Technical data

3
Using Asian Language Support
Enhancements for Motif Applications
In Motif environments, such as CDE, you use versions of fonts, codesets,
servers, and applications that support features discussed in earlier chapters.
This chapter provides more detail on using features that help support Asian
languages. Topics include the following:
• Tuning the cache and unit size of the X display server for languages with
ideographic characters (Section 3.1)
• Setting fonts for local language display (Section 3.2)
• Customizing an application window for local languages (Section 3.3)
For information on font rendering and on how to use font renderers for
multibyte PostScript fonts, UDC fonts, and TrueType fonts, see the Writing
Software for the International Market manual.
3.1 Tuning the X Server for Ideographic Languages
Asian languages have large ideographic character sets, so all characters
needed for display are not loaded into memory at the same time. Instead,
only as many characters as will fit in the memory cache are simultaneously
loaded. When characters needed for display are not currently cached in
memory, the least recently used font glyphs are removed from the cache to
make room. The font-cache mechanism allows you to display ideographic
text in multiple typefaces, font sizes, and font styles without increasing
the amount of memory that systems must have to support ideographic
languages.
The X server font-cache mechanism allows you to change the number of
cache units and the size of these units to best accommodate the character
sets used in displays. You will probably need to change the default values
set for cache parameters to achieve the best performance from your system
if it will display Asian language text. Consider the following criteria when
deciding on the optimal values for font caching:
• The number of ideographic languages that you want to display
If you intend to work with several ideographic languages during the
same CDE session, you need larger values for acceptable performance.
Using Asian Language Support Enhancements for Motif Applications 3–1