From: yawei@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu (~{QG9p~})
Subject: How to Read Chinese Text on Usenet: FAQ for alt.chinese.text
Followup-To: alt.chinese.text
Keywords: faq, chinese text
Supersedes: <BxqJ4H.AML@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu>
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 18:44:04 GMT
Expires: Sun, 31 Jan 1993 05:00:00 GMT

Archive-name: chinese-text-faq
Original-Author: Ya-Gui Wei 
Last-modified: 19 Dec 1992
Version: 0.7

 CONTENTS

 (1) What are those ~{BRF_0KTc5D6+Nw~}'s posted to alt.chinese.text? 
 (2) Where can I find the software to read Chinese articles?
 (3) Are these software packages pretty easy to use?
 (4) How do I post Chinese text articles to usenet? 
 (5) What are 'zW' and 'HZ'?
 (6) What is FTP and how do I use it?
 (7) How do I convert zW/HZ Chinese text to/from GB or Big5 systems?
 (8) How do I access or contribute to the alt.chinese.text archive?
 (9) What else do I need to know about alt.chinese.text?
(10) My site does not carry alt.chinese.text. What can I do about that? 
(11) Where may I obtain the latest version of this FAQ?

    *           *             *             *             *


 (1) What are those ~{BRF_0KTc5D6+Nw~}'s posted to alt.chinese.text? 

     Believe it or not, they are supposed to be Chinese characters. 
They are coded in one of two protocols: 'zW' and HZ. You'd need some
software that understands these protocols to read them.


 (2) Where can I find the software to read Chinese articles?

     It depends on what kind of machine you are using. The following is
probably an incomplete list of software which you can use to read
this newsgroup:

     [This list contains general purpose Chinese software programs that 
support the 'zW' or 'HZ' protocols and are available through internet
without user fees.  If you know of any other such programs that I may
have missed, please let me know.]

     [If you have problems using the programs listed below, you could
seek assistance from (1) local users; (2) fellow alt.chinese.text netters; 
(3) software authors. The FAQ maintainer most probably can't help you.]

  a. If you are using a PC/Compatible running MS-DOS:
     (1) ZWDOS -- is a MS-DOS kernal extension that gives DOS text mode
     programs the ability to enter, display and manipulate 'zW' and HZ 
     Chinese text. Small memory requirement. Supports CGA, EGA, VGA
     or Hercules Monographic displays. Available for anonymous ftp at:
               cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/zW-hz/zwdos*.zip
               ifcss.org:software/dos/ZWDOS/*.*
     [Author: Ya-Gui Wei <yawei@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu>]

     (2) KORE -- Fast Chinese/Japanese text viewing program for MS-DOS.
     Supports GB and HZ. Chinese fonts are now provided.
     Available at:
               mindseye.berkeley.edu:pub/kanji/kanji-viewer/*.*
     [Author: Frank Klemm <pfk@rz.uni-jena.de>]

  b. If you are using an Apple Macintosh, try:
     (1) Subtitle -- a program which decodes zW and HZ texts as subtitles
     for some terminal emulators. Runs with or without Chinese OS. A trial 
     version can be ftp'ed from:
               ftp.apple.com:pub/lai
     [Author: Ed Lai <lai@apple.com>]

     (2) HZTerm -- a simple terminal emulator that supports the HZ coding.
     HZTerm requires Mac Chinese OS prior to version 6.0. Available at:
               ifcss.org:software/mac/viewer/HanziTerm.hqx
     [Author: Ricky Yeung <ryeung@eng.sun.com>]

     (3) If you have a Tektronix compatible terminal emulator (such as
     VersaTerm), you may be able to use Chirk.  See c. (3).

  c. If you are using a Unix system/workstation:
     (1) CXTERM -- is an xterm with Chinese extension. It understands
     Chinese text coded with the Guo-Biao format. To read HZ and 'zW'
     codes, you also need 'HZTTY'. Requires X-Windows. Available:
	       cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/cxterm*.Z
	       cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/zW-hz/hztty*.Z
     [Author: Zhang Yongguang ygz@cs.purdue.edu]

