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Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!pad-thai.aktis.com!pad-thai.aktis.com!not-for-mail
From: "Ya-Gui Wei" <yawei@cs.indiana.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.chinese.text,news.answers,alt.answers
Subject: [INFO] How to Read Chinese Text on Usenet: FAQ for alt.chinese.text
Supersedes: <chinese-text/faq_754938172@GZA.COM>
Followup-To: alt.chinese.text
Date: 19 Dec 1993 00:00:32 -0500
Organization: Indiana University
Lines: 526
Sender: faqserv@security.ov.com
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
Expires: 17 Jan 1994 05:00:10 GMT
Message-ID: <chinese-text/faq_756277210@GZA.COM>
NNTP-Posting-Host: pad-thai.aktis.com
Keywords: faq, chinese text
X-Last-Updated: 1993/11/10
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu alt.chinese.text:27817 news.answers:15968 alt.answers:1448
Archive-name: chinese-text/faq
Original-Author: Ya-Gui Wei ~{N:QG9p~}
Last-modified: Nov 9 1993
Version: 15.2
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 is 'HZ'?
(6) What is FTP and how do I use it?
(7) How do I convert HZ Chinese text to/from GB or Big5 systems?
(8) What else do I need to know about alt.chinese.text?
(9) Why isn't it a good idea to cross-post articles to alt.chinese.text?
(10) How many people read alt.chinese.text?
(11) What is alt.chinese.text.big5?
(12) My site does not carry alt.chinese.text. What should I do?
(13) How do I read alt.chinese.text through ftp, gopher, or e-mail?
(14) How do I post a Chinese article via e-mail?
(15) What other net resources broadcast HZ-coded Chinese text?
(16) Where can 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 usually coded in the "HZ" protocol. You'd need the
software that understands the protocol to read them.
If you have the right software installed on your system, you
may be able to read the Chinese text on this newsgroup directly
just as you would with English newsgroups.
(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:
[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.]
[FTP mirror sites: the software available on ifcss.org can also
be obtained from the following mirror sites:
nctuccca.edu.tw(140.111.3.31):Chinese/ifcss.org/software
cnd.org:pub/ifcss.org/software.
If ifcss.org is slow, you may want to try these sites.]
a. If you are using a PC/Compatible running MS-DOS:
(a) ZWDOS -- is a MS-DOS kernel extension that gives DOS text mode
programs the ability to enter, display, manipulate and print 'zW'
and HZ Chinese text. Small memory requirement. Supports EGA, VGA
or Hercules Monographic displays. Available for anonymous ftp at:
ifcss.org:software/dos/ZWDOS/*.*
cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/zW-hz/zwdos*.zip
[Author: Ya-Gui Wei <yawei@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu>]
(b) NJStar -- A Chinese word processing program supporting GB,
HZ and zW codes. Requires Hercules, EGA, VGA or better video
hardware. A trial version of the program can be ftp'ed from:
ifcss.org:software/dos/editor/njs210-*.zip
[Author: Hong-bo Ni.]
(c) HZComm 1.0 -- communication program supporting HZ codes
under Chinese Windows Systems. Requires MS Windows 3.1 and
a Chinese System (GB internal code) for Windows. Location:
ifcss.org:software/ms-win/hzcomm10.exe
[Author: Nick Ke Ning ~{D~?I~} <ningk@ucunix.san.uc.edu>]
(d) 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:
(a) 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
ifcss.org:software/mac/viewer/subtitle2.hqx
[Author: Ed Lai <lai@apple.com>]
(b) MacViewHZ -- A Chinese text viewer which doesn't require
Chinese OS. Supports HZ, GB, Big5. Available for ftp at:
ifcss.org:software/mac/viewer/macviewhz.hqx
(c) NewsWatcher -- Macintosh users who have Chinese system software,
MacTCP, and access to an NNTP news server can use a version of
NewsWatcher specially designed to handle HZ encoding. Available at:
ifcss.org:software/mac/viewer/NewsWatcher.new.hqx
[Author: John H. Jenkins <John_Jenkins@taligent.com>]
(d) HZTerm -- a simple terminal emulator that supports GB, HZ
and zW codings. Requires Mac Chinese OS version 6.0 or later.
