Understanding VT bidirectional language support (Arabic and Hebrew)
Bidirectional support for printing in VT session
Understanding bidirectional Hebrew support
Understanding bidirectional Arabic support
Editing functions
To change the cut, copy and paste settings in an active Z and I Emulator for Web session:
- On the Edit menu, click Text Type, Text Orientation or Numeral Shape.
- Select the appropriate values for bidirectional Cut/Copy & Paste:
- Text Type - Visual or Logical
- Text Orientation - Left to Right or Right to Left
- Numeral Shape - National, Nominal or Contextual
The Numeral Shape menu option is available for Arabic session only. |
Setting display options
To set the bidirectional display options:
- Right-click a configured session icon.
- Click Properties.
- Select a bidirectional Host Code Page.
- Click Language.
- Select the appropriate values for:
- BIDI Mode - On or Off
- Numeral Shape - National, Nominal or Contextual
- Cursor direction - Left to Right or Right to Left
- Click OK.
To change these settings in an active Z and I Emulator for Web session:
- On the View menu, click Bidi Mode or Numeral Shape.
- Select the appropriate values:
- Numeral Shape - National, Nominal or Contextual
- BIDI Mode - On or Off
|
- Smart ordering on
- A segment is a group of characters that have the same attributes. In this mode,
text is ordered segment by segment. To enable this mode, select View > Bidi
display options > Smart Ordering, and select On.
In this mode, you can indicate whether you want the underline attribute to be visible or invisible. Select View > Bidi display options > Show text attribute, and click on the On checkbox if you want the underlining to be visible.
- Smart ordering off
- In this mode, text is displayed with the default attributes. To enable this mode, select View > Bidi display options > Smart Ordering, and select Off.
Remapping bidirectional keys
- Right-click a configured session icon.
- Click Properties.
- Select a bidirectional Host Code Page.
- Click Keyboard Remap.
- Press the key you want to remap.
- Select the bidirectional function that you want to remap to that key.
The following bidirectional functions are available for a VT bidirectional session:
- Screen reverse (for logical text type only )
- National keyboard layer
- Latin keyboard layer
- Set/reset right-to-left cursor direction (for Hebrew session and visual text type only)
- Toggle between 7-bit and 8-bit character set modes (for Hebrew session only)
- Adjust the column heading (for Arabic session only)
Bidirectional support for printing in a VT session
To properly print Arabic or Hebrew text, the following should be implemented:
- Before submitting a printer job, send a start Esq-sequence to the printer that makes the printer use a national character set and an appropriate font
- Convert any national character from host codepage to printer codepage
- After completing a printer job, send a finish Esq-sequence to the printer that reinstates the printer's default settings
The start and finish Esq-sequences are printer-dependent. Currently, VT printing does not use Printer Definition Files (PDFs). But the PDF file is used for Bidirectional sessions to define host-to-printer ASCII translation and control codes sent at the start and the end of each host print job. See Host Printing Reference for more information about creating and using of Printer Definition Tables (PDTs) and Printer Definition Files (PDFs).
Choosing a printer definition file (PDF)
For a VT bidirectional session, select a PDF from the Printer tab of the Session Properties dialog box. For a non-VT bidirectional session, the Printer tab of the Session Properties dialog box includes a list of PDFs relevant for a VT session.
Creating a printer definition table (PDT) for a VT bidirectional session
To be used for a VT session, the PDT should include the parameter VT_PRINT?= x, where x is a number that identifies a language. The following identifiers are currently supported:
- 0 - Ignore
- 1 - Arabic
- 2 - Hebrew
If the parameter does not exist or is set to 0, the PDT should not be used for VT printing and is not displayed in the list of PDFs. If the parameter is set to one of currently supported languages, the PDF is not displayed in the Session Properties dialog box for a 3270 printer session.
Following is an example of a segment of a PDF file with parameters that are important for VT bidirectional printing. This PDF is designed for Hebrew printing on HP LaserJet 4 printer.
...
/* user-defined macros */
BEGIN_MACROS
...
...
