 bits.

But:
- 3-byte is a little odd, because "words" are usually,
either 1 byte, either 2, either 4, but not 3. And 2
bytes 5/8 is even more odd.
- 4-byte would be a huge waste of bits
- 2-byte is not enough

And:
- it seems that inside the ranges we mentioned before,
some sub-ranges are never used (D8.00 to DB.FF = 1,024
codes in every range of 65,536 codes = 1.5625%)

So:
- we shall use the unused ranges and other cunning
tricks to waste less space, and in fact, we shall use
variable length and different encoding systems:
- UTF-16 will use 16-bit and 32-bits words
- UTF-8  will use 8-bits, 16-bits, 24-bits and 32-bits
words.
- others will do what they like, compressing single
bits, dividing them in two, or painting them different
colors to differentiate them, we don't care, provided
we get our information back correctly.

I hope I got it this time.

------
Virtual keyboards:

- Actually, I was thinking of a real keyboard (not a
window on the screen and mouse-clicking), but this
keyboard woud be a single tactile screen (not a screen
in every key, of course). So there would be no more
mechanical keys at all. The whole keyboard screen
display would change (smoothly) according to the
character range you would use, and you could use all
of your ten fingers to type, just like on an ordinary
keyboard (supposing you don't use just two fingers
like French policemen). Probably the tactile keyboard
should not be completely flat (slipping risk). You
also could change the color of the displayed
characters and of the background.

--- John Cowan <cowan@...> wrote:
>
> That's a simplified view of the true situation.
[...]

>>I wonder how these
> > virtual keyboard looked like ? Why can't we find
> them
> > ? Only technical and cost problems, or other
> reasons ?
>
> Macs support them today.  A virtual keyboard looks
> like a drawing
> of a physical keyboard, and it's just a window.
> Clicking on the key
> drawings is equivalent to depressing and releasing
> the actual keys.
> As the keyboard mapping changes, so do the glyphs.
>
> You can probably get such an application for
> Windows, too.
>
> Of course the actual glyphs on the physical keyboard
> don't change: the
> mechanism is fragile enough without putting little
> screens in each one,
> not to mention the ruinous cost.  However, virtual
> ink technologies
> (google for "virtual ink" for details) should make
> even that practical
> eventually.
>

=====
Philippe Caquant

"High thoughts must have high language." (Aristophanes, Frogs)


	
		
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