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July 2008 - Posts

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, or the language on the file

So thinking about the design of MUI, some interesting thoughts came up in a conversation the other day. Let's take NOTEPAD.EXE for a second. If we move to the WINDOWS directory and hit ALT+ENTER we get it's Properties : Let's move over to that Details Read More...
Posted Thursday, July 31, 2008 12:31 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 9 Comments

On installing and removing fonts, Part 7: What was the question, exactly?

The blogs that came before: 0: A long journey begins with the zeroeth step 1: Do I know you, or some version of you at least? 2: Are you done using me yet? 3: I'll love you forever, or at least for this session. 4: The easiest part is the addition! 5: Read More...
Posted Wednesday, July 30, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 2 Comments
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The murder-suicide? It wasn't me. But my heart goes out to her and her family and her friend (if not him)

Nothing technical in this post, sorry! "It had absolutely nothing to do with me, and I had absolutely nothing to do with it." I had to tell many people the above line throughout the day. It had to do with the headlines all over the Internet: 2 shot in Read More...
Posted Wednesday, July 30, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 3 Comments
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½ a US-international keyboard (the good half)

Richard asks (via the Contact link): Hi, I have a (physical) US keyboard. I often write emails to and about mainland Europe based people, and like to spell their names correctly. Typically I would remember some key sequences so that I could spell Jürgen's Read More...
Posted Tuesday, July 29, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 4 Comments
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The SiaO Dead Letter Office

There are many things that are beyond my scope of knowledge or power. This blog is an attempt to clear out some of these items that ended upoon a TO DO list since they were sent to me via the Via the Contact link but I really can't do much with them. Read More...
Posted Tuesday, July 29, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 2 Comments
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"I literally mean a format specifier" causes a parse error for me

I was asked the other day for some help understanding why the letters used in C# to determine different kinds of literals were not the same as the letters used for format specifiers. Hmmmmm, interesting. First let's look at what they are. For format specifiers Read More...
Posted Monday, July 28, 2008 2:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 0 Comments

And you think finding presidential candidates is hard? Try getting the Vista IME candidate list!

Allan asks via the Contact link: Hi, Michael; Thanks for a great blog; it's the most insightfull (and honest) look at the whole IME business. I remember running into a Mr Kaplan at one of the Microsoft Game Meltdown events; is that part of your past, Read More...
Posted Sunday, July 27, 2008 6:39 PM by Michael S. Kaplan | 3 Comments

Doing virtual simulationary keyboard stuff, only for real

Reader Barney asks: Hi, I've been reading your blog for a while and using all the good bits, but I have a problem I can't find the answer to. I have created an on screen keyboard, and the user can enter some text that will be typed by the keyboard. When Read More...
Posted Sunday, July 27, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 0 Comments

Don't sneak a BOM in on someone who promises to ignore free space

This is not a blog advising terrorists on how to circumvent the efforts of TSA inspectors! Developer Sean mentioned: Not sure who to address this to, but we just noticed that the wide string conversion functions don’t handle the whitespace Unicode markers Read More...
Posted Saturday, July 26, 2008 2:01 PM by Michael S. Kaplan | 1 Comments

When the lines get too complex, the characters may go off script

Regular readers might remember my blog entitled Did he say shaping? It's not in the script! , where I showed some of the consequence of the Latin script being in that strange place of sometimes being considered complex and other times not, and some of Read More...
Posted Saturday, July 26, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 0 Comments

Behold the Table Driven Text Service, Part 13 (Sinhalification proclamation!)

Prior posts in the series: 0 (You have to start somewhere) 1 (Starting with a dictionary simple in every way) 2 (Three ways to convert!) 3 (Where do keystrokes come in?) 4 (Specifying when to modify, if not how) 5 (All about the language, baby!) 6 (it Read More...
Posted Friday, July 25, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 3 Comments

Let's save some time and call them all IRregular expression engines

Way back in December of 2007, aaron asked in the Suggestion Box: Your recent In SQL Server, A-Z [...] might not mean the same thing : It got me thinking, a whole post dedicated to the problems of mixing regular expressions and i18n would be very interesting. Read More...
Posted Friday, July 25, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 4 Comments

When you assess, you make an...