     (2) MULE -- Mule is a MULtilingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs which
     can handle Japanese, Chinese or Korean (16 bits) characters.
     For Chinese there is support for both GB and Big5. Subscribers of
     alt.chinese.text will find it useful to use GNUS with hz2gb.el,
     which does HZ/zW encode/decoding automatically. Runs as stand-alone
     X client or with CXTERM. Available at:
               sh.wide.ad.jp [133.4.11.11]:/JAPAN/mule/*
     [Author: Ken'ichi Handa handa@etl.go.jp]

     Alternative pinyin input methods (including phrase input) for MULE
     available at:
               linac.fnal.gov:pub/pig.tar.Z
     [Author: Ping Zhou, zhou@okra.fnal.gov]

     (3) Chirk -- A Unix program for viewing Chinese text on Tektronix
     compatible graphic terminals (Graphon 225, 230, 140; DEC VT240, 
     VT330/340; etc.) and terminal emulators (XTerm on X-Windows, 
     VersaTerm on Macintosh, etc.)  C source code is provided and may 
     be portable to other platforms. Supports Guo-Biao, Big5, zW and HZ.  
     [To use Chirk with rn, try "s | chirk".] 
     Available for ftp at:
               crl.nmsu.edu:pub/chinese/ChiRK*.tar.Z
               ifcss.org:software/unix/viewer/ChiRk*.Z
     [Author: Bo Yang eric@sdphu1.ucsd.edu]

  d. If you have access to a PostScript Printer:
     GB2PS -- converts Guobiao or HZ Chinese text into hard copies
     by using PostScript printers. Ftp site:
               bellatrix.anu.edu.au[150.203.23.14]:
               pub/gb2ps/gb2ps.2.02.tar.Z.
     [Author: William Sun william@cs.anu.edu.au]

  e. If you only have access to a dumb terminal. Reading Chinese on a
     dumb terminal is not going to be confortable, but it can be done.
     You may use 'hzview', but will need hz2gb from the HZ package
     described in question 5 (despite the name, hzview does not support
     HZ coding directly.)  Ftp'able from:
               ifcss.org:software/unix/viewer/hzview.2-0.tar.Z
     [Author: Fung Fung Lee lee@rinconada.stanford.edu]

     Hzview is also useful for making large Chinese character banners.


 (3) Are these software packages pretty easy to use?

     Supposedly. Some of the software listed above is either terminal 
     emulators or can be run in conjunction with a terminal
     emulator.  Once you install them, reading Chinese text on this 
     newsgroup should be easy.  For example, if you are using ZWDOS
     or cxterm with hztty, the Chinese texts posted on this newsgroup
     will show up on your screen as Chinese characters automatically
     without any efforts on your part.  Other programs (text viewers)
     requires that you run the program with the Chinese text file as
     input every time.

     Consult the documentation with the software for exact their 
     specifications.

     If you have problems installing the software, you may post
     help requests to alt.chinese.text or contact the software
     authors.


 (4) How do I post Chinese text articles to usenet?

     If you are using a software package listed above that supports
     Chinese character input, (such as ZWDOS, cxterm, or Mule), you 
     can already do this, and it is probably very similar to posting 
     English articles. Consult the documentation for the software 
     package for information about how to input Chinese characters 
     with the package.

     If you do not have a software package into which you can directly
     type in Chinese characters, but you do have access to softwares
     that produce GB or Big5 coded Chinese text, you may use the
     conversion programs mentioned in question (7) to convert them
     to HZ or zW and then post them to usenet.


 (5) What are 'zW' and 'HZ'?

     They are Chinese coding protocols derived from Guo-Biao,
     the standard Character set used in mainland China. Compared
     to Big-5 (character set used in Taiwan), Guo-Biao has
     the property that each character in the set can be easily
     represented by 2 printable (7-bit) ASCII characters. The 'zW' 
     and HZ are protocols that allow mixing of these Chinese 
     text and ASCII (English) text, which are the main reason 
     they are being used in this newsgroup.

