newRPL - build 1255 released! [updated to 1299]

[JoJo1973]

(11-20-2019 03:01 PM)Claudio L. Wrote:  

(11-20-2019 08:55 AM)JoJo1973 Wrote:  Well, looking at the code basically it's just a matter of updating the existing fonts with the cyrillic alphabet glyphs, update a translation table, launch the provided conversion tool and recompile.

Problem is that there's eleven of them and without a font editor the process becomes time-consuming.

Tonight I'm going to update the wiki with some info.

The answer is yes, newRPL manages all text as Unicode, so it is not only possible but not all that complicated. However, it does take some work:

a) All fonts sizes and variants need to have glyphs added for cyrillic. Fonts are simply a bitmap (can be edited with GIMP or any other bitmap editor), and a text file that matches the symbols on the bitmap with their Unicode code. We have a font conversion tool that can read those bitmaps and text files, and output the font either as a standalone newRPL object that you can install as a user font, or you can output C code and replace the fonts in the ROM (for a more permanent fix).
b) Keyboard maps need to be added so you can type those symbols on-calc. Once more, this can be done altering the default maps in the source code, or through your own custom key definitions, that can be user-installed on the standard ROM.

As a bonus, you could also translate error messages (and some other texts) in the source code to have a full ROM customized for your language.
But if all you want is to display text in cyrillic in your own programs, a user-installed font and user-installed key definitions should suffice, and you can use the standard ROM (no coding necessary).

It took a bit longer than planned, but I've added a chapter in the appendix of the wiki about font creation.

Claudio and others, please let me now mistakes and omissions!