Contents of /alx-src/tags/kernel26-2.6.12-alx-r9/Documentation/unicode.txt
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Tag kernel26-2.6.12-alx-r9
1 | Last update: 2005-01-17, version 1.4 |
2 | |
3 | This file is maintained by H. Peter Anvin <unicode@lanana.org> as part |
4 | of the Linux Assigned Names And Numbers Authority (LANANA) project. |
5 | The current version can be found at: |
6 | |
7 | http://www.lanana.org/docs/unicode/unicode.txt |
8 | |
9 | ------------------------ |
10 | |
11 | The Linux kernel code has been rewritten to use Unicode to map |
12 | characters to fonts. By downloading a single Unicode-to-font table, |
13 | both the eight-bit character sets and UTF-8 mode are changed to use |
14 | the font as indicated. |
15 | |
16 | This changes the semantics of the eight-bit character tables subtly. |
17 | The four character tables are now: |
18 | |
19 | Map symbol Map name Escape code (G0) |
20 | |
21 | LAT1_MAP Latin-1 (ISO 8859-1) ESC ( B |
22 | GRAF_MAP DEC VT100 pseudographics ESC ( 0 |
23 | IBMPC_MAP IBM code page 437 ESC ( U |
24 | USER_MAP User defined ESC ( K |
25 | |
26 | In particular, ESC ( U is no longer "straight to font", since the font |
27 | might be completely different than the IBM character set. This |
28 | permits for example the use of block graphics even with a Latin-1 font |
29 | loaded. |
30 | |
31 | Note that although these codes are similar to ISO 2022, neither the |
32 | codes nor their uses match ISO 2022; Linux has two 8-bit codes (G0 and |
33 | G1), whereas ISO 2022 has four 7-bit codes (G0-G3). |
34 | |
35 | In accordance with the Unicode standard/ISO 10646 the range U+F000 to |
36 | U+F8FF has been reserved for OS-wide allocation (the Unicode Standard |
37 | refers to this as a "Corporate Zone", since this is inaccurate for |
38 | Linux we call it the "Linux Zone"). U+F000 was picked as the starting |
39 | point since it lets the direct-mapping area start on a large power of |
40 | two (in case 1024- or 2048-character fonts ever become necessary). |
41 | This leaves U+E000 to U+EFFF as End User Zone. |
42 | |
43 | [v1.2]: The Unicodes range from U+F000 and up to U+F7FF have been |
44 | hard-coded to map directly to the loaded font, bypassing the |
45 | translation table. The user-defined map now defaults to U+F000 to |
46 | U+F0FF, emulating the previous behaviour. In practice, this range |
47 | might be shorter; for example, vgacon can only handle 256-character |
48 | (U+F000..U+F0FF) or 512-character (U+F000..U+F1FF) fonts. |
49 | |
50 | |
51 | Actual characters assigned in the Linux Zone |
52 | -------------------------------------------- |
53 | |
54 | In addition, the following characters not present in Unicode 1.1.4 |
55 | have been defined; these are used by the DEC VT graphics map. [v1.2] |
56 | THIS USE IS OBSOLETE AND SHOULD NO LONGER BE USED; PLEASE SEE BELOW. |
57 | |
58 | U+F800 DEC VT GRAPHICS HORIZONTAL LINE SCAN 1 |
59 | U+F801 DEC VT GRAPHICS HORIZONTAL LINE SCAN 3 |
60 | U+F803 DEC VT GRAPHICS HORIZONTAL LINE SCAN 7 |
61 | U+F804 DEC VT GRAPHICS HORIZONTAL LINE SCAN 9 |
62 | |
63 | The DEC VT220 uses a 6x10 character matrix, and these characters form |
64 | a smooth progression in the DEC VT graphics character set. I have |
65 | omitted the scan 5 line, since it is also used as a block-graphics |
66 | character, and hence has been coded as U+2500 FORMS LIGHT HORIZONTAL. |
67 | |
68 | [v1.3]: These characters have been officially added to Unicode 3.2.0; |
69 | they are added at U+23BA, U+23BB, U+23BC, U+23BD. Linux now uses the |
70 | new values. |
71 | |
72 | [v1.2]: The following characters have been added to represent common |
73 | keyboard symbols that are unlikely to ever be added to Unicode proper |
74 | since they are horribly vendor-specific. This, of course, is an |
75 | excellent example of horrible design. |
76 | |
77 | U+F810 KEYBOARD SYMBOL FLYING FLAG |
78 | U+F811 KEYBOARD SYMBOL PULLDOWN MENU |
79 | U+F812 KEYBOARD SYMBOL OPEN APPLE |
80 | U+F813 KEYBOARD SYMBOL SOLID APPLE |