     A description of the HZ protocol is available for ftp at:
               ifcss:org:software/unix/converter/HZ-2.0.tar.Z
     [Author: Fung Fung Lee lee@rinconada.stanford.edu]


 (6) What is ftp and how do I use it?

     It is beyond the scope of this document to provide a detailed
     tutorial about network file transfers. Yet I hope the following
     example will give you an idea.

       ftp ifcss.org
       username: anonymous           [or just "ftp"]
       password: your_name           [or anything else]
       binary                        [use binary transfer]
       cd software/unix/converter    [change directory]
       get HZ-2.0.tar.Z              [get file]
       bye

     After getting the files, you'd probably need to uncompressed/
     unarchived the files in some system specific manner. Your local
     system admin or users of similar machines should be your best
     source of help for this.

     The CND Chinese Magazine (Hua Xia Wen Zhai) has compiled a suite
     of help files some of which may be useful for you. To obtain
     an index, send a mail "get cmhelp index" to listserv@uga.bitnet.


 (7) How do I convert zW/HZ Chinese text to/from GB or Big5 systems?

     If you are using a Guo-Biao based system, conversion programs 
     can be found in the HZ-2.0.tar.Z package mentioned in questin 
     (5). Use hz2gb and gb2hz to convert between Guo-Biao and HZ 
     text. If you are using a Big-5 based system, check out 
     hc.tar.Z in ifcss.org:software/unix/converter, which lets you 
     convert from Big5 to GB which can then be converted to HZ (and 
     back). 

     The Macintosh version of hc is in ifcss.org:software/mac/viewer.


 (8) How do I access or contribute to the alt.chinese.text archive?

     The alt.chinese.text archive is only recently set up, and is
     currently maintained manually by Ya-Gui Wei. You may access the 
     archive via anonymous FTP at: ifcss.org:chinese/hz.
     
     All netters of alt.chinese.text are invited to contribute to
     the archive. All submissions should be uploaded via anonymous
     FTP to ifcss.org in the directory chinese/hz/incoming.

     All submissions should be in HZ or zW coded Chinese text, with 
     no topical restrictions. If possible, please leave a second file
     in the same directory with a description of your submission,
     its source and other relevant information, and how you wish
     to be acknowledged.

     When uploading submissions, please be sure that you do not
     write over another netter's contribution.


 (9) What else do I need to know about alt.chinese.text?

     Alt.chinese.text is a free forum. It is not a topic oriented
     newsgroup, as long as your articles are in Chinese or is
     otherwise related to the subject "Chinese text." Nonetheless,
     after you get a hang of the software, you are strongly
     suggested to post in Chinese. Even for articles that best
     serve their purposes in English, a Chinese summary should
     still be provided.


(10) My site does not carry alt.chinese.text. What can I do about that? 

     The first thing to do is to tell your news administrator about
     alt.chinese.text and ask him/her to carry it. Some sites do
     selectively carry alt groups so it may be simply a matter of
     asking. 

     The long term cure, of course, is to upgrade our newsgroup into
     one of the "official" usenet hiararchies (rec, soc, comp, 
     etc -- I am not sure exactly which hiararchy our group belongs
     to), provided someone is willing to spending time leading us
     through the voting process. Until the day, your best bet will
     be to ask a site the carries alt.chinese.text to give you
     remote access.


(11) Where may I obtain the latest version of this FAQ?

     This FAQ is posted frequently to alt.chinese.text and news.answers. 
     The latest version of this FAQ is also available from the following
     anonymous FTP sites:

     pit-manager.mit.edu:pub/usenet/news.answers/chinese-text-faq.Z
     ftp.uu.net:usenet/alt.chinese.text/H_t_R_C_T_o_U:_F_f_a.c.t.Z
     ifcss.org:chinese/hz/chinese-text-faq  (uncompressed)


 Compiled by Ya-Gui Wei ~{N:QG9p~}.

 Acknowledgements:
     Thanks are due to Dan Jacobson ~{;}5$Da~} and Fung Fung Lee    
     ~{@n7c7e~} for valuable advice for the improvement of this 
     document.


Newsgroups: alt.chinese.text