Release Notes - Internationalization Support

This topic has information about internationalization support for Java. The following sections are included:

Unicode
Resource Format
Multilingual Input Method APIs
Multilingual Virtual Machine
Vertical Writing Support

See Also Internationalization Support

Unicode

Unlike most other virtual machines, Unicode support was implemented correctly in previous releases of the Microsoft VM and SDK. The getLocalizedInput and getOutputStream calls are still valid. All UI methods and paths are Unicode-enabled. Due to size of the JDK 1.1 Unicode code pages (over 4 megabytes), only the Microsoft® Windows® local code pages data (classes) have been included in this release.

Resource Format

The Microsoft Application Foundation Classes (AFC) includes a set of resource decoder classes that enable users to load Microsoft® Win32® resources. These resources are used to:

1. Leverage existing Win32 resources in Java in a cross-platform manner.
   
   
2. Allow easy, safe business application non-compile localization.
   
   
3. Offer a solution for software globalization on the Web without reinventing the internationalization process.
   
   
4. Support multilingual resource handling for Java development using existing Win32 programming tools.

The Win32 Resource Loading sample in the \Samples\Windows\Win32ResSupport directory of the SDK for Java demonstrates the use of the supported Win32 resource styles and controls included with the com.ms.ui.resource.Win32ResourceDecoder class. The Win32 Resource Loading sample is described in Win32Resource.htm (located in the same directory).

Multilingual Input Method APIs

Java IME support is provided for use with Java applications and applets written for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean users. APIs and sample code are included in the SDK to allow developers to:

1. Create pure Java IMEs with self-defined UIs.
   
   
2. Enable a Java applet or application to access any system IMEs as a Java IME on any Chinese/Japanese/Korean (CJK) systems. Switch the system IME to direct input mode or disable your system IME before you use Java IMEs.

Multilingual Virtual Machine

Microsoft provides the first multilingual virtual machine on the market today, including 29 languages for both runtime messages and system class library resources to meet the global demand. Dialogs, strings, and other resources are loaded and displayed based on the default system locale using system default fonts.

Vertical Writing Support

Vertical writing is supported as part of the continuing effort to meet the special requirements of international developers and Web publishers. For those who like to use vertical writing for text displays, Microsoft AFC includes vertical writing APIs that can be used in Java applet/application development. This feature enhances programming for CJK languages that uses vertical writing in text, in addition to all degree text rotation features in AFC.