81 | |
82 | Klingon language support |
83 | ------------------------ |
84 | |
85 | In 1996, Linux was the first operating system in the world to add |
86 | support for the artificial language Klingon, created by Marc Okrand |
87 | for the "Star Trek" television series. This encoding was later |
88 | adopted by the ConScript Unicode Registry and proposed (but ultimately |
89 | rejected) for inclusion in Unicode Plane 1. Thus, it remains as a |
90 | Linux/CSUR private assignment in the Linux Zone. |
91 | |
92 | This encoding has been endorsed by the Klingon Language Institute. |
93 | For more information, contact them at: |
94 | |
95 | http://www.kli.org/ |
96 | |
97 | Since the characters in the beginning of the Linux CZ have been more |
98 | of the dingbats/symbols/forms type and this is a language, I have |
99 | located it at the end, on a 16-cell boundary in keeping with standard |
100 | Unicode practice. |
101 | |
102 | NOTE: This range is now officially managed by the ConScript Unicode |
103 | Registry. The normative reference is at: |
104 | |
105 | http://www.evertype.com/standards/csur/klingon.html |
106 | |
107 | Klingon has an alphabet of 26 characters, a positional numeric writing |
108 | system with 10 digits, and is written left-to-right, top-to-bottom. |
109 | |
110 | Several glyph forms for the Klingon alphabet have been proposed. |
111 | However, since the set of symbols appear to be consistent throughout, |
112 | with only the actual shapes being different, in keeping with standard |
113 | Unicode practice these differences are considered font variants. |
114 | |
115 | U+F8D0 KLINGON LETTER A |
116 | U+F8D1 KLINGON LETTER B |
117 | U+F8D2 KLINGON LETTER CH |
118 | U+F8D3 KLINGON LETTER D |
119 | U+F8D4 KLINGON LETTER E |
120 | U+F8D5 KLINGON LETTER GH |
121 | U+F8D6 KLINGON LETTER H |
122 | U+F8D7 KLINGON LETTER I |
123 | U+F8D8 KLINGON LETTER J |
124 | U+F8D9 KLINGON LETTER L |
125 | U+F8DA KLINGON LETTER M |
126 | U+F8DB KLINGON LETTER N |
127 | U+F8DC KLINGON LETTER NG |
128 | U+F8DD KLINGON LETTER O |
129 | U+F8DE KLINGON LETTER P |
130 | U+F8DF KLINGON LETTER Q |
131 | - Written <q> in standard Okrand Latin transliteration |
132 | U+F8E0 KLINGON LETTER QH |
133 | - Written <Q> in standard Okrand Latin transliteration |
134 | U+F8E1 KLINGON LETTER R |
135 | U+F8E2 KLINGON LETTER S |
136 | U+F8E3 KLINGON LETTER T |
137 | U+F8E4 KLINGON LETTER TLH |
138 | U+F8E5 KLINGON LETTER U |
139 | U+F8E6 KLINGON LETTER V |
140 | U+F8E7 KLINGON LETTER W |
141 | U+F8E8 KLINGON LETTER Y |
142 | U+F8E9 KLINGON LETTER GLOTTAL STOP |
143 | |
144 | U+F8F0 KLINGON DIGIT ZERO |
145 | U+F8F1 KLINGON DIGIT ONE |
146 | U+F8F2 KLINGON DIGIT TWO |
147 | U+F8F3 KLINGON DIGIT THREE |
148 | U+F8F4 KLINGON DIGIT FOUR |
149 | U+F8F5 KLINGON DIGIT FIVE |
150 | U+F8F6 KLINGON DIGIT SIX |
151 | U+F8F7 KLINGON DIGIT SEVEN |
152 | U+F8F8 KLINGON DIGIT EIGHT |
153 | U+F8F9 KLINGON DIGIT NINE |
154 | |
155 | U+F8FD KLINGON COMMA |
156 | U+F8FE KLINGON FULL STOP |
157 | U+F8FF KLINGON SYMBOL FOR EMPIRE |
158 | |
159 | Other Fictional and Artificial Scripts |
160 | -------------------------------------- |
161 | |
162 | Since the assignment of the Klingon Linux Unicode block, a registry of |
163 | fictional and artificial scripts has been established by John Cowan |
164 | <jcowan@reutershealth.com> and Michael Everson <everson@evertype.com>. |
165 | The ConScript Unicode Registry is accessible at: |
166 | |
167 | http://www.evertype.com/standards/csur/ |
168 | |
169 | The ranges used fall at the low end of the End User Zone and can hence |
170 | not be normatively assigned, but it is recommended that people who |
171 | wish to encode fictional scripts use these codes, in the interest of |
172 | interoperability. For Klingon, CSUR has adopted the Linux encoding. |
173 | The CSUR people are driving adding Tengwar and Cirth into Unicode |
174 | Plane 1; the addition of Klingon to Unicode Plane 1 has been rejected |
175 | and so the above encoding remains official. |