The question was deceptively simple: Is String.SubString complex script safe? Can we use substring on a localized string safely? Now the shape of the question itself hints at the concern -- by asking about complex scripts, the question about String.Substring Read More...
Posted Thursday, July 24, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 1 Comments

MAKE ALL vs. MAY CALL, aka the Blog goes ever on and on

There is a distinct lack of inspiration around the SiaO halls at the moment. The last track on Aimee Mann's Lost in Space entitled It's Not kind of captures the feeling. Mainly the second verse, but I'll put the whole song up and just emphasize the second Read More...
Posted Wednesday, July 23, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 0 Comments
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Not everyone gets to know everything?

So after yesterday's blog ( Behind facebook status like: "...somewhere between 'Addictive' by Faithless and 'Addicted' by Juliana Hatfield." ), I had several people point out that there seemed to be something missing. After all, I mentioned that each Read More...
Posted Tuesday, July 22, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 0 Comments
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Behind facebook status like: "...somewhere between 'Addictive' by Faithless and 'Addicted' by Juliana Hatfield."

I've been in the habit of using a musical metaphor in my facebook status information lately. And even more occasionally in my Windows Live Messenger status 1 . And then most occasionally in my Office Communicator status 2 . And a few of my friends have Read More...
Posted Monday, July 21, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 3 Comments
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Please PAY MORE ATTENTION to what is going on around you

This post is so non-technical and off any reasonable topic that only the fact I admit to a youthful indiscretion keeps it from serving no purpose whatsoever! I am hardly a patron saint of the status quo, and I tend to go along with The Bard and claim Read More...
Posted Monday, July 21, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 3 Comments
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You might have to poison me (now that I'm not doing it myself, I mean)

Starts off with a little that is technical, but like MS it degenerates quickly... For years when all of the custom culture/custom locale work was happening, there were two big stock scenarios: The fj-FJ (aka Fijian - Fiji) scenario -- Fiji, a place without Read More...
Posted Sunday, July 20, 2008 4:59 PM by Michael S. Kaplan | 3 Comments

The prefix problem isn't getting any easier, or better

The other day Diego 'Flameeyes' Pettenò suggested over in the Suggestion Box: I've written a post about prefixes used during replying on emails and newsgroups by Outlook or Outlook Express ( here ) when I wrote it I thought it was just an Italian issue, Read More...
Posted Friday, July 18, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 2 Comments

The difference between only being allowed to set 32 of something versus only being given 32 options to choose from

Yesterday in The situation was quite grave when I realized how "tepid" those hot keys were , I pointed out a whole bunch of interesting little problems with the "Hot keys for Input Languages" feature in XP and Vista. And I promised there would be more. Read More...
Posted Thursday, July 17, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 5 Comments

Why I couldn't ever really do something like Twitter

So I was at the Woodland Park Zoo tonight, where Aimee Mann was playing. She has missed Seattle her last couple of times coming through this part of the country, so it was nice to her and hear some of the songs from the new album, live. Though as venues Read More...
Posted Thursday, July 17, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 3 Comments
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The situation was quite grave when I realized how "tepid" those hot keys were

Yesterday in The keys are so hot, they're smoking! , I did something that you won't see me doing very often. I waxed on at length about a feature as a really exciting thing for people to use. I'll now admit that when I did that, it was mostly a setup. Read More...
Posted Wednesday, July 16, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 5 Comments

Google as the window, Windows as the door, the Doors as (never mind, this could take a while)

Someone with the name handan asked me a question in a comment yesterday, a question that reminded me of something. I think I have mentioned before that most of this blog's traffic comes from Google searches. Like if you take a post like How does it detect Read More...
Posted Wednesday, July 16, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 0 Comments

On installing and removing fonts, Part 6: That's your name? What's your real name? Nah. What was it before you changed it?

The blogs that came before: 0: A long journey begins with the zeroeth step 1: Do I know you, or some version of you at least? 2: Are you done using me yet? 3: I'll love you forever, or at least for this session. 4: The easiest part is the addition! 5: Read More...
Posted Tuesday, July 15, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 5 Comments

The keys are so hot, they're smoking!

