Project Title
Development of Character Encoding, Smart Font, and Keyboard
Driver for the Balinese Script.
Amount and Duration
US$ 3,450 / 24 months since May 2003
About the Balinese Script
Before arrival of the Dutch, the Balinese language and
script had enjoyed their role as the official language and
script of the kingdoms in Bali. A vast amount of literatures,
mostly on palm leaves media, were produced. They are still
the authoritative source of tradional knowledge such as
traditional medication, to determinte proper dates for events,
and even for fun things like the rule and strategies of
cockfighting.
The script itself is from Indian origin, originally brought
by Indian scholars to the Indonesian archipelago. It underwent
modifications that had produced the modern Balinese script,
as we know now. However, it still shares the same characteristics
common to other Brahmic-derived scripts, like syllable-based
letters and the usage of virama (tengenan)
to kill inherent sounds.
In the modern world, there are a couple of Balinese TrueType
fonts available. However, TrueType technology by itself
is not powerful enough to model complex scripts like Balinese.
A rudimentary keyboard driver is also already in wide use.
This keyboard driver is not acceptable for computerization
since it is only available to be used with Microsoft Word
and it goes beyond the 101 keys that are commonly used for
typing. Hence, there is a need to properly render complex
Balinese script and to enable natural typing of the script.
Background and Justification
The Balinese script is the primary script of the three
million Balinese Hindu people in any religious matters.
Currently, there are very limited literatures available
in the computer. Previous projects usually concentrated
in the area of preserving the lontar manuscripts in form
of computer images. Little efforts had been put to computerize
the script as computerized texts. To popularize the Balinese
scripts among future generations, there is an immediate
need to properly computerize it.
Project Objectives
- To produce a character encoding for Balinese script.
It should follow the guidelines suggested by the Unicode
Consortium, and at the end will be included in the future
version of Unicode standard (ISO 10646). A character encoding
will enable various algorithms to be implemented: searching,
sorting, word counting, automatic transliteration and
others. Inclusion in the Unicode standard will enable
storing the Balinese texts in databases and websites,
among other benefits.
- To produce a smart font that can render the Balinese
script from the character encoding of produced. The produced
font will exercise the capability of OpenType and IBMs
ICU LayoutEngine technologies.
- To enable natural typing of Balinese script using standard
computer keyboard.
Project Beneficiaries
Everything produced in this project will be provided to
the community for free. Free distribution of computerized
Balinese font and keyboard driver will accelerate publishing
through electronic media and will benefit the Balinese community
across the world. Inclusion of the script into the Unicode
standard will enable publication of literatures using the
Internet.
Results targeted by this project are:
1. Balinese character set will have been accepted
and registered by the Unicode Consortium and included in
the next version of Unicode standard (ISO10646)
2. Balinese smart font will have been freely available
on the Internet
3. Balinese keyboard driver will have been freely available
on the Internet
4. Sample website will have been hosted at http://www.babadbali.com
Project Methodology
The Balinese script is computationally complex. A few most
important traits are:
- Some vowel signs are visually attached to the left of
syllable, but logically (in computer memory) placed after
the syllable
- Split vowels: before and after syllable, above and after
syllable, below and after syllable
- Syllables can change form into its gantungan form
if it immediately follows a dead syllable
- Some signs have to stretch to follow the varying horizontal
size of syllables
The steps to be performed are as follows:
- Collecting all characters that exist in modern Balinese
texts to form a character repertoire
Activities performed here:
- Give names to each of the character
- Define the order of the characters
- Figure out rules of combining characters. For example,
one syllable can be combined with maximum of one vowel
sign
- Submission of the character repertoire to the Unicode
Consortium to be included in the future version of the
standard.
Activities performed here:
- Consult the Unicode experts to verify character
set rules
- Composing a formal proposal to be submitted to the
Unicode Consortium
- Revising the proposal according to the feedback
given by the consortium
- Development of the smart font.
Activities performed here:
- Define correct rendering rules (e.g. placement and
joining rules) and determine glyphs that are required
for rendering
- Design and draw typographically correct Balinese
glyphs using outline font design software. This activity
produces a TrueType font.
- Using OpenType layout tool, add OpenType features
to the TrueType font.
- OpenType currently is not powerful enough to render
complex Indic scripts. Therefore some C++/Java programming
is needed to complement the missing features in OpenType
- Development of the keyboard driver
Activities performed here:
- Conduct a character frequency distribution research
as the basis to design the keyboard layout
- Develop keyboard layout mapping and obtain consensus
from the user community
- Based on the agreed keyboard layout, develop a Balinese
keyboard driver to be used in Windows platforms
Project Schedule
|
Task
|
May
Jun
03 |
Jul
Aug
03 |
Sep
Oct
03 |
Nov
Dec
03 |
Jan
Feb
04 |
Mar
Apr
04 |
May
Jun
04 |
Jul
Aug
04 |
Sep
Oct
04 |
Nov
Dec
04 |
Jan
Feb
05 |
Mar
Apr
05 |
1
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Creation of character repertoire
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2
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Consultation with Unicode experts
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3
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Submission to Unicode Consortium
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4
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Development of smart font
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5
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Development of keyboard driver
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6
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Development of sample website
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- At the beginning of each activity, a more detailed timeline
for sub activities will be agreed among the team members.
