From: "Christopher V. Kimball" <mail AT cvkimball.com>
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org, "me >> \"Christopher V. Kimball\"" <mail AT cvkimball.com>
Cc:
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Unicode
Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 08:15:35 -0400
The code snippet Karl provided is a portion of the XML data in the
Unicode/XML Tanach. Specifically, it's the data behind the "Unicode"
link on the "Technical" page.
Two issues often get intermixed. One is Unicode and font problems
associated with displaying Unicode characters, the other is XML and its
display mechanism XSLT. To view the Unicode/XML Tanach, the browser
must support both Unicode and XML/XSLT transformations. (And have
JavaScript operable, too.)
Different browsers display ("render") Unicode characters differently;
even in the Windows world the rendering is problematic. Most browsers
support Unicode and have a built-in Modern Hebrew font that is
inadequate for the Tanach.
XML/XSLT transformations are a standardized way of separating data
(XML) from data display (XSLT). This allows users to change the font
size, consonant markings, and display format without changing the data
itself. The Unicode/XML Tanach consists of a single set of XML books
that are each transformed on the spot to multiple display formats.
(Verses, Chapter, Simplified) X (Accents, Vowels, Consonants,
Morphology) x ( 16pt .. 64 pt font sizes (9) ), 108 display choices.
XML facilitates machine processing by having standardized
format-checking (XSD) and access (XPath) mechanisms.