Hi Charles,

SignMail is usable, but needs a major update.

Keep using SignPuddle.

An assembler is a good description of the SignWriting Image Server
package.  I will add a bit more polish to the user interface, but it is
a standards document for assembling sign language as data using
SignWriting.  It contains very dense, low level stuff available as an
open standard.  Horay!

This is an important milestone.  With the alphabet as the ISWA 2010, and
with Binary SignWriting as the script encoding model, I think we're
ready for a 10 year freeze on our open standard.

There are different ways to structure the alphabet and different ways to
model the script, but to go from concept to working system will require
a huge investment of time, creativity, teamwork, testing, and feedback.
I don't believe a superior system will be created.

I think it is time for SignWriting to be added to any and all software.
SWIS can be used for web servers applications.  The desktop will come in
time. 

I think we can submit a proposal to Unicode for consideration in their
standard at any time.  Presently, I'm not going to spend my time dealing
with Unicode directly.  However, I will support an unofficially UTF-8 encoding that is data and size equivalent.

In 3 years, if we're still using our standard and no other solutions
has progressed to a usable form, I will approach Unicode with an official proposal
for their consideration.  We will be a standard that is  international, open, and widely used.  If Unicode truly wants to earn the title of the "Universal Character Encoding", it would be foolish to ignore a historical encoding that can be used for any of the world's sign languages.

Regards,
-Steve




Charles Butler wrote:
[log in to unmask]" type="cite">
Is there still a possibility of simply clipping a sign for use, for example, in a card, or a dictionary, without going through this assembler?  If one wants to pick particular signs, arrange them in a specific order and not go through this particular publisher, how does one do it.
 
Does the mail function still work?
 
Charles

 

From: Steve Slevinski <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wed, May 12, 2010 10:07:32 AM
Subject: Re: SignWriting Image Server for web servers, Windows, and Mac

Hi Adam,

The column.php script produces an image.  The columns.php script is an example HTML page.  The iframe may be your best option, but here are 2 additional options.

First, the column.php script takes an optional "col" attribute.  By default, "col" is equal to 1, the first column.  If you knew how many columns were in the sign text, you could duplicate the image code with the same BSW code and only need to modify the "col" attribute.  For example, if a sign text had 3 columns, you could use 3 images, all with the same BSW, but add "&col=2" for the second column and "&col=3" for the third.

Another option is to code in PHP.  Open the "columns.php" script and take a look.  It's not very long.  The 2 most important lines are...

$st = new SignText($bsw,$size,$height);
$cols = $st->getCols();

The $cols variable is a simple array of BSW.  This automatically splits the BSW up into segments for the "column.php" image script.  It does the same thing that you were doing by hand.

Regards,
-Steve