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Basically, computers only work with numbers. Letters and other characters are therefore assigned to numbers in order to store them. Before Unicode was invented, there were hundreds of different encoding systems. None of these encoding systems ever included enough characters: the European Union alone, for example, needs several encoding systems to cover the needs for the languages of all member countries. Not even for a single language such as English or German was there a coding system that really included all letters, punctuation marks, and all common technical characters.

These encoding systems are incompatible with each other, because different encodings can use the same number for different characters, or different numbers for the same character. Each computer (especially server) must support many different encoding systems; and when text is exchanged between different encoding systems or computer systems, that text runs the risk of being garbled.

Basic information about Unicode

Unicode changes all that!

Unicode gives each character its own number - platform independent, program independent, language independent. The Unicode standard is used by industry giants such as Apple, HP, IBM, JustSystem, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Sun, Sybase, Unisys and many others. Unicode is a requirement of modern standards, such as XML, Java, ECMAScript (JavaScript), LDAP, CORBA 3.0, WML, etc., and is the accepted implementation of the international standard ISO/IEC 10646. It is supported in many operating systems and all modern browsers, as well as many other programs. The growing acceptance of the Unicode standard and the availability of supporting programs are among the most significant worldwide trends in current software technology.

The use of Unicode in client-server or multi-layered applications and Internet sites enables significant cost savings compared to traditional character sets. Application programs and Internet pages can be used directly for many systems, languages and countries without having to adapt them specially and expensively in each case. Text can be exchanged worldwide with Unicode without loss of information.

Implementation of Unicode with directmail

In order to support Toolmaker customers who have subsidiaries or business partners in Eastern European countries, for example, an additional Unicode option has been implemented for spool data conversion. We have integrated the PDFlib product for this purpose.

Unicode license

Unicode conversion is included in directmail and does not require an additional license.

Unicode Fonts

A new directory FONTS has been added to the IFS directory /Toolmaker/DirectMail400. Fonts that are needed for the Unicode PDF conversion must be copied into this directory. For example, the Courier New font from the Windows Fonts directory can be transferred to this directory.

Note

Since Windows does not allow copying of fonts via Explorer, this can be accomplished using the DOS command COPY. E.G.:

COPY C:\WINDOWS\FONTS\COUR.TTF x:\DirectMail400\Fonts

(Where x: = drive mapping to the IBM i). Since some fonts are copyrighted, the use of Windows True Type fonts is the responsibility of the customer.

Helpful in determining copyright is the Font Property Tool from Microsoft. Download at the URL

http://www.microsoft.com/typography/property/property.htm

Furthermore, this tool can be used to display whether a font supports Unicode.

In the ^FNT command for PDF conversion, a .TTF file can now be specified to display a Truetype font. This TTF file must be stored in the directory /Toolmaker/DirectMail400/Fonts

The new PDF command ^CCS can be used to specify the CCSID for a spool file. The syntax is:

^CCS(*JOB) for the CCSID of the job (default)

^CCS(*OWNER) for the CCSID of the owner of the SPLF

^CCS(*SYS) for the CCSID of the system value QCCSID

^CCS n=number of the code page (e.g. ^CCS(273)=German, ^CCS(37)=USA, ^CCS(880)=Cyrillic)

directmail commands and automail

For the commands CVTSPLF, SNDSPLEML and WRTEMLAPI there are new parameters for CCSID and FONT when converting to *EPDF.

For Automail, the parameter CCSID and FONT for *EPDF has also been introduced.

Test Unicode

Create an email, switch to attachments with F10, select the spool file and use *EPDF as conversion format. Change the "Font" parameter to a truetype font and set CCSID 880 (Cyrillic) if you are working on a German system.

Send the spool file once with CCSID 880 and once with CCSID 273 and as a result you will get two PDF files, one with German character set, one with Cyrillic character set as the following examples show:

0147 - CCSID 880 - Cyrillic

0148 - CCSID 237 - German

The stamp www.pdflib.com points you to a trial license of PDFlib.