Localization Issues

This section describes localization issues that apply to Oracle Solaris 10 OS.

Swedish Software Translations Note

Swedish software translations are no longer updated since the Solaris 10 8/07 release except for translations provided by communities. Therefore, updated messages are displayed in English.

Workaround: None.

Multiple Input Method Switcher Applications Appear in Trusted Java Desktop System

When you log in to the Trusted Java Desktop System with UTF-8 or Asian locales, the Input Method Switcher application, iiim-panel, appears per label by default. Therefore, in a multiple-label environment, multiple iiim-panels appear, which could be confusing to the user.

No error message is displayed.

Workaround: Stop using the iiim-panel. Perform the following steps:

1. Right-click the iiim-panel and select Preference.

   The Input Method Preference Editor, iiim-properties, is displayed.

2. Select None or Attach to Each Application from the Input Method Status and Switcher Placement list in the General tab.

3. Click the Apply or OK button.

To switch the input language, you can also use Hotkey. To enable Hotkey, perform the following steps:

1. Go to the Misc tab in the iiim-properties editor.

2. Select the Enable Language/Script Choice window using the Hotkey option.

3. Click the Apply or OK button.

Wnn8 Japanese Input Method

The Wnn8 Japanese Input method cannot be used if the Wnn8 servers are not enabled.

Workaround: Enable the Wnn8 servers.

# svcadm enable wnn8/server

In addition, select Wnn8 as the Japanese Language engine by running the iiim-properties command.

New ChuYin Input Method Not Supported in Upgrade to IIIMF rev.12 (6492129)

When you upgrade the OS to the Solaris 10 6/06 or Solaris 10 11/06 release, the input method framework and individual input methods are upgraded from rev.10 to rev.12. However, ChuYin is not in the list of supported input methods. Also, you cannot use the function keys F2 and F3 to switch methods.

Workaround: Use PinYin to type traditional Chinese characters with Hanyu PinYin. Press Control-Shift to switch input methods.

AltGr Key Does Not Work As a Mode Switcher in Some Russian Locales (6487712)

The AltGr key does not work as a mode switcher for the Russian Xsun layout inru_RU.KOI8-R and ru_RU.ANSI1251 locales.

Choose one of the following workarounds.

Workaround 1: Switch to the ru_RU.UTF-8 or the ru_RU.ISO8859-5 locale.

Workaround 2: Use IIIMF instead of the Russian keyboard layout.

x86: Arabic Text Not Appearing in ar Locales

If your x86 system is using Xorg as the default X server, the Arabic font (iso7759-6) does not appear in the ar locale. This error does not occur if you are using Xsun instead of Xorg.

Workaround: Follow these steps.

1. As superuser, edit the /usr/dt/config/Xservers file.

   • Uncomment or add the following line:

     :0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 
     -nobanner -defdepth 24

   • Comment out the following line:

     :0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/X11/bin/Xorg :0

2. Reboot the system.

Alternatively, you can log in to ar_EG.UTF-8 or other UTF-8 locales.

Several Arabic Fonts Do Not Work in GNOME Desktop (6384024)

When you select certain Arabic fonts in the GNOME desktop, the characters do not display. This problem appears when you select fonts for applications, the desktop, or the window title by using the GNOME font properties menu. The affected fonts include:

• Akhbar MT (Regular, Bold)

• Shayyal MT (Regular, Bold)

• Naskh MT (Regular, Bold)

No error message is displayed.

Workaround: Use any of the newly delivered Kacst family of fonts to display Arabic characters in GNOME applications.

Unable to Switch Input Language on Session-Saved Applications (6360759)

Multiple language input is supported in UTF-8 locales, but the language switch is not working with session-saved applications when mouse button 1 is clicked first after login. This problem occurs with the Java Desktop System. No error message is displayed.

Workaround: Click mouse button 1 on the background workspace or Launch Menu before clicking any application.

Migration Note for UTF-8 Locales

When migrating to UTF-8 locales, the files affect the method that you use to import or export data.

Emails Saved as Portable Format

Modern email messages are tagged with the MIME charset tag. The Email and Calendar application accepts MIME charset tags. You do not need to perform any encoding conversion.

Plain Text Files

Plain text files do not have a charset tag. If the files are not in UTF-8, you must convert the encoding. For example, to convert a plain text file encoded in Traditional Chinese big5 to UTF-8, you would run the following command:

iconv -f big5 -t UTF-8 input-filename > output-filename

You can also use File System Examiner for the encoding conversion.

You can use Text Editor to read and write character encoding text automatically or by specifying an encoding explicitly when opening or saving a file.

To start Text Editor, click Launch, then choose Applications -> Accessories -> Text Editor.

File Names and Directory Names

If file names and directory names using multibyte characters are not in UTF-8, you must convert the encoding. You can use File System Examiner to convert file and directory names and the contents of plain text files from legacy character encodings to UTF-8. Refer to the online Help for File System Examiner for more information.

To start File Systems Examiner, click Launch, then choose Applications -> Utilities -> File System Examiner.

When you access non-UTF-8 file or directory names on Microsoft Windows via SMB using File Manager, you can access the non-UTF-8 file or directory names without encoding conversion.

Launching Legacy Locale Applications

For applications that are not ready to migrate to Unicode UTF-8, you can create a launcher on the front panel to start the application in legacy locales. You can also launch the applications directly from the command line. Perform the following steps to create a launcher for an application.

1. Right-click the panel where you want to place the launcher.

2. Choose Add to Panel -> Launcher.

3. Use the following format to type the entry in the Command field in the Create Launcher dialog box:

   env LANG=locale LC_ALL=locale application-name

   For example, if you want to launch an application called motif-app from /usr/dt/bin in the Chinese Big5 locale, you would type the following text in the Command field of the Create Launcher:

   env LANG=zh_TW.BIG5 LC_ALL=zh_TW.BIG5 /usr/dt/bin/motif-app

4. Click OK to create the launcher on the panel.

When you need to run CLI (command-line interface) applications that are specific to a legacy locale, open a erminal window in the legacy locale first and then run the CLI applications in the same erminal window. To open a terminal window in a legacy locale, type the following command:

eng LANG=locale LC_ALL=locale GNOME-TERMINAL –disable-factory.

Instead of opening a new terminal window in a legacy locale, you can switch the locale setting from UTF-8 to a legacy locale in the current terminal window. Change the encoding through the Set Character Encoding menu in the terminal window. Then, you must also set the LANG and LANG environment variables to the current shell.

Hardware for Some Keyboard Layouts Type 6 and 7 Not Available

Software support for some keyboard layouts has been added to the Oracle Solaris OS. This support gives users greater flexibility for keyboard input by enabling them to modify standard U.S. keyboard layouts for their own language needs.

Currently, no hardware is available for the following keyboard layout types:

Choose one of the following workarounds.

• Workaround 1: To take advantage of this keyboard support, set up keyboard input using the kbd -s command. For desktop sessions with the UTF-8 locale environment, use the Input Method Preference Editor. If the required keyboard layout is not listed, use Workaround 2.

• Workaround 2: Modify the /usr/openwin/share/etc/keytables/keytable.map file. For example, for the Canadian Type 6 keyboard, make the following changes:

  1. Change the US6.kt entry to Canada6.kt in the /usr/openwin/share/etc/keytables/keytable.map file. The modified entry should read as follows:

     6                            0          Canada6.kt

  2. Reboot the system for the changes to take effect.