Message-ID: <8D53104ECD0CD211AF4000A0C9D60AE301637269@probe-2.acclaim-euro.net> From: Shawn Hargreaves To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com Subject: Re: Allegro unicode; Volunteers for mac wrapper needed Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 12:24:28 +0100 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.0.1460.8) Content-Type: text/plain Reply-To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com Damian Yerrick writes: >> It's a sparse font format, so you only include the character ranges >> that you are actually interested in using. > > So if a script (Feanorian-Tengwar, Klingon, etc.) isn't > officially supported in the Unicode standard... A font is just a collection of character graphics in a particular order. If you want to use something other than what Unicode says each character should look like, there is nothing stopping you from using some other set of images for them. Although these aren't part of the official Unicode standard, there is actually a widely accepted encoding for storing Klingon and Tengwar scripts in the private use area: see http://locke.ccil.org/~cowan/csur/ for details about various fictional languages. Linux also has direct kernel support for Klingon character mappings: see /usr/src/linux/Documentation/unicode.txt. > Does the Dat.exe grabber also have these features? It can import multi-range font data using a script file, but doesn't have any interactive editing functions. Read the docs (grabber.txt) for details. > Is the current WIP stable enough for me to upgrade now? It works for me: try it and see! >> At least from my point of view, the nicest way would be to do a >> Mac port of Allegro. [...] >> Most relevantly for you, it no longer depends on any gcc-isms, >> and there are C alternatives to all the asm drawing code, > > including the tweaked modes? Or do they run in a window? Tweaked mode-X resolutions are a particular quirk of the IBM VGA hardware, just like running in a window is a quirk of whatever windowing system happens to be running on any given OS. These things are specific to each platform, and all that kind of code needs to be completely rewritten for each port: PC hardware support is not terribly relevant on a Mac! > BTW, which Windows tool do you suggest for use with Allegro > under Win32? Stefan (the main author of the Windows code) uses MSVC, as do I when I'm working on Windows stuff. I got the WIP code working with RSXNTDJ at one point, and other people have adjusted it to work with Mingw32, but these ports are currently unmaintained and prone to all sorts of subtle problems. It would be great if someone wanted to take over the job of keeping them properly up to date, but failing that, MSVC is the safe option. Shawn Hargreaves.