Available at:
ifcss.org:software/mac/viewer/hanziterm-0.5.hqx
[Author: Ricky Yeung <ryeung@eng.sun.com>]
(e) 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:
(a) 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:
ifcss.org:software/x-win/cxterm*.Z
ifcss.org:software/x-win/hztty*.Z
cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/cxterm*.Z
cs.purdue.edu:pub/ygz/zW-hz/hztty*.Z
[Author: Zhang Yongguang ygz@cs.purdue.edu]
(b) 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]
(c) 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:
(a) CNPRINT. Prints HZ or GB text on Unix, VMS or MSDOS. Ftp site:
ifcss.org:software/[unix][vms][msdos]/print/cnprint*.Z
[Author: Cai Yidao <cai@neurophys.wisc.edu>]
(b) GB2PS. Converts GuoBiao or HZ Chinese text into hard copies
by using PostScript printers. Runs on Unix. Ftp site:
ifcss.org:software/unix/print/gb2ps*.Z
bellatrix.anu.edu.au: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 comfortable, 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.
The above list is not intended to be an exhaustive list of Chinese
software. It is intended to help the beginning netter getting
started reading this newsgroup. Wherever possible, only software
packages that directly support the 'HZ' protocol and are
readily available through internet FTP as public domain, freeware,
or shareware, are listed. Additional criteria of quality, user
friendliness, and usefulness also may be considered. If you know
of any software that I should have included, please drop me a note.
For a more comprehensive listing of Chinese software, see
ifcss.org:/software/catalogue
[By Xiaofei Wang and Liedong Zheng <ftp-admin@ifcss.org>]
(3) Are these software packages pretty easy to use?
Supposedly. Some of the software packages listed above are either
terminal emulators or can be run in conjunction with a terminal
emulator. Once you've installed 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)
require that you run the program with the Chinese text file as
input every time.
Consult the documentation with the software for their exact
specifications.
If you have problem 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 which 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 software
that produce GB or Big5 coded Chinese text, you may use the
conversion programs mentioned in question (7) to convert them
to HZ and then post them to usenet.
(5) What is 'HZ'?
'HZ', and the very similar 'zW', are Chinese coding protocols
derived from Guo-Biao, the standard Character set for
information interchange 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/convert/HZ-2.0.tar.Z
[Author: Fung Fung Lee lee@rinconada.stanford.edu]
(6) What is FTP and how do I use it?
FTP stands for the internet File Transfer Protocol. There are
many internet sites with FTP accounts where a remote user can
connect to and download materials of various kind.
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.
At your system prompt, type:
ftp ifcss.org [connect to remote host]
username: ftp [or "anonymous"]
password: your_name [or anything else]
binary [use binary transfer]
cd software/unix/convert [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 following is only a brief summary:
(A). Unix compressed files often have a .Z extension. To uncompress,
use the Unix command "compress -d filename". After that you may
get a file with a .tar extension. You can untar a file by
"tar -xvf filename".
(B). DOS (PC) compressed files often have a .zip extension.
To uncompressed, use "pkunzip filename". (Get pkunzip.exe from
ifcss.org:software/dos/utils.)
(C). MacIntosh files often have the .hqx extension. To uncompress,
you'd need "binhex" and "stuffit", both available from
ifcss.org:software/mac/utils.
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 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 question
(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/convert, which lets you
convert from Big5 to GB which can then be converted to HZ (and
back).
The DOS executables of the zW<->HZ<->GB converter are at
ifcss.org:software/pc/convert. The Macintosh version of
hc (Big5<->GB) is in ifcss.org:software/mac/convert.
(8) 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.
(9) Why isn't it a good idea to cross-post articles to alt.chinese.text?
