Tamil Fonts, Keyboards & Software
"..The talent, interest and
energy in Tamil Computing are widely scattered
around the world. For nearly two decades, the
expertise and enthusiasm of this community were
reflected as individual efforts mainly engaged
in development of fonts and keyboard drivers.
The fast changes in the computing environment
and worldwide proliferation of Internet usage
have widened the base of interest in Tamil
Computing and Internet applications..."
Dr. M.
Anandakrishnan at Tamil
Internet 2000
Stepwise instructions - to view Unicode
Tamil text -
1. You need to have Unicode Tamil fonts installed
on your computer and the Operating System capable
of rendering Tamil Scripts. Windows XP comes with
a Unicode Tamil Font (Latha) and you should
not need to download/install a unicode
font.
2. In the Control Panel, in Regional/Languages
Options you will need to ensure that Indic/Asian
Language option is checked.
3. Use a browser that is capable of handling
UTF-8 based pages (Netscape 6, Internet Explorer
5) with the Unicode Tamil font chosen as the
default font for the UTF-8 char-set/encoding
view. Unicode Tamil Fonts may be downloaded from
here
Some users of Windows 98/NT/ME/2000 Windows NT
may find that even with a Tamil Unicode font
installed and the browser correctly set to View
> Encoding > Unicode, some of the Tamil
letters are incorrectly displayed. An example of
this incorrect display may be viewed here using
any TSC font -
"அதோ
அந்த
பறவை
போல வாழ
வேண்டும்
இதோ
இந்த
அலைகள்
போல ஆட
வேண்டும்
ஒரே
வானிலே
ஒரே
மண்ணிலே
ஒரே
கீதம்
உரிமை
கீதம்
பாடுவோம்"
This may be due to the
earlier version of usp10.dll used in these
operating systems. To correct this, it may be
necessary to update the usp10.dll file in
Windows. To do this,
1. Download the latest
version of the usp10.dll file. [one of the sites
for this download is here . Alternatively, you may
download the file from the Microsoft site
here - save the downloaded
.exe file - double click on the file - give a
temporary folder address - the program will
extract a few files into the folder - of these
'usp.zip' is the one you will need - discard the
other files - unzip usp.zip - it will give two
files viz: usp10.dll and readme.txt ]
2. Go to the Windows folder
and find the file named usp10.dll (usually in the
System and/or System32 sub folder). Rename the
file to a different name say usp10.old .
3. Place the newly
downloaded usp10.dll file in the same folder as
the renamed usp10.old file.
6. Re start the
computer.
[in addition see also -
How to Switch usp.dll and Making Uniscribe (USP10.DLL)
Available for All Programmes]
Ram S.Ravindran on using Tamil Unicode in
Personal Computers -
"Most of the PC computer users use either Win 98
or XP operating systems. I recognize there are
some of us who use Mac and Linux machines.
Win 98 OS and the applications that go with
them don't support Unicode format. However, if
you have Win 98 you can input in Unicode
Tamil.
Recently (March 2004) most of us came to know
of a neat freeware program called LedLineIt!. This program
allows you to create Unicode font Tamil
documents. All you need is e- Kalappai 1.0 or 2.0 with
the Unicode kmx file.
You can create a Unicode Tamil document with
the use of Thenee, aVarangal or TSCArparnar
fonts. This program doesn't use any dll or
Windows hook ups. However the exe file is about
3.4 megs.
If you have IE explorer 5.5 or higher you can
use Ledlineit to create Unicode Tamil text and
cut and paste it in Hotmail or Yahoo Webmail
email text boxes. So if you have Win 98 you can
in fact read and write in Unicode Tamil in the
email. Likewise you can paste it in Blogs.
Using Leadlineit , you can save the Unicode
document file and print it out as well. As a
matter of fact, you can even save the document as
a HTML file for uploading to a free Web hosting
service. So you can use it as a HTML editor as
well.
If you have Win XP machine, to get the best
Unicode capability, you need to install the Asian
font capability. From start, go to settings,
control panel and then select the regional
settings. Install the Asian font capability. (you
might be asked to place the WinXP OS disk).
After you install the Asian font capability ,
select the regional font option again and select
advanced. Select the Tamil language option.
