Still on i18n

Still on i18n

[Giuseppe Bilotta]

Hello,

there's one point I would like to make on i18n: proper
support for different decimal/thousand separators;
different languages use different symbols (mostly, they swap
the meaning of comma and dot); this should be taken in
consideration esp. when typesetting math formulas, to take
care of correct spacing.

Giuseppe Bilotta

Using Microsoft products is like 
having sex without condoms---but
much less pleasurable

Re: Still on i18n

[S2P development]

Giuseppe Bilotta wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> there's one point I would like to make on i18n: proper
> support for different decimal/thousand separators;
> different languages use different symbols (mostly, they swap
> the meaning of comma and dot); this should be taken in
> consideration esp. when typesetting math formulas, to take
> care of correct spacing.

Yes, but how?

It should probably be done, but input syntax is very nasty.
Even if $10,50$ is a number, $[10, 50]$ isn't. If somebody
can think of a reasonable algorithm to decide when to do what,
I'd be very happy to implement it 

(unf., you can't 'just' make stuff like dot and comma \active).

It's not just numbers, there are some other language changes
in math typesetting. Waiting for MathML in context support 
might be the best solution :-)

Greetings, Taco

Re: Still on i18n

[Hans Hagen]

At 08:47 AM 2/14/01 +0100, S2P development wrote:
>Giuseppe Bilotta wrote:
>> 
>> Hello,
>> 
>> there's one point I would like to make on i18n: proper
>> support for different decimal/thousand separators;
>> different languages use different symbols (mostly, they swap
>> the meaning of comma and dot); this should be taken in
>> consideration esp. when typesetting math formulas, to take
>> care of correct spacing.
>
>Yes, but how?
>
>It should probably be done, but input syntax is very nasty.
>Even if $10,50$ is a number, $[10, 50]$ isn't. If somebody
>can think of a reasonable algorithm to decide when to do what,
>I'd be very happy to implement it 
>
>(unf., you can't 'just' make stuff like dot and comma \active).
>It's not just numbers, there are some other language changes
>in math typesetting. Waiting for MathML in context support 
>might be the best solution :-)

There is a file supp-num.tex in the distribution which have some digit
manipulation macros. They even work -) 

Hans
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE | pragma@wxs.nl
                      Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands
 tel: +31 (0)38 477 53 69 | fax: +31 (0)38 477 53 74 | www.pragma-ade.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Re: Still on i18n

[Hans Hagen]

At 08:47 AM 2/14/01 +0100, S2P development wrote:

>It's not just numbers, there are some other language changes
>in math typesetting. Waiting for MathML in context support 
>might be the best solution :-)

As always ... writing the manual takes most time. The basic descriptions
are nearly finished. Sigh. 

Hans
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE | pragma@wxs.nl
                      Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands
 tel: +31 (0)38 477 53 69 | fax: +31 (0)38 477 53 74 | www.pragma-ade.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Re: Still on i18n

[Giuseppe Bilotta]

I wrote:
> > 
> > Hello,
> > 
> > there's one point I would like to make on i18n: proper
> > support for different decimal/thousand separators;
> > different languages use different symbols (mostly, they swap
> > the meaning of comma and dot); this should be taken in
> > consideration esp. when typesetting math formulas, to take
> > care of correct spacing.

Taco wrote:

> Yes, but how?
> 
> It should probably be done, but input syntax is very nasty.
> Even if $10,50$ is a number, $[10, 50]$ isn't. If somebody
> can think of a reasonable algorithm to decide when to do what,
> I'd be very happy to implement it 

Get a second look at your examples: if the next char has catcode space,
you can use the delimiter spacing; otherwise, you use the
decimal/thousand (whatever appropriate) spacing (which would
again change from region to region).

Hans wrote:

> There is a file supp-num.tex in the distribution which have some digit
> manipulation macros. They even work -)

Nice module! But you still need to insert \tex{digit} before them;
can the thing be implemented, at least in math mode, without the
need for \tex{digit} (only the decimal/thousand separator thing,
not the power thing)?

Giuseppe Bilotta

Using Microsoft products is like 
having sex without condoms---but
much less pleasurable

Re: Still on i18n

[Hans Hagen]

At 03:49 PM 2/14/01 +0100, Giuseppe Bilotta wrote:

>> There is a file supp-num.tex in the distribution which have some digit
>> manipulation macros. They even work -)
>
>Nice module! But you still need to insert \tex{digit} before them;
>can the thing be implemented, at least in math mode, without the
>need for \tex{digit} (only the decimal/thousand separator thing,
>not the power thing)?

In a couple of weeks i will release the mathml module. We can implement
these things in there since there is more struture in it than in normal tex
code. The nice thing is that you can mix tex code and xml code in one
document. In general: for any decent makeup you need to supply info cq.
structure. Such is life. 

Hans

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE | pragma@wxs.nl
                      Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands
 tel: +31 (0)38 477 53 69 | fax: +31 (0)38 477 53 74 | www.pragma-ade.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------