Statement of Purpose:

Unicode support on Solaris has been enhanced considerably since it's introduction in Solaris 2.6. Today it provides a rich environment that not only enables users from different locales to communicate and share information easily but also allows them to easily extend and customize those locales. This presentation provides a snapshot of the current status of Unicode support on Solaris 8.

Paper Description:

The following summarizes the main Unicode features in Solaris 8.

Multiscript Complex Text Layout (CTL) support allows users to use CTL scripts simultaneously in the same document or email. Native Asian Input Methods allow multiscript support in a single document for Chinese,Japanese, and Korean locales. An easy to use selection mechanism allows users to choose the script and input mode of their choice. New MIME charset support allows the Solaris mail system to accept and display almost all freqently used MIME charsets on the Internet. Unicode streams modules ensure correct text edit operations between a terminal (or terminal emulator) using various codesets and a Solaris system using Unicode. New user utilities allow easy creation and modifcation of code conversion modules as well as configuration of layout service definitions for CTL locales. An enhanced universal print filter now provides support for printing UTF-8 text files as well support for many other codesets.

Conclusions:

Unicode support on Solaris embodies the following goals:
- User extensibility and customizability
- Multilingual and multiscript support
- Interoperability among different platforms

The provision of additional Unicode features in Solaris 8 is a key milestone in reaching these goals. More features will follow in the future.