With MS office XP Word and selecting Tamil
driver and selecting Latha font and using
Ekalappai you can create a Tamil Unicode
document. Using Publisher 2003 you can create a
Web page. Of course you can cut and paste into a
Blog page.
You can enter in Tamil into the text boxes of
Yahoo mail and Hotmail as well. The most
important thing to do is to make sure that you
have the Internet options set with Thenee UNIX
font and Tamil language selected. If you don't do
it right then things won't be right.
Now you can input in Unicode Tamil in both Win 98
and XP systems. Thanks to Ekalappai, (Keyman
module) and Ledlineit we have the ability to
input in Unicode Tamil." - (in Tamil dot
Net mailing list in March 2004)
Tamil Fonts, Keyboards and
Beyond
Dr. M.
Anandakrishnan
Vice-Chairman, Tamilnadu
State Council For Higher Education,
Lady Willington College Campus, Kamarajar Salai,
Chennai 600 005 at Tamil Internet 2000,
Directions to the Digital World, Singapore 22-24
July 2000
Preface
The talent, interest and energy in Tamil
Computing are widely scattered around the world.
For nearly two decades, the expertise and
enthusiasm of this community were reflected as
individual efforts mainly engaged in development
of fonts and keyboard drivers.
The fast changes in the computing environment
and worldwide proliferation of Internet usage
have widened the base of interest in Tamil
Computing and Internet applications. In this
evolution, the first Tamilnet'97 Conference in Singapore
identified the key issues and outlined the scope
for further intensive efforts. The second
Conference, Tamilnet'99 held in Chennai provided
the basis for evolving common schemes for Tamil
font encoding and Tamil keyboard
configuration.
Since then, there has been a sharp increase in
he level of activities in development of products
and initiating efforts in new directions
responding to the rapid advances in information
technology. Current momentum includes, attention
to operating systems, OCR, Text to Voice, Tamil
Browsers, remote communication, printers, font
and Tamil menus, dynamic fonts, Tamil e-mail,
Tamil Domain Names, Tamil Virtual libraries,
Web-based Tamil Courses and so on. This paper
presents an overview of the efforts in Tamil
Nadu.
Introduction
Since the early eighties, when personal
computers became available extensively, a number
of persons with deep interest in Tamil began
development of Tamil fonts for use in the
computers. A large number of Tamil fonts were
created as glyphs allocating the upper half of
the 8 bit ASCII Table. Individual font developers
assigned different code positions to different
characters and modifiers.
Since most of these initial developments were
in English speaking countries with easier access
to personal computers than India, many chose to
adopt Romanised Keyboards, with some small
variations in using the QWERTY keys for some
Tamil fonts. There were also developments of
Tamil keyboard configurations, either resembling
largely the Remington Tamil Typewriter or with
configurations of individual taste and
reasoning.
The Singapore Tamilnet 97 Conference
organized by Dr. Naa Govindasamy
highlighted these variations and the consequent
handicaps in promoting use of Tamil in computers
and in effective penetration of Tamil in
Internet. This challenge was articulated
extensively by a group of enthusiastic persons
through the discussion group
TSCII (Tamil Standard Character for Information
Interchange). At the same time Dr. Naa
Govindasamy evolved font encoding schemes and
keyboard configurations through the IRDU
(Internet Research and Development Unit) of
Singapore.
The Tamilnet 99 at Chennai provided an
occasion to review these initiatives and suggested that
the Tamil Glyph Encoding should consist of a
monolingual (TAM) as well as a 2 bilingual (TAB)
scheme. It also recommended a phonetic keyboard layout. The
conference drew attention to the various
important and urgent efforts required to be
undertaken.
Convergence in Font
Encoding
Most, if not all, of the Font Developers are
since converging towards one of the following
encoding schemes:
Anjal,
TSCII,
TAM, TAB
, and
Unicode
The user community is getting accustomed
to the products based on one or the other scheme
determined by their convenience for exchange of
documents, e-mail communication, operating
environments and ease of availability and
support. In Tamil Nadu all of these schemes are
in use. There are also a few, mainly some Tamil
newspapers on the Internet, who continue to use
fonts
outside these schemes either due to inertia
or backend compatibility.
Convergence in Keyboard
Configuration
The Tamil keyboard configuration in computer
has also been converging towards the
following:
Romanized
Tamil 99 (phonetic)
Typewriter
Unicode
The Romanized keyboard is mostly
akin to Anjal sequence. Some variations in this
need to be resolved. It is very convenient for
those familiar with the English language.