Some netter cross-post articles to both alt.chinese.text and
alt.chinese.text.big5 [also see question (11)]. This is not a
good idea because the character coding systems on the two groups
are different. There is also a gateway which translates and
reposts between the two groups. If you post the same article
to both groups, each group will see TWO copies of your article.
Cross-posting of articles to alt.chinese.text.* and English newsgroups
is also undesirable. Such articles frequently generate tons of
follow-ups in English from readers of the English groups. English-
only articles are generally not appreciated on a.c.t. and are
done only as a neccessary evil (such as this posting.)
(10) How many people read alt.chinese.text?
Ever since the newsgroup came into existance in June 28,
1992 (with the help of Mr. Stephan Mosier of Indiana Univ
Computing Services. Thanks, Steve!), its readership has been
increasing steadily. The latest figures, compiled by DEC's
Network Systems Laboratory for Oct 1993, indicated
that alt.chinese.text is read by 56000 users worldwide.
alt.chinese.text alt.chinese.text.big5
Jul 1992 0
Nov 1992 11,000
Feb 1993 19,000
Mar 1993 28,000
May 1993 34,000
Jul 1993 41,000 15,000
Sep 1993 50,000 26,000
Oct 1993 56,000 32,000
[Data since Nov 1992 curtesy of Brian Reid of DEC Network
Systems Laboratory.]
(11) What is alt.chinese.text.big5?
Alt.chinese.text.big5 is a mirror of alt.chinese.text in Big5
code, the industrial standard character set in Taiwan. Its
contents are identical to alt.chinese.text, except that the
Chinese texts are represented using the Big5 character set.
The mirroring program is based at news.csie.nctu.edu.tw.
To read alt.chinese.text.big5, you need a Chinese system that
supports the Big5 character set. Some of the programs listed
in this FAQ also supports Big5 (such as cxterm). PC users in
Taiwan can read it by ftp'ing a free copy of the KC Chinese
system from moers2.edu.tw:chinese-pub/chinese-sys/kc/kc.zip.
Keep in mind that Big5 is an 8-bit coding standard. Therefore
your terminal and its connections to all the hosts/gateways
must be set up to accommodate 8-bit data. Consult your local
system people for details about this. If it is too much trouble,
you may want to just read alt.chinese.text.
(12) 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.
If you can't read alt.chinese.text locally, you may try ftp,
gopher, or e-mail. See the next question for detail.
(13) How do I read alt.chinese.text through ftp, gopher, or e-mail?
(a) FTP. Alt.chinese.text articles may be downloaded via ftp
from the following anonymous ftp sites:
ifcss.org:act/spool
cnd.org:pub/ifcss.org/act/spool
The articles in the above directories are updated once a day
(very late at night at eastern USA time), so there will be
a latency of one day for most articles accessed this way.
In order to reduce unneccesary ftp traffic please use this
service only if you can't access usenet locally.
(b) E-MAIL. You may also receive alt.chinese.text articles
via e-mail by sending an e-mail message to the following
address:
listserv@ccca.nctu.edu.tw
with only the following line in the body of the message:
sub alt-chinese-text "your name"
Recent a.c.t. traffic has average about 80 - 100 messages,
or about 2 megabytes, per day. Make sure that your e-mail
box is large enough to handle the traffic.
If you don't want to receive the traffic any more, send a
message to the same address above, with only the following
line in the message body:
signoff alt-chinese-text
Make sure that you sign off if your account is soon to expire
or if you will be away for more than a couple of days.
(c) GOPHER. Many gopher servers offer usenet access. If you
have access to a gopher client on your system you may be able
to read alt.chinese.text through it. First check your local
gopher server, if not successful, check a server that is
geographically close to your site.
For most gopher servers, you first enter the "usenet" or
"news" menu. From the usenet menu, select the "alt" hiarachy,
then "chinese", then "text". From there you can select
individual articles to read or download.
Other services, such as WWW, may also offer usenet access.
(14) How do I post a Chinese article via e-mail?
