Danny Amor's Online Library/Danny Amor's Online Library - Volume 1.iso/html/faqs/faq/chinese-text-faq

Text File | 1995-07-25 | 19KB | 432 lines

Subject: How to Read Chinese Text on Usenet: FAQ for alt.chinese.text
Newsgroups: alt.chinese.text,news.answers
From: "Ya-Gui Wei" <[e-mail]>
Date: 20 Jul 1993 18:58:25 -0400

Archive-name: chinese-text-faq
Original-Author: Ya-Gui Wei ~{N:QG9p~}
Last-modified: June 9 1993
Version: 13

 CONTENTS

 (1) What are those ~{BRF_0KTc5D6+Nw~}'s posted to alt.chinese.text?
 (2) Where can I find the software to read Chinese articles?
 (3) Are these software packages pretty easy to use?
 (4) How do I post Chinese text articles to usenet?
 (5) What is 'HZ'?
 (6) What is FTP and how do I use it?
 (7) How do I convert HZ Chinese text to/from GB or Big5 systems?
 (8) What else do I need to know about alt.chinese.text?
 (9) Why isn't it a good idea to cross-post articles to alt.chinese.text?
(10) How many people read alt.chinese.text?
(11) What is alt.chinese.text.big5?
(12) My site does not carry alt.chinese.text. What should I do?
(13) What other net resources broadcast HZ-coded Chinese text?
(14) Where can I obtain the latest version of this FAQ?

    *           *             *             *             *


 (1) What are those ~{BRF_0KTc5D6+Nw~}'s posted to alt.chinese.text?

     Believe it or not, they are supposed to be Chinese characters.
     They are usually coded in the "HZ" protocol. You'd need the
     software that understands the protocol to read them.

     If you have the right software installed on your system, you
     may be able to read the Chinese text on this newsgroup directly
     just as you would with English newsgroups.


 (2) Where can I find the software to read Chinese articles?

     It depends on what kind of machine you are using. The following is
     probably an incomplete list of software which you can use to read
     this newsgroup:

     [If you have problems using the programs listed below, you could
     seek assistance from (1) local users; (2) fellow alt.chinese.text
     netters; (3) software authors. The FAQ maintainer most probably
     can't help you.]

     [New ftp site: apparently the entire ifcss.org ftp directory is
     being mirrored in nctuccca.edu.tw:Chinese/ifcss.org/ (IP address
     140.111.3.21). If ifcss.org is down, you may want to try there.]

  a. If you are using a PC/Compatible running MS-DOS:

     (a) ZWDOS -- is a MS-DOS kernel extension that gives DOS text mode
     programs the ability to enter, display, manipulate and print 'zW'
     and HZ Chinese text. Small memory requirement. Supports EGA, VGA
     or Hercules Monographic displays. Available for anonymous ftp at:
               ifcss.org:software/dos/ZWDOS/*.*
               cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/zW-hz/zwdos*.zip
     [Author: Ya-Gui Wei <[e-mail]>]

     (b) NJStar -- A Chinese word processing program supporting GB,
     HZ and zW codes. Requires Hercules, EGA, VGA or better video
     hardware. A trial version of the program can be ftp'ed from:
               ifcss.org:software/dos/editor/njs210-*.zip
     [Author: Hong-bo Ni.]

     (c) KORE -- Fast Chinese/Japanese text viewing program for MS-DOS.
     Supports GB and HZ. Chinese fonts are now provided.
     Available at:
               mindseye.berkeley.edu:pub/kanji/kanji-viewer/*.*
     [Author: Frank Klemm <[e-mail]>]

  b. If you are using an Apple Macintosh, try:

     (a) Subtitle -- a program which decodes zW and HZ texts as subtitles
     for some terminal emulators. Runs with or without Chinese OS. A trial
     version can be ftp'ed from:
               ftp.apple.com:pub/lai
               ifcss.org:software/mac/viewer/subtitle2.hqx
     [Author: Ed Lai <[e-mail]>]

     (b) MacViewHZ -- A Chinese text viewer which doesn't require
     Chinese OS. Supports HZ, GB, Big5. Available for ftp at:
               ifcss.org:software/mac/viewer/macviewhz.hqx

     (c) NewsWatcher -- Macintosh users who have Chinese system software,
     MacTCP, and access to an NNTP news server can use a version of
     NewsWatcher specially designed to handle HZ encoding. Available at:
               ifcss.org:software/mac/viewer/NewsWatcher.new.hqx
     [Author: John H. Jenkins <[e-mail]>]