SUL EQU 1B 26 64 33 44 /* Start Underline */
CUL EQU 1B 26 64 40 /* Cancel Underline */
SBP EQU 1B 28 73 31 42 /* Start Bold Printing */
CBP EQU 1B 28 73 30 42 /* Cancel Bold Printing */
CS1 EQU 1B 28 38 55 /* Roman 8 char set 1 */
CS2 EQU 1B 29 38 55 /* Roman 8 char set 2 */
SFT EQU 1B 28 31 35 51 1B 28 73 30 70 31 30 2E 32 36 68 31 32 2E 30 76 30 73 30 62 39 38 54
ARA EQU 1
/* Hebrew char set */
END_MACROS
/**********************************************************************/
/* Control Codes */
/**********************************************************************/
/* user defined sequences */
......
START_JOB= CUL CBP SFT
END_JOB= CUL CBP CS1
VT_PRINT?=ARA
......
/**********************************************************************/
/* Character Definitions */
/**********************************************************************/
/*example: convert ASCII from 1255 (Hebrew codepage on Windows 98) to 862 (Hebrew codepage used on printer)*/
/* the table is in format source=destination */
.....
E0=80
E1=81
E2=82
E3=83
E4=84
...
Other PDT parameters need not be processed for base bidirectional support and will be ignored for a VT session.
PASSTHRU mode support
The VT terminal uses PASSTHRU mode to send data to a printer without displaying it on a screen. The data can be plain text or binary data, such as image or Postscript text. See your VT terminal documentation for more information about PASSTHRU mode.
Some host applications send text that is already converted to the printer codepage. In these cases, the emulator should not perform any conversion.
By default, ASCII conversion for PASSTHRU mode is disabled, because the VT emulator cannot determine whether conversion is needed. To enable conversion, select Edit > Convert to printer codepage. For VT print modes other than PASSTHRU, ASCII conversion is enabled by default.
Understanding bidirectional Hebrew support
The bidirectional Hebrew support in VT enables the program to emulate an English/Hebrew VT 220 display terminal. Special Language and bidirectional functions are added to the list of standard functions supported by the emulation program.
Configuring a workstation Setting text types Understanding Hebrew and bidirectional functions Summarizing bidirectional key combinations for Hebrew Understanding the Operator Information Area (OIA) in terminal emulation mode
Configuring a workstation
- Right-click a VT configured session icon.
- Click Properties.
- Select ISO Hebrew Supplemental (code page 916, 8-bit), or DEC Hebrew (code page 1349, 8-bit), or Hebrew NRCS (code page 1134, 7-bit) for the Host Code Page.
- Click the Screen tab and either leave the default bitmap font HEB3270 to be the active font for display or select the system font, Courier.
Setting text types
The bidirectional session supports two text modes and their corresponding manipulation: Implicit (Logical) and Visual. In the Implicit text mode, characters are stored in same order that they are entered. The text is transformed into its visual form only when it is displayed. In the Visual text mode, characters are stored in the same way that they are displayed on the window. To switch between Visual and Logical text modes:
- Right-click a configured session icon.
- Click Properties.
- Select a bidirectional Host Code Page.
- Click Language.
- Select the appropriate values for Text Type.
- Click OK.
The visual text mode is available for Hebrew session only. |
Understanding Hebrew and bidirectional functions
- Language selection
- The key combination Ctrl+N or Ctrl+L allows you to change the language layer. If the language layer is Latin, pressing Ctrl+N changes the language layer to Hebrew. If the language layer is Hebrew, pressing Ctrl+L changes the language layer to Latin.
- Cursor direction
- The key combination Ctrl+D allows you to change cursor direction. If current
cursor direction is left-to-right, pressing Ctrl+D changes it to right-to-left,
and back again. This function is allowed for visual text type only.
When cursor direction is set to right-to-left, this does not affect cursor addressing and moving, insert and delete characters, erase in line or erase in display. The following functions are affected by right-to-left cursor direction setting:
- Backspace (the cursor moves one position to the right)
- Carriage return (the cursor moves to the rightmost position on the current line)
- Line feed (the cursor moves to the rightmost position of the next line)
- Typing in the auto wrap mode (current line is continued from rightmost position of the next line).