So the question that came in from Grant via the Contact link was kind of interesting: What are the "Hot keys for input language" and are they used? The reason I find this interesting is that they aren't all that well documented. :-) In XP if you have Read More...
Posted Tuesday, July 15, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 3 Comments
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On installing and removing fonts, Part 5: The takeaway from that is...

series: 0: A long journey begins with the zeroeth step 1: Do I know you, or some version of you at least? 2: Are you done using me yet? 3: I'll love you forever, or at least for this session. 4: The easiest part is the addition! It has been quite an odd Read More...
Posted Monday, July 14, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 3 Comments

I *do* think it's Sovereignty Day in Montenegro!

It hearkens back to I don't think it's Sovereignty Day in Montenegro? and the somewhat amusing image from my Outlook calendar: When I was looking at my upcoming week and look what I found in Outlook: The difference? Well, this is a day that Montenegro Read More...
Posted Monday, July 14, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 0 Comments

Developers are really not generally ones for spontanenous make-out sessions (aka Code jocks can talk themselves out of anything)

Just got home a little while ago, and I am definitely BWI (blogging while intoxicated). This is something that a friend of mine warned me about, but I think it'll be okay. The only real risk is that sometimes you can have an idea that seems like a really Read More...
Posted Sunday, July 13, 2008 12:35 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 11 Comments
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On installing and removing fonts, Part 4: The easiest part is the addition!

Previous blogs in this series: 0: A long journey begins with the zeroeth step 1: Do I know you, or some version of you at least? 2: Are you done using me yet? 3: I'll love you forever, or at least for this session. So far in this series I have glossed Read More...
Posted Friday, July 11, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 4 Comments

What kind of English were you looking for? We only seem to have one in stock....

A question came up the other day that some regular readers might find vaguely familiar: We have been using the CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture to get the default UI language of the client OS. It works for locales like en-US (which is the default) and for Read More...
Posted Friday, July 11, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 13 Comments

What's the sharp and nasty, smooth and greasy, barbed and two-pronged f***ing point of SetCalendarInfo?

The question I got the other day was: I am using GetCalendarInfo on Windows 2008 Server to get the CAL_SSHORTDATE and the format that it returns is not the format I set using intl.cpl->”Customize this format”->”Date Tab”->”Short Date:”. It always Read More...
Posted Thursday, July 10, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 2 Comments

GoGlobal NOW!

Some may remember a few months ago in Yesterday was GlobalDev; Tomorrow is GoGlobal! where I talked about the new GoGlobal Developer Center ? Well, the site has now officially gone live. :-) (the prior live-ness was a "soft" opening, a phenomenon that Read More...
Posted Thursday, July 10, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 2 Comments

Who and how shipped which IME when and where?

The question seemed almost deceptively easy: Please help me with the location from where I can download Microsoft IME Standard 2003 for Windows. I have located the Microsoft Office IME 2003 [here] , but could not find the IME 2003 for Windows. Actually, Read More...
Posted Wednesday, July 09, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 4 Comments
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The Limonata foil "condoms" are in no way ironic

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of San Pellegrino Limonata. And it is not much of a secret that the "European" can size of 330ml leads to a slightly smaller can then the typical 12oz one usually seen on the US side of the puddle. The new cans (which Read More...
Posted Wednesday, July 09, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 4 Comments
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On installing and removing fonts, Part 3: I'll love you forever, or at least for this session.

Dedicated to an Easter Egg poem, and its author... Previous blogs in this series: 0: A long journey begins with the zeroeth step 1: Do I know you, or some version of you at least? 2: Are you done using me yet? This blog in the series is a slight detour.... Read More...
Posted Tuesday, July 08, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 7 Comments

$string1 =~ s/file/pack/; (aka What the @#%&*! is a language file?, aka Suits to a т)

Usually when I am on Vista, I install a bunch of MUI Language Packs and LIPs (Language Interface Packs). Habit, I guess. Sometimes I even install beta builds of them. I just like that big list of user interface language choices! Then occasionally when Read More...
Posted Tuesday, July 08, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 2 Comments
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On installing and removing fonts, Part 2: Are you done using me yet?

Previous blogs in this series: 0: A long journey begins with the zeroeth step 1: Do I know you, or some version of you at least? This next part of the series is about a phenomenon that I hope most people are unfamiliar with, whether in their personal Read More...
Posted Monday, July 07, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 10 Comments

The bigger they are, the worse they are when they're dead?