     (d) HZTerm -- a simple terminal emulator that supports GB, HZ
     and zW codings. Requires Mac Chinese OS version 6.0 or later.
     Available at:
               ifcss.org:software/mac/viewer/hanziterm-0.5.hqx
     [Author: Ricky Yeung <[e-mail]>]

     (e) If you have a Tektronix compatible terminal emulator (such as
     VersaTerm), you may be able to use Chirk.  See c. (3).

  c. If you are using a Unix system/workstation:

     (a) CXTERM -- is an xterm with Chinese extension. It understands
     Chinese text coded with the Guo-Biao format. To read HZ and 'zW'
     codes, you also need 'HZTTY'. Requires X-Windows. Available:
               ifcss.org:software/unix/X-Window/cxterm*.Z
               ifcss.org:software/unix/X-Window/hztty*.Z
           cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/cxterm*.Z
           cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/zW-hz/hztty*.Z
     [Author: Zhang Yongguang [e-mail]]

     (b) MULE -- Mule is a MULtilingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs which
     can handle Japanese, Chinese or Korean (16 bits) characters.
     For Chinese there is support for both GB and Big5. Subscribers of
     alt.chinese.text will find it useful to use GNUS with hz2gb.el,
     which does HZ/zW encode/decoding automatically. Runs as stand-alone
     X client or with CXTERM. Available at:
               sh.wide.ad.jp [133.4.11.11]:/JAPAN/mule/*
     [Author: Ken'ichi Handa [e-mail]]

     Alternative pinyin input methods (including phrase input) for MULE
     available at:
               linac.fnal.gov:pub/pig.tar.Z
     [Author: Ping Zhou, [e-mail]]

     (c) Chirk -- A Unix program for viewing Chinese text on Tektronix
     compatible graphic terminals (Graphon 225, 230, 140; DEC VT240,
     VT330/340; etc.) and terminal emulators (XTerm on X-Windows,
     VersaTerm on Macintosh, etc.)  C source code is provided and may
     be portable to other platforms. Supports Guo-Biao, Big5, zW and HZ.
     [To use Chirk with rn, try "s | chirk".]
     Available for ftp at:
               crl.nmsu.edu:pub/chinese/ChiRK*.tar.Z
               ifcss.org:software/unix/viewer/ChiRk*.Z
     [Author: Bo Yang [e-mail]]

  d. If you have access to a PostScript Printer:

     (a) CNPRINT. Prints HZ or GB text on Unix or VMS. Ftp site:
               ifcss.org:software/unix/print/cnprint*.Z
     [Author: Cai Yidao <[e-mail]>]

     (b) GB2PS. Converts GuoBiao or HZ Chinese text into hard copies
     by using PostScript printers. Runs on Unix. Ftp site:
               ifcss.org:software/unix/print/gb2ps*.Z
               bellatrix.anu.edu.au:pub/gb2ps/gb2ps.2.02.tar.Z.
     [Author: William Sun [e-mail]]

  e. If you only have access to a dumb terminal. Reading Chinese on a
     dumb terminal is not going to be comfortable, but it can be done.
     You may use 'hzview', but will need hz2gb from the HZ package
     described in question 5 (despite the name, hzview does not support
     HZ coding directly.)  Ftp'able from:
               ifcss.org:software/unix/viewer/hzview.2-0.tar.Z
     [Author: Fung Fung Lee [e-mail]]

     Hzview is also useful for making large Chinese character banners.


     The above list is not intended to be an exhaustive list of Chinese
     software. It is intended to help the beginning netter getting
     started reading this newsgroup. Wherever possible, only software
     packages that directly support the 'HZ' protocol and are
     readily available through internet FTP as public domain, freeware,
     or shareware, are listed.  Additional criteria of quality, user
     friendliness, and usefulness also may be considered. If you know
     of any software that I should have included, please drop me a note.

     For a more comprehensive listing of Chinese software, see
               ifcss.org:/software/Catalog
     [By Xiaofei Wang and Liedong Zheng <[e-mail]>]


 (3) Are these software packages pretty easy to use?

     Supposedly. Some of the software packages listed above are either
     terminal emulators or can be run in conjunction with a terminal
     emulator.  Once you've installed them, reading Chinese text on this
     newsgroup should be easy.  For example, if you are using ZWDOS
     or cxterm with hztty, the Chinese texts posted on this newsgroup
     will show up on your screen as Chinese characters automatically
     without any efforts on your part.  Other programs (text viewers)
     require that you run the program with the Chinese text file as
     input every time.

     Consult the documentation with the software for their exact
     specifications.

     If you have problem installing the software, you may post help
     requests to alt.chinese.text or contact the software authors.


 (4) How do I post Chinese text articles to usenet?

