Subject: A solution for Non-Standard Chinese Characters in Email

From: "L.S.Ng" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 18 May 93 10:55:50 BST

Liang Sheng Wu 
 
A PROPOSAL to encode Non-standard Chinese Characters
****************************************************

Proposal Codename : FC (Fei1 Chang1 zi4 bianma fang'an)

It is the nature of Chinese Language that it does not have a definite set of 
characters. So we must have a semiformal graphical solution to
code for those rare but essential non-standard characters. It would be totally
unacceptable if a Classical Document has a few character missing. How can we
inherit Chinese Culture completely intact? Hence a solution for non-standard
character coding is necessary.

I suggest a solution to Non-standard Charaters:
 
Aim: To code and display non-standard Characters WHEN NECESSARY.
 
Method: Include the BITMAP INFORMATION of a non-standard characters WITHIN an
ordinary document. The decoder should read this info and be able to display it.
 
Assign to a non-standard character a TEMPORARY Guobiao/HZ code which can be any
place in the blank region (region 8 to 15 or 88 to 94). So as the temporary
non-standard character appear in the text, the decoder will use the BITMAP info
to display it.
 
Format: To comply with SMTP, use a string of hexadecimal numbers to represent
the bitmap.  For 16x16 bitmap we need 32 bytes, so the hex number equivalent
would be 64 character long. The bitmap info is preceeded by the temporary GB/HZ
code. And all this info can fit into one single line only which should begin
with an identifier. e.g.
 
zKA8011234ABCDEFAB12345678098374859283BEFA394DCB3948CBDE948503948ABCD..
  ^   ^all this are bitmap info in Hex number, length=64 for 16x16 bitmap
^ A801 the temporary GB/HZ code
identifier zK
 
Extension: For larger bitmap, more lines can be used.
 
Software:
1. It requires easy to use/flexible font editor. The font editor should be able
to code the bitmap info in Hex number. It should also log automatically all
the characters the user has defined/written so far.
2. It requires a text editor which can cut and paste the bitmap info into a
document.
3. The decoder should handle standard GB/HZ coding and when it encounters a
non-standard character, it reads the bitmap info to display it. 
It should allocate some buffer to hold the temporary bitmap. 
It should overwrite the existing temporary bitmap buffer with the most 
recent one in the event that GB/HZ code has been repeated. 
The bitmap info can be stored anywhere but it should appear before the 
non-standard character itself.
 
Please send your comment to [email-masked]
 
Conclusion: 

It is necessary to code only a few non-standard Chinese Characters
in one single document. It can be seen that those non-standard character code
can be ported/copied/modified easily. And since it is temporay and is defined
locally (within a document), it would not cause interference with another
document, and if it does, it can be modified easyly. The blank regions in GB
table is much more than enough.

A question asked that what if the reader has already defined some character 
and the incoming message use the same GB/HZ code as the existing ones. I think
the decoder program should adhere to the principle that priority 
should be given to the 'guest'. i.e. ignore the reader's own definition. 
Since the reader is reading, he won't be writing, hence it doesn't matter if
he cannot write his own character.

Nevertheless, it is the nature of Chinese Language that it does not have a
definite set of characters. So we must have a semiformal graphical solution to
code for those rare but essential non-standard characters. It would be totally
unacceptable if a Classical Document has a few character missing. How can we
inherit Chinese Culture completely intact? Hence a solution for non-standard
character coding is necessary.

In fact, the function to create user-defined characters has been a standard 
feature in many Chinese Softwares/Systems. My solution is to make it possible
for electronic communications. What's the use if one character I create can't
be seen by the others? This is an essential improvement on Chinese Software
Design.