Any NLS testers around want to put in the bug based on this blog? :-) Kim's message via the Contact link definitely got my attention. The message was: Hi Michael, I have been caught out more than once by a strange gotcha when designing kbd layouts that Read More...
Posted Monday, July 07, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 2 Comments

Park the scooter on the slip and come aboard....

Not every blog can be technical, and this one isn't -- if that sort of thing bothers you, then please skip... It was July 4th. I came into the day with plans, which is good. And they were actually good plans, that I was looking forward to. It was basically Read More...
Posted Sunday, July 06, 2008 10:36 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 4 Comments

You must have heard wrong, Jesse\ I don't know about tailoring\ But about the algorithm Jesse\ That is used by Microsoft...

Apologies to the misuse of the Zero Mostel/Chaim Topol Tevye's Dream in the title... Over in the ever-shrinking Suggestion Box, Jesse Hallam asks: Hi Michael, I've been scouring the net for some discussion of how one goes about tailoring a default collation Read More...
Posted Sunday, July 06, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 0 Comments

Show me the money? How?

Regular reader Jan Kučera's latest attempt to thwart my fantasy of emptying the Suggestion Box went something like this: Hello again, I'm trying to display prices, in a currency the user chooses. I've abolised keeping my own formatting info for each currency, Read More...
Posted Saturday, July 05, 2008 10:29 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 3 Comments

They weren't on crack; they were just on a new, unknown track!

Recently, it has been interesting to note how the microsoft.public.platformsdk.mslayerforunicode newsgroup has been getting traffic, but traffic that has nothing whatsoever to do with MSLU, the Microsoft Layer for Unicode on Windows 95/98/Me Systems. Read More...
Posted Saturday, July 05, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 1 Comments

The key to key messages is a key contribution

Friend and colleague and fellow keyboard expert who has written a tool for keyboard construction that I feel is much more impressive than mine Marc Durdin recently blogged a blog on his Blog entitled Robust key message handling in Windows . The permalink Read More...
Posted Friday, July 04, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 3 Comments

The exception that proves the rule

Remember those posters that said "Today is the first day of the rest of your life" ? Well, that's true of every day but one -- the day you die. -- Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) Every rule has an exception. Like the general rule that it is a bad idea to Read More...
Posted Friday, July 04, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 7 Comments

On installing and removing fonts, Part 1: Do I know you, or some version of you at least?

Previous blogs in this series: 0: A long journey begins with the zeroeth step One of the first things people do when they enter the room is make themselves known. If everyone knows everyone else they don't even need names, otherwise they give their name. Read More...
Posted Thursday, July 03, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 7 Comments
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Ignore what the label says -- it's Japanese

Julien asks via the Contact link: Dear Mr Kaplan, I would like to display Japanese Characters in the reporting solution of my company. The DB is SQL Server 2000 and datasource is an ERP wish provide data in DBCS format. Default Collation is French_CI_AS Read More...
Posted Thursday, July 03, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 5 Comments

On installing and removing fonts, Part 0: A long journey begins with the zeroeth step

In this Blog, some topics are harder than others. It was born out of a question, left in the Suggestion box (at my recommendation) by keoladonaghy: Could you possiblly create a topic on how to create an installer package for fonts. I have one that works Read More...
Posted Wednesday, July 02, 2008 9:26 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 9 Comments
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How do I type that, exactly?

So reader Jeroen Ruigrok van der Werven's question (by email and suggestion box) was: Michael, sorry for the potential duplicate (had sent it to your trigeminal account 2 weeks ago) What would be a/the reason the candidate list presented by the Japanese Read More...
Posted Wednesday, July 02, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 0 Comments

Is that character in the font or isn't it?

Regular reader Yaytay asks over in the Suggestion Box: How can I find out, from code, (reliably and completely:-) ) which fonts support a given character? I've tried using GetGlyphIndices, but there are still some fonts that return non-zero values for Read More...
Posted Tuesday, July 01, 2008 7:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 4 Comments

Oceania is at war with WM_SETTINGCHANGE; Oceania has always been at war with WM_SETTINGCHANGE

The question that came to a managed code alias was easy enough to see: How can I either (1) detect that a system environment variable has changed, or (2) get the current system-wide setting of an environment variable (not necessarily the value of the Read More...
Posted Tuesday, July 01, 2008 12:01 AM by Michael S. Kaplan | 9 Comments
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