     If you are using a software package listed above which supports
     Chinese character input, (such as ZWDOS, cxterm, or Mule), you
     can already do this, and it is probably very similar to posting
     English articles. Consult the documentation for the software
     package for information about how to input Chinese characters
     with the package.

     If you do not have a software package into which you can directly
     type in Chinese characters, but you do have access to software
     that produce GB or Big5 coded Chinese text, you may use the
     conversion programs mentioned in question (7) to convert them
     to HZ and then post them to usenet.


 (5) What is 'HZ'?

     'HZ', and the very similar 'zW', are Chinese coding protocols
     derived from Guo-Biao, the standard Character set for
     information interchange used in mainland China. Compared
     to Big-5 (character set used in Taiwan), Guo-Biao has
     the property that each character in the set can be easily
     represented by 2 printable (7-bit) ASCII characters. The 'zW'
     and HZ are protocols that allow mixing of these Chinese
     text and ASCII (English) text, which are the main reason
     they are being used in this newsgroup.

     A description of the HZ protocol is available for ftp at:
               ifcss.org:software/unix/convert/HZ-2.0.tar.Z
     [Author: Fung Fung Lee [e-mail]]


 (6) What is FTP and how do I use it?

     FTP stands for the internet File Transfer Protocol. There are
     many internet sites with FTP accounts where a remote user can
     connect to and download materials of various kind.

     It is beyond the scope of this document to provide a detailed
     tutorial about network file transfers. Yet I hope the following
     example will give you an idea.

     At your system prompt, type:
       ftp ifcss.org                 [connect to remote host]
       username: ftp                 [or "anonymous"]
       password: your_name           [or anything else]
       binary                        [use binary transfer]
       cd software/unix/convert      [change directory]
       get HZ-2.0.tar.Z              [get file]
       bye

     After getting the files, you'd probably need to uncompressed/
     unarchived the files in some system specific manner. Your local
     system admin or users of similar machines should be your best
     source of help for this. The following is only a brief summary:

     (A). Unix compressed files often have a .Z extension. To uncompress,
     use the Unix command "compress -d filename". After that you may
     get a file with a .tar extension. You can untar a file by
     "tar -xvf filename".

     (B). DOS (PC) compressed files often have a .zip extension.
     To uncompressed, use "pkunzip filename". (Get pkunzip.exe from
     ifcss.org:software/dos/utils.)

     (C). MacIntosh files often have the .hqx extension. To uncompress,
     you'd need "binhex" and "stuffit", both available from
     ifcss.org:software/mac/utils.

     The CND Chinese Magazine (Hua Xia Wen Zhai) has compiled a suite
     of help files some of which may be useful for you. To obtain
     an index, send a mail "get cmhelp index" to [e-mail].


 (7) How do I convert HZ Chinese text to/from GB or Big5 systems?

     If you are using a Guo-Biao based system, conversion programs
     can be found in the HZ-2.0.tar.Z package mentioned in question
     (5). Use hz2gb and gb2hz to convert between Guo-Biao and HZ
     text. If you are using a Big-5 based system, check out
     hc.tar.Z in ifcss.org:software/unix/convert, which lets you
     convert from Big5 to GB which can then be converted to HZ (and
     back).

     The DOS executables of the zW<->HZ<->GB converter are at
     ifcss.org:software/pc/convert. The Macintosh version of
     hc (Big5<->GB) is in ifcss.org:software/mac/convert.


 (8) What else do I need to know about alt.chinese.text?

     Alt.chinese.text is a free forum. It is not a topic oriented
     newsgroup, as long as your articles are in Chinese or is
     otherwise related to the subject "Chinese text." Nonetheless,
     after you get a hang of the software, you are strongly
     suggested to post in Chinese. Even for articles that best
     serve their purposes in English, a Chinese summary should
     still be provided.


 (9) Why isn't it a good idea to cross-post articles to alt.chinese.text?

     Some netter cross-post articles to both alt.chinese.text and
     alt.chinese.text.big5 [also see question (11)]. This is not a
     good idea because the character coding systems on the two groups
     are different. There is also a gateway which translates and
     reposts between the two groups. If you post the same article
     to both groups, each group will see TWO copies of your article.

     Cross-posting of articles to alt.chinese.text.* and English newsgroups
     is also undesirable. Such articles frequently generate tons of
     follow-ups in English from readers of the English groups. English-
     only articles are generally not appreciated on a.c.t. and are
     done only as a neccessary evil (such as this posting.)


(10) How many people read alt.chinese.text?

