Unicode support in GEOS

[gsteemso]

I've been giving considerable thought to moving my fanfiction writing over to the C128, in order to reduce the temptation to read other people's fanfiction over the Web instead. For that to happen, I need 3 things.

1) A method of transferring files from the C128 to a modern machine. I've got an elaborate and roundabout kludge in mind involving AppleTalk and a IIgs equipped with a 5-1/4" drive, but if that doesn't pan out there's always uIEC.

2) A usable method of embedding Unicode characters into what I'm writing. Could be tricky without writing my own text editor. I'm seriously considering doing exactly that, which is why this post is here. More below. (As a workaround if this doesn't pan out, I could use mnemonics and have a postprocessor spit out proper Unicode. I already use postprocessors to target various publishing languages, such as HTML or BBCode, so this isn't a big leap.)

3) A way to run the postprocessors (which are written in Perl) on the C128. Basically, a simplified Perl 5.8.x interpreter for the 128. I intend to post elsewhere about this, as it is not specific to GEOS.

So, back to writing a text editor for GEOS. Does anyone know if the GeoWrite source is available? I could probably run something together even if not. (An old post on a Mac newsgroup about how old versions of BBEdit worked internally was very helpful there.) Of course, I will have to track down a copy of GeoProgrammer before I can get anywhere, which in turn relies on me solving the disk-transfer problem in item #1 above. Gah. This isn't a small project, is it...

I also had some questions for the group at large about font and text handling in GEOS. Basically, all text is assumed to be ASCII or some variant thereof for international translations, correct? What is the internal structure of a font? Would I have to rewrite the entire font subsystem of GEOS to handle a typeface with over 255 characters?

I'd given some consideration to introducing a method of embedding Unicode as gaiji (to steal a Japanese term), where some application-specific flag indicates that a character from beyond the current repertoire is to be used. I think that would be a lot easier than full Unicode support, which would probably be impractical on such a small system. I'd still need some way of having internationalized fonts though. Maybe have a series of related font files with different 128-character "slices" of the Unicode repertoire?

Thoughts?

[SmallCleverDinosaur]

This doesn't sound like a small project at all no But a very interesting one.

1) A method of transferring files from the C128 to a modern machine. I've got an elaborate and roundabout kludge in mind involving AppleTalk and a IIgs equipped with a 5-1/4" drive, but if that doesn't pan out there's always uIEC.

That kludge seems a little bit over the top since there are so many ways of transferring data from a PC to a C64/C128 (and back) today. As you mention, the uIEC or the new SD2IEC.

Of course, I will have to track down a copy of GeoProgrammer before I can get anywhere, which in turn relies on me solving the disk-transfer problem in item #1 above. Gah. This isn't a small project, is it...

Finding the GeoProgrammer may be a difficult task since it's hard to find. But if you do, please let me know BTW, I have the original documentation for GeoBASIC if someone is interested.

[RobertB]

Finding the GeoProgrammer may be a difficult task since it's hard to find.

http://ftp.pokefinder.org/index.php?s=geoprogrammer&m=0&h=100

              Truly,
              Robert Bernardo
              Fresno Commodore User Group
              http://videocam.net.au/fcug
              CommVEx v5 info - http://www.commodore.ca/forum and click on ComVEX

[SmallCleverDinosaur]

Pokefinder, of course!

It finds the GeoProgrammer at the elysium ftp-site in Poland. That site seems to demand a login for ftp-access. Anyone knows how to register?

[gsteemso]

I tried the pokefinder link from within my web browser, and it promptly choked on an unrecognized answer code 215 from the server. I tried again using a real ftp client and got the file easily. I don't know why it gives trouble, but you may be able to achieve success by using a different client, like I did.