You may post your articles to alt.chinese.text by sending them
via e-mail to one of the following addresses:
alt.chinese.text@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu
alt-chinese-text@ccca.nctu.edu.tw
Note that only HZ-coded Chinese text should be sent to the
above addresses. Even though some gateways may provide
mail-in addresses for alt.chinese.text.big5, mail-in posting
of big5 articles is not recommended because many e-mail
gateways do not guarantee safe passage of 8-bit text.
Avoid repeated postings. If you don't receive an error message,
wait a day for your article to propagate before reposting.
For Unix mail users only: When passing an edited HZ article
to Unix mail as redirected input, you may get a lot of
"unknown tilde escape" error messages. Possible solutions
to this are (1) don't use redirected input, instead use
"~r filename" to read in the file when you are composing
the message manually; or (2) convert each tilde character at
the beginning of a line to double-tilde before passing them
to mail, using "cat file | sed 's/^~/~~/' | mail address";
or (3) change mail's command escape character to something
else by adding a line "set escape=#" to your .mailrc file,
where # is your chosen new escape character.
(15) What other net resources broadcast HZ-coded Chinese text?
The following net-resources broadcast or store Chinese material
coded in the HZ format which are directly readable with software
described in this FAQ:
a. The CND Chinese Magazine, Hua Xia Wen Zhai ~{;*ODNDU*~}, broadcasts
an HZ edition through a list at CMUWA-L@UWAVM. To subscribe, send a
message to
LISTSERV@UWAVM.BITNET (Bitnet)
or LISTSERV@UWAVM.U.WASHINGTON.EDU (Internet)
With the body of the message containing only:
SUB CMUWA-L Lastname Firstname
The magazine will be delivered to your e-mail box every Friday.
b. The Chinese Poem Discussion list broadcasts Chinese poems in
HZ and other formats. To subscribe, send a message to
LISTSERV@UBVM.BITNET (Bitnet)
or LISTSERV@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU (Internet)
With the body of the message containing only:
SUB CHPOEM-L Lastname Firstname
c. News about Taiwan available through gopher at the National Sun
Yat-Sen University. To access, (1) enter HZ environment, (2)
use "gopher gopher.csie.nctu.edu.tw 70", (3) choose ~{VPI=4sQ'~}
~{J11(PBNE!!D?B<#,~} (4) choose csie server, (5) choose "HZ info-
times."
The same gopher site above also lets you read all the Taiwan
newsgroups, including local groups of several Taiwan universities,
in HZ. Just follow the menu, choose "usenet" then "HZ access".
d. Anonymous ftp site ifcss.org also contains numerous HZ-coded
Chinese material. An archive of articles previously posted to
alt.chinese.text may be found under subdirectory act/archive.
Subdirectories in "china-studies" contain Chinese text coded
in GB or Big-5.
f. Lian Yi Tong Xun ~{A*RjM(Q6~} is a monthly Chinese electronic
journal published by the Ottawa Chinese organizations.
Feng Hua Yuan ~{7c;*T0~} is a bimonthly Chinese electronic
journal published by the Federation of Chinese Students in
Canada. To receive both journals via e-mail, you may subscribe
to their HZ broadcast by sending "SUB CSSADS-L your name"
to LISTSERV@UCALGARY.CA.
HXWZ, LYTX, and FHY are all posted to alt.chinese.text upon
publication.
(16) Where may I obtain the latest version of this FAQ?
This FAQ is posted monthly to alt.chinese.text and news.answers.
The latest version of this FAQ is also available from the following
anonymous FTP sites:
ifcss.org:act/chinese-text-faq
rtfm.mit.edu:pub/usenet/news.answers/chinese-text/faq
ftp.uu.net:usenet/news.answers/chinese-text/faq.Z
Compiled by Ya-Gui Wei ~{N:QG9p~}.
Acknowledgements:
Thanks are due to Dan Jacobson ~{;}5$Da~}, Fung Fung Lee ~{@n7c7e~},
and Ricky Yeung for valuable advice for the improvement of this
document.