Chinese characters on English PPC?

[jmulder]

Having recently adopted a little girl from China, I was going to start learning Chinese language and writing (so I can teach her when she's old enough). While I'm not interested in working on my PPC in Chinese, I would like to practice my writing.

Is it possible to input Chinese into an English PPC? I've got an Axim X5 now and an Axim x50v on the way. Do I just need a Chinese SIP, or would I need to change the whole ROM?

Thanks,

Jim

[Sydney Bristow]

I have Japanese reading/input on my PPC, and I know that there are ones out of Koreans (one of them being the one on the frontpage of PPCT right now), so there should be some available for Chinese as well.

I'm pretty certain that I saw couple of threads regarding this matter; I'll try to search for them. ^^

[edit]
There's one called CE-Star. Also, the one on the front page, DioPen, not only supports Korean, but also English, European languages, Chinese, Japanese and Hebrew, as well as numbers, symbols and gestures.

I could've sworn I saw a LOT of such softwares (I'd done some research before finding the right Japanese input system) for this use, but I can't really remember them at the moment. ^^ Just google around and I'm sure you'll come up with plenty! ;) Good luck!

[Darius Wey]

Decuma Chinese is a very solid application for inputting Chinese characters. All you need is a Chinese font. There are a number of them available. All you have to do is copy these fonts over to \Windows\Fonts\ on the PPC, or alternatively, you can copy them over to a storage card and use FontOnStorage to allow it to be accessed.

Decuma Chinese: http://www.decuma.com/pages/products/chinese_recognition.html
FontOnStorage: http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Cupertino/2039/FontOnStorage.zip

[jmulder]

Thanks for the help. guys. It sounds like I just need the SIP and the fonts, and since I already use Decuma OnSpot, I'll give their Chinese SIP a try.

Thanks again,

Jim

[threestrong]

have someone know how to view the chinese in pocket pc 2002 internet exploer?

[Darius Wey]

have someone know how to view the chinese in pocket pc 2002 internet exploer?

You will need a Chinese font installed as I specified in my earlier post. Something like the MingLiu font would work. Simply copy it over to your Pocket PC's \Windows\Fonts directory, or alternatively, leave it on a storage card and use FontOnStorage to gain access to it. You can extract this font from Microsoft's Chinese Language Pack for Windows. If you open up Pocket Internet Explorer, you may also need to change the Default Character Set. Open the application, tap Tools > Options, then the Advanced tab. You can change it to Chinese Traditional.

[JvanEkris]

Decuma Chinese is a very solid application for inputting Chinese characters. All you need is a Chinese font. There are a number of them available. All you have to do is copy these fonts over to \Windows\Fonts\ on the PPC, or alternatively, you can copy them over to a storage card and use FontOnStorage to allow it to be accessed.

Decuma Chinese: http://www.decuma.com/pages/products/chinese_recognition.html
FontOnStorage: http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Cupertino/2039/FontOnStorage.zipDarius,

But as i understood it from some members on our board, it only works on a Chines version of the OS, or is that just because the chinese fonts aren't installed?

Jaap

[Darius Wey]

But as i understood it from some members on our board, it only works on a Chines version of the OS, or is that just because the chinese fonts aren't installed?

All you need is the Chinese font and to set the character set to the Chinese font where appropriate. Its purpose is not to generate a system-wide restructure of its default language. The OS will still display in English, but if you require to input things in Chinese or read pages in Chinese, then adding the font will allow for that, provided you set everything right. There are also a number of freeware viewers available which allow for Chinese reading.

I last did this a year ago, since I haven't had a need to do any Chinese work recently. I'll check it out again to make sure I'm not confusing myself over something else and get back to you.

[miko]

If I just follow the above method, not only with Pocket IE be able to read chinese, but the whole OS will be able to display traditional chinese? But to write traditional chinese, seperate IME program is then required right?

[Darius Wey]

If I just follow the above method, not only with Pocket IE be able to read chinese, but the whole OS will be able to display traditional chinese? But to write traditional chinese, seperate IME program is then required right?

With regards to webpages, theoretically, the answer is yes, though it's not that simple since a lot of it depends on how the webpage was written.

For the OS itself, copying a simple font will not change the system language. Instead, you will need a Chinese version of the Windows Mobile OS - which unfortunately is OEM-dependent.

[Frosty Vibe]

Monster Chinese, it's the most recommended software for this purpose among Taiwanese and Chinese who have English PPCs.

A lot of my friends use that software too.

BTW, good luck learning Chinese :)

[miko]

Sorry, what I meant is if I implemented the above method, will the data and files in the OS be able to have Chinese names? Not the entire OS being in chinese. I sitll want the OS to be English, just that I can have chinese filenames, display chinese characters in word, etc...

[Darius Wey]

Sorry, what I meant is if I implemented the above method, will the data and files in the OS be able to have Chinese names? Not the entire OS being in chinese. I sitll want the OS to be English, just that I can have chinese filenames, display chinese characters in word, etc...

In theory, you would be able to do that, but it's not that simple. First of all, you would need to hack the registry to make the Chinese font the default OS font. Otherwise, text in File Explorer and the like would simply appear in the default Tahoma font with which it is originally set. Registry hacking programs which alter default fonts are in abundance (e.g. Spb Pocket PC Tips and Tricks, Tweaks2K2 .NET, etc.), or if you know how to mess around with the registry, you can always do it yourself. Of course, in doing so, you lose some of the English formatting - e.g. some exclusive characters may not render, spacing may be a little awkward, and so on. Bottom line - there's no 100% guarantee that everything would work out the way you intended it to.

In addition, you would need to find a suitable input program for you to write/type in Chinese. While there are many Chinese SIPs out there, not all work with every Chinese font, so it pays to test them out first.

[gwinter]

Here's a summary:

To display data/filename with Chinese script, you only need a Chinese font file. To make it work, you need to add registry settings to the system. Note that this is not a hack, and it is the way Windows Mobile or rather, WinCE, should work. Basically the registry entry tell the system, "if the default font is not available, look at the alternative file instead".

To display webpage/data which is not in Unicode/UTF-8, for example GB2312 or Big5, you will additionally need the wince.nls file. This file contains locale information and codepages support.

[miko]

Where can I download the wince.nls file?
If I install one of those Chinese programs instead, would I still have to go through all the steps of installing fonts, modiying registry or will the program set that lal up for me.

[gwinter]

Since I don't have a link handy, you'll have to search for a suitable wince.nls file. Another way to get it is from one of those Chinese programs you refer to. One can also create his/her own custom wince.nls file using Platform Builder, which is what OEM use to build the complete OS for your device. But of course not everyone has access to it.

The easiest way then, is to just install one of those Chinese program. It will take care of the fonts, the registry settings, plus you also get the input system.

[Darius Wey]

I've heard good things from CJReader (http://www.tonaya.com/products/cjreader/index.php), and as gwinter has said, it's probably the easiest solution for you if all you wish to view are documents, webpages, etc.

Note that it's far from a replica of a Chinese version of Windows Mobile, but as I stated before, it's near impossible to acquire that unless your vendor releases it for your device. Best to stick with an all-in-one program rather than going through the complexities of installing fonts, making changes to the registry, and so on.

[miko]

Thank you very much for all your insightful replies. I think I will look further into those Chinese all-in-one programs for use on my soon to be here ppc.