Re: [gtk-i18n-list] Re: FYI: "Requirements of Japanese Text Layout" W3C Working Draft

[mpsuzuki hiroshima-u ac jp]

Hi,

On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:14:22 +0600
Christopher Fynn <cfynn gmx net> wrote:
>Tony Graham wrote:
>> FYI, the W3C has a working draft of "Requirements of Japanese Text
>> Layout" available at http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-jlreq-20081015/
>
>Are there any plans for W3C to prepare this sort of document for other 
>non-Latin writing systems?

Around 2002-2004, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34/WG2 had ever investigated
the document layout styles around east/south/south-east Asian
countries - the project "DocSII" was directed by CICC in Japan:

	http://www.cicc.or.jp/english/modules/system/modules/menu/main.php?page_id=39&op=change_page

Please find the reports archived at:

	http://www.y-adagio.com/public/sc34wg2/doc_101-150/wg2n150.htm

In the contrast of W3C "requirements of Japanese Text Layout"
that had a preceding regional standard JIS X 4051:1995, there
was few existing regional standards of document layout styles
in other countries (I don't know current situation). Thus
some investigations were based on the field research of the
printed matters, so it was difficult for them to determine
a stabilization point in the trade-off relationship between
implementation cost versus the commercial requirement (how
much the shops can earn additional payment by working for
additional complex layout?).

The output of DocSII was the technical report on DSSSL (ISO
/IEC TR 19758), so I suppose it had not provided the cheap
 turn-key solution for the typesetting shops in these countries,
at that time.

BTW, their investigation had no reports of the layout features
for Arabic text (of course no reports for "minority scripts").
If anybody knows the situation of standardization or investigation
on Arabic document layout features, please let me know.

Regards,
mpsuzuki