     Ever since the newsgroup came into existance in July 1992
     (with the help of Mr. Stephan Mosier of Indiana Univ
     Computing Services. Thanks, Steve!), its readership has been
     increasing steadily. The latest figures, compiled by DEC's
     Network Systems Laboratory for May 1993, indicated
     that alt.chinese.text is read by 28000 users worldwide.

             Jul 1992            0
             Nov 1992       11,000
             Feb 1993       19,000
             Mar 1993       28,000

    [Data since Nov 1992 curtesy of Brian Reid of DEC Network
     Systems Laboratory.]


(11) What is alt.chinese.text.big5?

     Alt.chinese.text.big5 is a mirror of alt.chinese.text in Big5
     code, the industrial standard character set in Taiwan. Its
     contents are identical to alt.chinese.text, except that the
     Chinese texts are represented using the Big5 character set.
     The mirroring program is based at news.csie.nctu.edu.tw.

     To read alt.chinese.text.big5, you need a Chinese system that
     supports the Big5 character set. Some of the programs listed
     in this FAQ also supports Big5 (such as cxterm).  PC users in
     Taiwan can read it by ftp'ing a free copy of the KC Chinese
     system from moers2.ecu.edu.tw:chinese-pub/chinese-sys/kc/kc.zip.

     Keep in mind that Big5 is an 8-bit coding standard. Therefore
     your terminal and its connections to all the hosts/gateways
     must be set up to accommodate 8-bit data. Consult your local
     system people for details about this. If it is too much trouble,
     you may want to just read alt.chinese.text.


(12) My site does not carry alt.chinese.text. What can I do about that?

     The first thing to do is to tell your news administrator about
     alt.chinese.text and ask him/her to carry it. Some sites do
     selectively carry alt groups so it may be simply a matter of
     asking.

     Many gopher sites also offer access to usenet newsgroups. If
     you have access to gopher, you should be able to find a gopher
     server which carries usenet newsgroups and with alt.chinese.text
     among them.

     The long term cure, of course, is to upgrade our newsgroup into
     one of the "official" usenet hierarchies (rec, soc, comp,
     etc -- I am not sure exactly which hierarchy our group belongs
     to.  Perhaps we should have our own cn.* hierarchy?), provided
     someone is willing to spending time leading us through the voting
     process.


(13) What other net resources broadcast HZ-coded Chinese text?

     The following net-resources broadcast or store Chinese material
     coded in the HZ format which are directly readable with software
     described in this FAQ:

  a. The CND Chinese Magazine, Hua Xia Wen Zhai, broadcasts an HZ
     edition through a list at CMUWA-L@UWAVM. To subscribe, send a
     message to
              [e-mail]            (Bitnet)
         or   [e-mail]  (Internet)
     With the body of the message containing only:
              SUB CMUWA-L Lastname Firstname
     The magazine will be delivered to your e-mail box every Friday.

  b. The Chinese Poem Discussion list broadcasts Chinese poems in
     HZ and other formats. To subscribe, send a message to
              [e-mail]             (Bitnet)
         or   [e-mail]     (Internet)
     With the body of the message containing only:
              SUB CHPOEM-L Lastname Firstname

  c. News about Taiwan available through gopher at the National Sun
     Yat-Sen University. To access, (1) enter HZ environment, (2)
     use "gopher gopher.csie.nctu.edu.tw 70", (3) choose ~{VPI=4sQ'~}
     ~{J11(PBNE!!D?B<#,~} (4) choose csie server, (5) choose "HZ info-
     times."

     The same gopher site above also lets you read all the Taiwan
     newsgroups, including local groups of several Taiwan universities,
     in HZ. Just follow the menu, choose "usenet" then "HZ access".

  d. Anonymous ftp site ifcss.org also contains numerous HZ-coded
     Chinese material. Subdirectories under china-studies/hz contain
     some material previously posted to alt.chinese.text. Other
     subdirectories in "china-studies" contain Chinese text coded
     in GB or Big-5.

(14) Where may I obtain the latest version of this FAQ?

     This FAQ is posted monthly to alt.chinese.text and news.answers.
     The latest version of this FAQ is also available from the following
     anonymous FTP sites:

     rtfm.mit.edu:pub/usenet/news.answers/chinese-text-faq.Z
     ftp.uu.net:usenet/alt.chinese.text/H_t_R_C_T_o_U:_F_f_a.c.t.Z


 Compiled by Ya-Gui Wei ~{N:QG9p~}.

 Acknowledgements:
     Thanks are due to Dan Jacobson ~{;}5$Da~}, Fung Fung Lee ~{@n7c7e~},
     and Ricky Yeung for valuable advice for the improvement of this
     document.