RE: Problem input Arabic text in HTML form using UTF-8 and Netscape

FWIW, IE users on Wndows can use the Input Method Editor (or the Global IME on pre-W2K systems) to input a variety of languages, including Arabic. I use the Japanese IME all the time.
 
-J-

 -----Original Message----- 
 From: Nir Dagan [mailto:nir@nirdagan.com] 
 Sent: Sat 12/15/2001 11:54 AM 
 To: www-international@w3.org; Mislav Kos 
 Cc: 
 Subject: Re: Problem input Arabic text in HTML form using UTF-8 and Netscape
 
 

 My exprience with Netscape 4.xx versions is that it
 1. does not support bi-directional text
 2. does not implement character encoding correctly.
 
 Netscape 6.1 and MSIE 5.xx do support the necessary features
 for displaying Arabic text, and would support form input if the
 operating system knows how to input the required characters.
 
 Nir
 
 ----- Original Message -----
 From: "Mislav Kos" <mkos@us.ibm.com>
 To: <www-international@w3.org>
 Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 5:43 PM
 Subject: Problem input Arabic text in HTML form using UTF-8 and Netscape
 
 
 > Hello,
 >
 > I'm hoping some of you out there might be able to lend me some expertise
 in
 > regards to entering and displaying Arabic text in HTML forms using
 Netscape
 > browsers and the UTF-8 encoding.
 >
 > I'm developing a web site that will feature English, French and Arabic,
 and
 > maybe additional languages in the future. Since my site will feature
 > characters from multiple alphabets on any given page, I would like to use
 > UTF-8 encoding. A native Arabic encoding such as iso-8859-5 or Cp1256
 would
 > be sufficient if Arabic and Latin alphabets were the only ones that would
 > ever be used. However, I would like to keep the design flexible enough so
 > that the introduction of additional alphabets in the future (for example,
 > Japanese) would not be a big deal. According to the information I've
 > gathered on the web, Unicode's UTF-8 encoding would meet this requirement.
 > UTF-8 allows for multiple alphabets to be displayed on the same page.
 > Unfortunately, UTF-8 is a relatively new encoding with limited support in
 > older browser versions. For example, when I open the HTML file included in
 > this email below in my 4.72 Netscape browser, the text that's shown in the
 > HTML form is incorrect. The text right above it, on the other hand, is
 > correct. Furthermore, if you try to type Arabic into the text field,
 you'll
 > get incorrect letters.
 >
 > I'm using Numeric Character References to display the Arabic text. I got
 > the idea from http://www.hclrss.demon.co.uk/unicode/htmlunicode.html.
 >
 > <html>
 >      <head>
 >           <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
 > charset=utf-8">
 >      </head>
 >      <body>
 >           <!-- this shows up correctly -->
 >           &#1567;&#1576;&#1613;&#1779;
 >           <br>
 >           <form>
 >                <!-- this shows up incorrectly and typing Arabic text
 > doesn't work either! -->
 >                <input type="text" value="&#1567;&#1576;&#1613;&#1779;">
 >           </form>
 >      </body>
 > </html>
 >
 > I would appreciate your help very much. Thanks in advance,
 > Mislav Kos
 >
 >

Received on Saturday, 15 December 2001 15:46:06 UTC