Entering Unicode

Western characters can be entered using a standard Western keyboard. Other characters can be entered using the Input Method Editor (IME). You can also copy the character and paste it into a field, or use the ProcScript function $string to generate the character.

IME

The IME is a program used to enter complex characters and symbols using a standard Western keyboard. For example, you could use a Traditional Chinese IME for entering Traditional Chinese characters, and a Japanese IME for Japanese characters.

The initialization settings AutoImeOpen, AutoImeClose, and AutoImeGold can be used to configure default behavior for using the IME, For more information, see AutoImeOpen.

Copy and Paste

Copy and paste is another option for entering non-Western characters. For example, you can copy the characters from the Microsoft Windows' Character Map. If Windows is configured for a subset of Unicode characters, a Unicode font that covers all the characters in the subset is installed. Suppose the font is Arial Unicode MS and the desired character is east in Traditional Chinese.

  1. In Microsoft Windows, open Character Map (choose System tools > Character Map).
  2. Select Arial Unicode MS in the Font drop-down list.
  3. Position the cursor on the character whose Unicode code is U+6771 and click Select.
  4. Click Copy.
  5. Paste it into the Uniface field or the Proc area.

Graphical content.

Use the $string Proc Function

Unicode characters can be generated from their codes using the Proc function $string. Consider the Chinese character for east. In traditional Chinese, its code is x6771, and in Simplified Chinese, it is x4E1C. The data type of field EAST is String with the W packing code. The following Proc assigns the characters to the field EAST.

EAST = $string("The English word 'east' in Simplified Chinese is 东, %\
in Traditional Chinese is 東.")

When this piece of Proc is executed, the following line appears in the EAST field:

Effect of $string

By using $string, you can generate the entire set of Unicode characters.For more information, see $string.

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