0,0 → 1,85 |
%hInternationalization and NLS overview |
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SvarDOS is a multi-language system, meaning that it can be set to operate in a |
variety of languages. This process comes in several distinct steps, all of |
which are preset inside AUTOEXEC.BAT by the SvarDOS installer during the |
installation of your system. |
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This article aims at explaining the basics to provide the user with enough |
knowledge to configure his system in the most common situations. For detailed |
information about advanced settings please consult the documentation of each |
of the mentioned programs. |
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%hOutputting message in your language |
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The majority of CORE SvarDOS programs are able to output their messages in |
different languages. To know which language should be used, they look for two |
environment variables: |
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LANG - the language to output messages in |
NLSPATH - provides the path where all language files are stored |
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Example: |
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SET LANG=FR |
SET NLSPATH=%DOSDIR%\NLS |
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%hSetting up your video adapter to a suitable codepage |
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Many languages come with glyphs specific to their alphabet. That is why |
codepages have been designed - a codepage is a set of glyphs that are adapted |
to display one or more languages. The default codepage hardcoded into most |
video adapters is the 437 codepage, known as "US ASCII". Using this codepage |
requires no configuration, but outputting messages in a non-English language |
might require using a different codepage. Loading a user codepage requires an |
EGA or VGA card. Older cards (MDA, CGA, Hercules...) had a single codepage |
hardwired in their memory. |
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Setting up a custom (non-437) codepage on your system requires the DISPLAY |
driver to be loaded. This driver is a TSR that makes sure to refresh the |
custom codepage whenever the video adapter reverts to its default one |
(typically after every video mode change). |
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To load the DISPLAY driver, use this command: |
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DISPLAY CON=(EGA,,1) |
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Once DISPLAY is loaded, you may configure your video adapter with the codepage |
of your choice using the two commands below: |
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MODE CON CP PREP=((CODEPAGE) PATH-TO-THE-CPI-DEFINITION) |
MODE CON CP SEL=CODEPAGE |
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...where "CODEPAGE" is the identifier of your codepage, like 850, 991, etc and |
"PATH-TO-CPI-DEFINITION" is the full path to the CPI or CPX file that contains |
the definition of glyphs for the given codepage. |
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Working example for the Polish language: |
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MODE CON CP PREP=((991) C:\SVARDOS\CPI\EGA10.CPX) |
MODE CON CP SEL=991 |
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You may see the full list of available CPX files and the exact codepages that |
each of them contain here: %lnls-cpx.ama:List of CPX files and their codepages%t. |
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%hKeyboard layout |
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Displaying country-specific glyphs is one thing, but typing them is another. |
To set up the keyboard layout suitable to your country, use the "KEYB" TSR. |
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Example: KEYB PL |
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%hNLS settings |
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A language is not only different words and glyphs, it is also different |
conventions for things like paper sizes, currency, units of measurement, |
battery sizes, time format, and many other. |
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DOS NLS support addresses a few of these variations through a standard, |
system-wide NLS API. In SvarDOS, this API can be configured through the |
LOCALCFG tool that generates a SYS file suitable for being loaded via a |
COUNTRY directive in CONFIG.SYS. |