The Tamil 99 keyboard does not require
the use of shift key except for Grantha
characters. Since one needs to remember only
about half the key positions as compared to other
systems, the new learners are attracted to this.
The availability of bilingual keyboards based on
Tamil 99 configuration facilitates its widespread
use. The automatic - pulli - is an add-on
convenience.
The typewriter keyboard is used by persons
accustomed to the Remington Tamil Typewriters.
The Government of Tamil Nadu has also recommended
a common configuration for the typewriter keyboard configuration for
computers.
The recent introduction of Unicode Tamil in
Windows 2000 will require familiarity with its
keyboard configuration. It may be pointed out
that it does not matter which keyboard
configuration is used as long as the associated
keyboard driver is available. It is a matter of
individual's choice and convenience.
Certification
Objective
For the users in Tamil Nadu Government system
it has been decided that they would use TAM or
TAB primarily to ensure transportability of data
and information. To ensure that the purchases of
Tamil Software products by Government users are
assured of compatibility, the Government
designated the Kanithamizh
Sangam to undertake the responsibility to
evaluate and certify that the software products
conform to the TAM/TAB encoding scheme.
It also required the keyboards to conform to the Tamil99 and/or the
recommended typewriter
configuration and the associated prescribed
key sequence. The process of evaluation by
Kanithamizh Sangam has built-in transparency and
checks. It has been helpful in expediting product
evaluation and to build in confidence in
government purchases without procedural hurdles.
It is also a convenience for Tamil software
developers. The users outside the government
system need not insist on certification for
encoding.
Certified Products
After the Tamilnet 99 Conference on 7-8
February 1999, the Government of Tamil Nadu
announced on 13.06.1999 the encoding
standards for TAM/TAB fonts and Keyboard
configuration of Tamil 99. Kanithamizh
Sangam has so far certified 17 products for conformity
to Tamil 99 standards.
Other Products in Use
Apart from the certified products, many
other products that are now available in the
market have followed the Tamil 99 Standards
exclusively or as one of the options, as for
example:
|
MURASU ANJAL 2000 |
With 6 Keyboard
and 6 Encoding Options, including TAM and
TAB Fonts and Tamil 99 Keyboard Works with
TAM Fonts and Tamil 99 Keyboard |
|
MIN TAMIL |
Works with Tam
Fonts and Tamil 99 Keyboard |
|
TAMIL ANJAL |
Email Software
Works with Tamil 99 Keyboard |
|
TAMIL DOMAIN NAMES |
By I-DNS,
Singapore - incorporate TAB Fonts |
|
i-LEAP |
Word Processor
with TAM and TAB Fonts and Tamil 99
Keyboard as one of the options |
|
TEXT TO SPEECH SOFTWARE |
Multilingual
software developed by IIT, Madras including
TAB Fonts |
Ongoing
Activities
A number of initiatives are currently underway in
developing new Tamil softwares and tools such
as:
- IDHAM 2000 - An Advanced Tamil Interface for MS
Windows**
- Bilingual Search Engine for Tamil and English
Sites**
- Tamil JAVA - A Tamil Pre-processor for
JAVA**
- Tamil 99 Keyboard Driver under DOS**
- Optical Character Reader (OCR) Software** (**
These are described in separate papers sub-nitted
for the Conference.)
- Text to Speech Synthesizer - This will convert
any machines readable text into speech
- PONN - A Tamil Operating System - This will
provide an operating environment both in Tamil
and English with facility for user communication
and design to execute the commands given in
Tamil.
Conclusion
Considering the rapid changes in the hardware
systems, application software, operating
environments and communication devices, there are
many new challenges that are to be undertaken
with time-bound goals and involving the best
talents available worldwide. It would be useful
to assign the primary responsibility for
undertaking the development tasks to a particular
institution or a research group who should be
funded adequately. The progress of work should be
reviewed at predefined intervals not only by the
funding agency but also through another
designated mechanism such as INFITT.
New demands for development of unique
products which are of immediate relevance should
also be identified through such a mechanism and
evolve a method to analyse the involvement of
competent persons. It is high time that the
perspectives on Tamil computing and Tamil
Internet are guided by vision and hope far beyond
font encoding and keyboards.
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