This section describes how to use the thaifilter(1) print utility and printer conversion tables, which you may need to print Thai text.
The thaifilter(1) program is a filter that converts Thai text into three levels:
Base level characters (including any ASCII characters)
Above-level characters
Below-level characters
This system is called 3-Level Classification. The two main uses for files converted to 3-Level Classification are:
To direct printers to print Thai characters at the correct display level.
To view Thai text files on terminals that normally do not allow the multi-level (normal) display of Thai text.
Some newer printers come with 3-Level Classification software already installed. For that reason the thaifilter(1) program has the -x option that turns 3-Level Classification off.
The thaifilter(1) man page is supplied in the TLE 2.6 software, and is also available in printed form in Appendix D, "Manual Pages", of the Thai Language Supplement for Solaris 2.6: Release Overview.
The WTT 2.0 standard identifies the following terms and conventions for printing Thai text:
Printer IDs
Printer IDs are 6-character codes defined by TAPIC to specify a printer's model, brand name, and character code. Printer vendors should have their printer codes clearly marked on their printers. The syntax for a printer ID is BBMMCC, where BB is a two-letter brand abbreviation, MM is a two-letter model abbreviation, and CC is a two-digit number representing the conversion code the printer uses. The printer brand and model abbreviations are listed in Appendix C, "Printer Brand, Model, and Code IDs," of the Thai Language Supplement for Solaris 2.6: Release Overview. See the next section for a discussion of printer conversion codes.
For example, the first line of Table D-3 shows that the brand and model abbreviations for a Data Products IZR650 printer are DA and ZI. If this printer used the code conversion table number 10, the full printer ID would be: DAZI10.
Conversion codes and printer code conversion tables
Use the codes listed in the right side of Table A-3 when specifying a printer ID. Solaris 7 TLE adheres to TIS 988-2533, which specifies a table of codes for printing to the TAC11x11.COD standard. Because not every printer uses this table, the TIS standard specifies a total of 17 code conversion lookup tables to convert other known printer codes to TAC11x11.COD. (TAC is an abbreviation for the Thai API Consortium. APIs defined by the Thai Internationalization Committee are prefixed with "TAC.")
These 17 code conversion tables are supplied with Solaris 7 TLE for converting the codes supplied with various printers to the TAC11x11.COD standard. The tables, listed in Table D-3, are stored in the /usr/lib/lp/files directory.
Table D-3 Code Conversion Tables
Code Conversion Table |
Code for Use With Printer ID |
---|---|
TAC11x10.COD |
10 |
TAC11x12.COD |
12 |
TAC11x13.COD |
13 |
TAC11x14.COD |
14 |
TAC11x15.COD |
15 |
TAC11x16.COD |
16 |
TAC11x17.COD |
17 |
TAC11x18.COD |
18 |
TAC11x19.COD |
19 |
TAC11x20.COD |
20 |
TAC11x21.COD |
21 |
TAC11x22.COD |
22 |
TAC11x40.COD |
40 |
TAC11x41.COD |
41 |
TAC11x42.COD |
42 |
TAC11x43.COD |
43 |
TAC11xAA.COD |
AA |
If your printer does not use one of the printer code conversion tables, see the following section for help with creating your own.
Printer conversion tables are used to convert printing instructions to the TIS 988-2553 format, which is the WTT 2.0 default printing format. The code conversion tables listed in the WTT 2.0 standard are included with Solaris 7 TLE.
If the printer you are using does not use the TIS 988-2553 format, and cannot use any of the code conversion tables, then you need to create a custom conversion table. This section explains how to create a new printer code conversion table.
Conversion Table Syntax
The following is an example of a code conversion file:
-- -- -- -- TN -- ! TAC11x10.COD 16 AUG 1991 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 2A 2B 2C 2D 2E 2F 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 3A 3B 3C 3D 3E 3F 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 4A 4B 4C 4D 4E 4F 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 5A 5B 5C 5D 5E 5F 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 6A 6B 6C 6D 6E 6F 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 7A 7B 7C 7D 7E 7F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F 3F A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 AA AB AC AD AE AF B0 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 BA BB BC BD BE BF C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 CA CB CC CD CE CF D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 DA 3F 3F 3F 3F DF E0 E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 EA EB EC ED EE EF F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 FA FB 3F 3F 3F FF ! End of TAC11x10.COD
The first line of a code conversion table uses the following syntax:
CC LG UM EX TN SP ! comment
If one of the two-character fields is not used, it must be replaced with two dashes (--). The fields in the first line are explained in Table D-4.
Table D-4 Code Conversion Tables
Field |
Description |
---|---|
CC |
Combined Code at TIS 988-2553, for example SaraI and MaiEk |
LG |
Line Graphic |
UM |
The combination code of SaraAm and Nikhahit |
EX |
Ascender Extension |
TN |
Thai Numerics |
SP |
Special code not defined in TIS 988-2553 |
! comments |
Any comments you have. In the WTT 2.0 standard this field contains the name of the file and the date. The comment must be proceeded by the "!" symbol. |
The middle of the conversion file contains 16 lines of 16 codes, a total of 256 codes. These codes are the replacement for the TIS 988-2553. The TIS988-2553 code is shown below:
-- -- -- -- TN -- ! TAC11x11.COD 16 AUG 1991 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 2A 2B 2C 2D 2E 2F 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 3A 3B 3C 3D 3E 3F 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 4A 4B 4C 4D 4E 4F 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 5A 5B 5C 5D 5E 5F 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 6A 6B 6C 6D 6E 6F 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 7A 7B 7C 7D 7E 7F 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 8A 8B 8C 8D 8E 8F 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 9A 9B 9C 9D 9E 9F A0 A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 AA AB AC AD AE AF B0 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 BA BB BC BD BE BF C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 CA CB CC CD CE CF D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 DA DB DC DD DE DF E0 E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 EA EB EC ED EE EF F0 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 FA FB FC FD FE FF ! End of TAC11x10.COD Note: There is no conversion in this table
The last line of the conversion table is another comment, proceeded by the "!" symbol. The WTT 2.0 conversion tables end with the line:
! END OF filename