Archived - Language Kits: Unreadable Text
Why text may appear unreadable in the Chinese or Japanese Language Kits. This discussion uses the Japanese Language Kit as an example.
When the Japanese Language Kit is installed, there are instances when Japanese text is unreadable (for example: é*éãéªé*). This occurs when an English font is used for Japanese text. In some instances, the issue can be fixed, in others not.
Japanese Font System Basics
Please check the following basic points to make sure the Japanese font system is complete:
Kanji Bitmap Fonts In Root Level Of System Folder
The "fbit/fdef" Kanji bitmap fonts (the one with the Kanji character "kan" and the circle behind it icon) are at the System Folder root level (not Fonts folder). At minimum, the Osaka (*Beijing* or Taipei for Chinese Language Kit) font must be installed.
InputBackSupport in Extensions
The InputBackSupport extension is installed in the Extensions folder.
Make Unreadable Fonts Readable
Following are situations where unreadable Japanese text can be made readable:
Filenames In Finder Windows:
Open the Views control panel and select a Japanese font (for example, Osaka).
Note: There is a side effect in choosing a Japanese font in the Views control panel. Certain accented character and symbols (Ä and ¬) will be replaced by another character. This occurs because Japanese fonts have a different character mapping of the upper ASCII table than Roman fonts.
Japanese Application Menu Bar And Dialog Boxes:
Applications have a resource that tells the system for which language the application was written. The system uses the information to select the proper font. In some case, this resource was not properly set and the system has assumed English as the application's language. Use the Japanese Language Register (or Chinese Language Register) application to register the application as Japanese (or Chinese). NOTE: Some applications hard-code the font to be used, for example in text entry window or font list. In this case, the Japanese Language Register will not correct this misused font.
Unreadable Text That Cannot Be Made Readable
The following are situations where Japanese text shows up as unreadable and there is no fix:
Unreadable Text In Menus And Dialog Boxes
Unreadable text will occur in the menus and dialog boxes. For example, the Applications Menu showing an application with a Japanese name. These areas of the system were not designed to support multiple scripts (writing systems). You will see this with the Kotoeri alert messages. The alert dialog box routine uses the primary script to display the message.
Japanese Font System Basics
Please check the following basic points to make sure the Japanese font system is complete:
Kanji Bitmap Fonts In Root Level Of System Folder
The "fbit/fdef" Kanji bitmap fonts (the one with the Kanji character "kan" and the circle behind it icon) are at the System Folder root level (not Fonts folder). At minimum, the Osaka (*Beijing* or Taipei for Chinese Language Kit) font must be installed.
InputBackSupport in Extensions
The InputBackSupport extension is installed in the Extensions folder.
Make Unreadable Fonts Readable
Following are situations where unreadable Japanese text can be made readable:
Filenames In Finder Windows:
Open the Views control panel and select a Japanese font (for example, Osaka).
Note: There is a side effect in choosing a Japanese font in the Views control panel. Certain accented character and symbols (Ä and ¬) will be replaced by another character. This occurs because Japanese fonts have a different character mapping of the upper ASCII table than Roman fonts.
Japanese Application Menu Bar And Dialog Boxes:
Applications have a resource that tells the system for which language the application was written. The system uses the information to select the proper font. In some case, this resource was not properly set and the system has assumed English as the application's language. Use the Japanese Language Register (or Chinese Language Register) application to register the application as Japanese (or Chinese). NOTE: Some applications hard-code the font to be used, for example in text entry window or font list. In this case, the Japanese Language Register will not correct this misused font.
Unreadable Text That Cannot Be Made Readable
The following are situations where Japanese text shows up as unreadable and there is no fix:
Unreadable Text In Menus And Dialog Boxes
Unreadable text will occur in the menus and dialog boxes. For example, the Applications Menu showing an application with a Japanese name. These areas of the system were not designed to support multiple scripts (writing systems). You will see this with the Kotoeri alert messages. The alert dialog box routine uses the primary script to display the message.