Localization Issues

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

Firefox and Thunderbird Hang in the Hangul Input Method (16043053)

Firefox 10.0.7 and Thunderbird 10.0.7 hang when you use the Hangul input method in the ko_KR.EUC locale. This error occurs because the Internet Intranet Input Method (IIIM) gtk-im-module module is not configured properly in the private libraries of GNOME and GTK that are bundled with Firefox and Thunderbird.

Choose one of the following workarounds:

Workaround 1: Use the Kole input method instead of the Hangul input method. You can select the Kole input method in the input method selector panel that is located in the GNOME notification area.

Workaround 2: Reconfigure the gtk-im-module module in the private libraries of GNOME and GTK. To reconfigure the module, perform the following steps:

# ln —s /usr/lib/gtk-2.0/2.4.0/immodules/im-iiim.so 
/usr/lib/gnome-private/lib/gtk-2.0/2.10.0/immodules/im-iiim.so

# /usr/lib/gnome-private/bin/gtk-query-immodules-2.0 > 
/usr/lib/gnome-private/etc/gtk-2.0/gtk.immodules

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Swedish software translations are no longer updated since the Solaris 10 8/07 release except for translations provided by communities.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.

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 a 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.

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 type 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 through 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 terminal window in the legacy locale first and then run the CLI applications in the same terminal 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 LC_ALL 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.