Subject: Re: 26,000 characters

From: "HU Bo, IFT Munich, +49 89 54759129" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1993 05:17:30 -0400

As a matter of fact, you can use up to four
different Chinese fonts in many standard
DOS applications. Using my own ShiYong CCDOS
I have shown this possibility to mix Japanese
(Kanji) and Chinese characters without changing
their original code (EUC-JIS, GB). In my case,
Japanese and Chinese characters are input
seperatedly using differnet input routines.
In your case, since the rare characters are
used also rarely even in a dictionary, maybe
a following method can be used:

Start with the GB classical font and,
add all further variants of existing GB
characters to a second (and a third) font, using
the same codepoint;

Try to fill the second, the third the fourth font
with the rest of characters using codepoints on which
there is a some how related character in the original
standard gb font.

Now to input a character which is not in the standard GB
table means:

if it has a variant which is within the standard GB table,
input the variant and mark it to italics or bold or bolditalics
to obtain the desired variant;
(Example: input the simplified TAI for Taiwan to obtain
the classical TAI for Taiwan or TAI for Taifeng (Taifung).

if it has none variant which is in the standard GB table,
input the "related" character and mark it to italics or bold
or bolditalics to obtain the desired character.
(Example: input a rare character by inputting a somehow
less-rare one with some different radicals)

A more compatible method is to use the GB 12345-90, GB 7589-87
GB 7590-87 and a user's set to cover your usage of 26000
characters, which garantee a data exchange with other people
in the future. However, I have not see any packge jet
supporting these standards. (See Zhenbing Zeng
<[email-masked]>'s mail on this net on
Wed, 4 Aug 93)

As application software you can use Microsoft's WORD or
WordPerfect's WP 5.0-5.2.

Bo