Re: Much a do about Nothing! -NO UNIQUE & EASY TELUGU SOFTWARE
V. Chowdary Jampala (cjampala@quark.dayton.net)
Mon, 28 Jul 1997 12:12:45 -0400 (EDT)
On Mon, 28 Jul 1997, Ramana R. Juvvadi wrote:
> The input side is far more difficult. Typical approaches fall into two
> categories
>
> (1) Transliteration oriented scheme (RIT, Rachana)
> (2) Direct keyboard mapping (Most of the others)
>
> While keyboard mapping schemes look easy at first sight, they are not
> the best soln for typing large pieces of text. However, most direct
> mapping schemes have the advantage of Wysiwig. What we need is a
> WYSIWIG with a transliteration oriented scheme. Perhaps
> Rachana fits the bill. I never used it, and I don't know how widely
> is it avaialble.
Rachana has three modes of Text entry. English through the regular
QWERTY entry; Telugu phonetic (transliteration) through the QWERTY entry
and Telugu Keyboard through Telugu typewriter layout. You can change mode
of entry in the middle of the document.
Rachana displays the letters in Telugu as they are typed in a
bottom bar until a word is formed which then gets moved into a larger text
window. But it is not WYSIWIG. The text latter gets mapped to the fonts
that you choose. (As most of you know, one of the telusaers, Madhav
Turumella was with the rachana team fora while).
Though I have been a majr advocate for rachana for its use of
ease, there are two really major problems with this software that pose
problems. The rachana version I use is only DOS based and not a Windows
based product. I am not sure if a windows version was ever developed. It
comes with only six font variations; they are not scalable trutype fonts
which limits its usefulness.
The other major problems with rachana was the 'portlock', a copy
protection device needed to run the software. Many people I know had
trobule installing the portlock making the software useless for them. I
find that I can use it with my laser printer, but not my ink jet.
All the Telugu DTP software now available other than rachana that
I know of use both their own keying system and a copy protection device.
Installing the copy protection device is a nusisance in the best case
scenario; often, it is problematic. Files developed with one word
processor cannot be converted into another which I find as a major
problem, particularly when I am trying to put out a magazine with a
uniform look.
At this time, I am looking for software with a variety of
Telugu fonts that will work with Windows word processing /publishing
software; the softwar should enable to me to accept input from a variety
of other software including RIT, and allow me to save to ASCII and
transfer documents through the net.
Regards -- Chowdary Jampala