- A monthly progress report will be prepared by the project
coordinator to update the stakeholders about the project
achievements and status. The report will be posted online
at www.babadbali.com.
Project Resources
The following individuals have volunteered to be involved
in the project. Contributions of more parties are greatly
appreciated
Name
|
Location
|
Role
|
Ida Bagus Adi Sudewa |
Jakarta |
Coordinator, Developer |
Donny Harimurti |
Bali |
Coordinator in Bali, Webmaster |
I Wayan Warmada |
Germany |
Font Developer |
IGAN Indra Adnyana |
Jakarta |
Java Programmer, Developer |
I Nyoman Hartanegara
I Nyoman Suarka
I Made Suatjana |
Bali
Bali
Bali |
Balinese Script Experts |
Michael Everson
Rick McGowan
Deborah Anderson |
Ireland, United States |
Unicode Experts |
Ranat Thopunya and staff |
Bangkok |
Smart Font dan Keyboard
Driver experts |
Financing
No
|
Description
|
Amount
|
1 |
Unicode consulting
expense |
US$ 2,000 (according
to Mr. Eversons e-Mail) |
2 |
Software licenses:
-FontLab
outline font tool
-Adobe
Acrobat -PDF document creation
-Keyman Developer
Professional keyboard driver development
tool |
(Price list attached)
US$ 550
US$ 250
US$ 150 |
3 |
Other expenses:
-Communication with Unicode and Balinese script experts
-Document conveyance to US/Ireland/Bali/ Jakarta
-Contingency
|
US$ 500 |
4 |
Hosting at http://www.babadbali.com
and discussion at mailing list aksara-bali@yahoogroups.com |
Space in babadbali donated
by Donny Harimurti.
Mailing list as the discussion media is provided free
by Yahoo! |
Total |
US$ 3,450 |
- Financial reports will be provided monthly and will
be posted online at www.babadbali.com
Contribution Choices
Skill Contribution
We still need additional contribution, especially in the
following areas. Please note that these are not commercial
jobs with salary.
- Font Designer
The role is to design outline font (TrueType font) using
FontLab. Demo version of this software can be downloaded
from www.fontlab.com.
- Web and Graphic Designer
The role is to create documents illustration and
project website.
- Java/C++ Programmer
The role is to develop Balinese shaping engine Aksara
Bali using IBM ICU Java/C++ technology.
- Keyboard Driver Programmer
The role is to develop Balinese keyboard driver.
- Programmer
The role is to develop and to test various algorithms/programs:
- Automatic transliteration from Balinese script to
Latin script
- Automatic transliteration from Latin script to Balinese
script
- Text searching
- Sorting
- Text conversion from the old character set
into the new character set
- Spell checker
- Word parsing. Because Balinese script doesnt
have space between words, a special algorithm needs
to be developed
Financial Contribution
As described in one of previous sections, this project
requires funding with the amount of US$3,450.
Organizations that are willing to provide financial assistance
will gain the following benefits:
- Organization name and logo will be exposed at the closing
pages of the technical documents
- Organization name and logo will be exposed at the front
and back cover of the users manual of the delivered program
- Organization name and logo will be exposed at the ballyhoo
of seminar/conference to be held to discuss Balinese script
standardization, and other activities that promote this
project
Contact Person
If you have any questions regarding this project, please
do not hesitate to contact one of the following persons:
- Donny Harimurti
Jalan Patih Nambi 6,
Denpasar Bali 80116
Phone: +62 0361 424291
E-Mail:
Or you can
join the discussion at the mailing list aksara-bali@yahoogroups.com.
To join, send empty e-Mail (with or without subject or message)
to the e-Mail address aksara-bali-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
After Yahoo!Groups send confirmation e-Mail, you can immediately
join the discussion with other list members.
Denpasar, April
19th 2003
Project Coordinator
signed.
Ida Bagus Adi
Sudewa
List of Attachments
- Price list:
- E-Mail
from Unicode experts, about the consulting fee
- Web page from www.fontlab.com,
contains the price of FontLab license
- Web page from www.adobe.com,
contains the price of Adobe Acrobat license
- Web page from www.tavultesoft.com,
contains the price of Keyman Developer license
- Technical
document about the Balinese script. It has been sent
to the Unicode experts for discussion.
- Unicode
Character Set Roadmap for Base Multilingual Plane
(first 65,500 characters of Unicode). The upper block
of 1B has been allocated for Balinese. If this slot remained
empty for a long period of time, this block will be allocated
to other unencoded scripts.
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