LINGUIST List 2.679

Fri 18 Oct 1991

Disc: Word Processing

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

1. Dave Eddington, IPA on WordPerfect
2. Eric Schiller, Re: 2.668 Queries
3. Michel Eytan LILoL, word processing

I'm sure that many of you were disappointed to discoved that WP 5.1
with its expanded character sets did not include the IPA characters.
I recently spoke to a friend who works for WP concerning this. He
informed me that the best way to get WP to include the IPA in its
next release is for them to be inundated with requests for the IPA
characters. Evidently when Wp sits down to decide what enhancements
they will include, that ask all of the different departments how
many requests they have received for a given enhancement. What that means is
 that it is best to send a copy of your request for the IPA to each
department separately. The three departments that deal with such things are
Customer Support, Enhancements, and International. Please write them at:
WordPerfect Corp.
1555 N. Technology Way.
Orem, Utah
84057
In addition, or instead of writing, you may also make the request through
Compuserve, or by calling WP's customer support line: 1-800-541-5160.
I am positive that with enough support WP will see the need for the IPA
and include it in the next version.
David Eddington

Message 2: Re: 2.668 Queries

Re: Windows Fonts
Windows has problems with zero-width characters and a truncated
character set. I have been trying to develop IPA for Word for Windows,
but at present I just have a port of Mac fonts which in effect await
Windows 3.1 which may oor may not solve that problem. Otherwise one
will have to create a zillion macros for overstiking every diacritic.
If it is any consolation, I can send you the Fontographer source code
to a couple of IPA fonts, or a variety of Postscript formats.
To those who have already flooded me with disks for the Mac fonts -
I am just finishing up the documentation and should mail stuff out
next week. To those who have not yet sent me requests for the fonts,
please include SASE and if possible label the disks. My desk resembles
a certain city in Iraq these days and things slip around!
To those who don't know what this is all about:
I am giving away IPA fonts for the Mac. Freeware if you just want to
use the fonts, shareware if you want updates and source code, and
small fees for customizing the fonts to your needs. Large set of IPA
and theoretical linguistic symbols. No kerning pairs for Quark or Pagemaker
yet, but they are coming.
If I can binhex the files I will post them somewhere convenient (UM should
already have the Cotswold font available now from their server, I gave
it to them 10/4/91.) But the easy way is to send me a request with
SASE and formatted floppy (any size) to Eric Schiller, Department of
Linguistics, University of Chicago, 1010 East 59th Street, Chicago
60637.
Eric Schiller

for many weeks now, there has been an ongoing discussion about the lack of this
 or that fine-tuned feature in this or that word-processor -- mostly Word.
May I point out that Word (or for that matter Nisus, that I have seen; and
 probably WordPerfect that I have not seen) is MUCH too complicated as an
 everyday word-processor. Moreover its possibilities are used to the extent of
 10%, usually -- unless you are a business executive and you write a book. For
 that matter, even a book can be done with word-processors that are faster,
 cheaper, friendlier and simpler. To prove my point: I use WriteNow that has
 many of the possibilities of Word (except drawing boxes, indexes [no, not
 indices] and glossary). I have translated into French E. Shapiro & L.
 Sterling's The Art of Prolog: the original was composed using TeX, whereas I
 used WriteNow to produce a camera-ready version (which was reproduced 'as-is'),
 except for the illustrations. The final product is nearly indistinguishable
 from the original!