- Character set modes
- This function is activated by the Ctrl+B key sequence and switches between 7-bit
and 8-bit character sets. If the current character set is DEC Hebrew (8-bit) or
ISO Hebrew Supplemental (8-bit), pressing Ctrl+B changes the current character set
to Hebrew NRCS (7-bit). If the current character set is Hebrew NRCS (7-bit),
pressing Ctrl+B loads one of two 8-bit character sets based on the following rule:
- If the session is configured with one of the 8-bit character sets, that session's 8-bit character set will be loaded.
- If the session is configured with 7-bit character set, ISO Hebrew Supplemental will be loaded.
- Screen reverse
- This function is available for Logical display mode only. The key combination Ctrl+S reverses the screen image. If the screen orientation is left-to-right, press Ctrl+S to reverse the screen image to right-to-left. If the screen orientation is right-to-left, press Ctrl+S to reverse the screen image to left-to-right.
- Display Mode
- You may switch between Logical and Visual display modes using both key combinations and menu. From menu, choose Display Mode from View popup menu. From keyboard, use Alt+L to set Logical mode and Alt+V to set Visual mode.
Summarizing bidirectional key combinations for Hebrew
Function | Combination |
Hebrew language | Ctrl+N |
English language | Ctrl+L |
Toggle cursor direction | Ctrl+D |
Toggle character set mode | Ctrl+B |
Screen reverse | Ctrl+S |
Toogle 7-bit Hebew Mode | Alt+B |
Set Logical display mode | Alt+L |
Set Visual display mode | Alt+V |
Understanding the Operator Information Area (OIA) in terminal emulation mode
In the host session, the bottom line of the screen is called the Operator Information Area (OIA). This line is always displayed from left to right. For the Hebrew environment, the following symbols have been added:
Language indicator | H - Current language is Hebrew E - Current language is English |
Cursor direction | => - Left-to-right direction <= - Right-to-left direction |
Text type mode | I - Implicit mode V - Visual mode |
Screen direction | S> - Left-to-right screen direction <S - Right-to-left screen direction |
Understanding bidirectional Arabic support
The bidirectional Arabic support in VT enables the program to emulate an English/Arabic VT 220 display terminal. Special language and bidirectional functions are added to the list of standard functions supported by the emulation program.
Configuring a workstation Understanding Arabic language and bidirectional functions Summarizing bidirectional key combinations for Arabic Understanding the Operator Information Area (OIA) in terminal emulation mode
Configuring a workstation
- Right-click a VT configured session icon.
- Click Properties.
- Select ASMO-449 (7-bit) or ASMO-708 (8-bit) for the Host Code Page.
- Click on the Screen tab and make sure that AVT3270 is the active font.
Understanding Arabic language and bidirectional functions
- Language selection
- The key combination Ctrl+N or Ctrl+L allows you to change the language layer. If the language layer is Latin, pressing Ctrl+N changes the language layer to Arabic. If the language layer is Arabic, pressing Ctrl+L changes the language layer to Latin.
- Screen reverse
- The key combination Ctrl+S reverses the screen image. If the screen orientation is left-to-right, pressing this key combination reverses the screen image to right-to-left. If the screen orientation is right-to-left, pressing this key combination reverses the screen image to left-to-right.
- Column heading
- Column heading mode causes blanks between columns of text to break insertions so
the English titles to columns of data maintain their correct position. To enable
the column heading mode, press the key combination Ctrl+C.
The following example illustrates the usefulness of the column heading.
When column heading is off:
Sent by host Displayed by terminal (RTL screen) PCs Printers 200 40 500 90 PCs Printers 40 200 90 500 When column heading is on:
Sent by host Displayed by terminal (RTL screen) PCs Printers 200 40 500 90 Printers PCs 40 200 90 500
Summarizing bidirectional key combinations for Arabic
Function | Key combination |
Arabic language | Ctrl+N |
English language | Ctrl+L |
Screen reverse | Ctrl+S |
Column heading | Ctrl+C |
Understanding the Operator Information Area (OIA) in terminal emulation mode
In the host session, the bottom line of the screen becomes an Operator Information Area (OIA). This line is always displayed from left to right. For the Arabic environment, the following symbols have been added:
Language indicator | (AIN) Arabic character - Current language is Arabic. E - Current language is English |
Screen direction | S> - Left-to-right screen direction <S - Right-to-left screen direction |
Column heading | CH : CH - Column heading is set On. |