IBM INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR - NOVEMBER 1992 September 1992 Dear Software Developer: The IBM Corporation invites you to attend the 1992 INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR for National Language Support (NLS) and Double Byte Character Set (DBCS) Programming Considerations. This technology is used for software products that support multiple languages. In this seminar we discuss programming design guidelines which support cultural and national language differences. Special attention is given to DBCS language requirements. International hardware and software functions are highlighted by operating system platform. More information describing seminar content is shown on the following pages. The one and one-half day seminar will be offered in both Boston and San Francisco: DATES: NOVEMBER 5 & 6 NOVEMBER 12 & 13 BOSTON SAN FRANCISCO LOCATIONS: IBM CORPORATION IBM CORPORATION ONE COPLEY PLACE 425 MARKET STREET BOSTON, MA SAN FRANCISCO, CA TIMES: DAY ONE 8:30 A.M. - 5:45 P.M. DAY TWO 8:15 A.M. - 3:30 P.M. COST: $350 PER PERSON Enrollment instructions are attached. Indicate the session you wish to attend and return the form and non-refundable $350 registration fee. PLEASE RESPOND BY OCTOBER 21st. You will receive hotel and travel information with your confirmation. If you need additional information, contact Kay Flynn, Meeting Planner, at 203/783-7292. I look forward to meeting with you at the seminar. M. W. Stephens, Manager Software Vendor Operations IBM INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR - NOVEMBER 1992 NLS/DBCS CONSIDERATIONS AUDIENCE: This seminar is designed for software engineers, developers, and technical managers who have responsibility for planning and implementing software product conversions for Asian, European and Latin American markets. The course is an introduction to NLS/DBCS concepts and gives an overview of steps needed to enable software, but it does not provide "hands on" training. UPDATES: Content is essentially the same as presented in May 1992 sessions. A brief discussion about the new IBM-Japan subsidiary, "EncycloSoft Engineering & Services Co., Ltd" was added. Release information is included for: AIX Release 3.2 International Features OS/2 Release 2.0 International Features AS/400 Release 2.2 International Features DOS 5.02 J and V International Features ABSTRACT: Software engineers, developers, and technical managers can increase their awareness of how language and cultural differences affect products designed for multiple languages. Discussions begin with fundamentals, such as how IBM systems encode languages, and progress to operating system specific interfaces. These interfaces or APIs are used to invoke national language services and functions. Numerous DBCS examples are used throughout the seminar. On the second day there are discussions about DBCS data entry, and how this affects product design. You may attend two sessions of your choice from the concurrent breakouts. Platform-specific DBCS data for DOS, OS/2, AIX, OS/400, and MVS is presented during the breakouts. API interface information is discussed, but system internals are not included. For those interested in more information about European markets, there is a separate breakout session. REFERENCE MATERIALS: Each attendee receives a binder containing copies of all of the presentations, as well as a set of NLS/DBCS publications which will be mailed after the class. IBM INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR NOVEMBER 5-6 and NOVEMBER 12-13, 1992 PRELIMINARY AGENDA - DAY ONE REGISTRATION/COFFEE (Available from 7:30 A.M.) CLASS BEGINS (Promptly at 8:30 A.M.) CLASS INTRODUCTION DBCS VIDEO DESCRIPTION OF NATIONAL LANGUAGE SUPPORT BREAK WORLDWIDE WRITING SYSTEMS CHARACTER SETS, CODE PAGES, AND ENCODING SCHEMES ASIA PACIFIC UPDATE LUNCH CDRA, LCS NATIONAL LANGUAGE DEPENDENT FUNCTIONS BREAK DBCS INTRODUCTION BREAK NL SAMPLE DEMO DAY ONE SUMMARY IBM INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR NOVEMBER 5-6 and NOVEMBER 12-13, 1992 PRELIMINARY AGENDA - DAY TWO INTRODUCTION FOR DAY TWO DBCS GENERAL INFORMATION BREAKOUT SESSIONS - I * AS/400 * OS/2 * EUROPEAN DISCUSSIONS BREAK BREAKOUT SESSIONS - II * DOS * AIX * S/370 LUNCH DESIGNING PANELS FOR MANY LANGUAGES TRANSLATION CONSIDERATIONS HINTS & TIPS SUMMARY OF DAY TWO IBM INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR NOVEMBER 5-6 and NOVEMBER 12-13, 1992 PRELIMINARY COURSE DESCRIPTION - DAY ONE Registration opens at 7:30 A.M. The seminar starts promptly at 8:30 A.M. on Day One and 8:15 A.M on Day Two, and ends no later than 3:30 P.M. on Day Two. INTRODUCTION, and DBCS VIDEO: These two sessions explore why NLS is important when considering program design. A DBCS video created by IBM Asia Pacific introduces the complexities associated with Asian languages. As a result, you can begin to see that NLS/DBCS is not a trivial undertaking and not something to simply be "added on", but rather considered as an important requirement from initial design stages. DESCRIPTION OF NATIONAL LANGUAGE SUPPORT: The session begins with an introduction to NLS, including definitions and the impact of NLS on the way you design your products. Discussion topics include: * What areas of your program are affected by NLS/DBCS ? * What kinds of changes are necessary to accommodate culturally dependent requirements ? We also explore how NLS/DBCS support is often staged to allow evolution as market participation grows. WORLDWIDE WRITING SYSTEMS: An overview of different writing systems and how to provide for them in your applications is presented. Common components for consideration include: * Direction of writing * Diacritical markings * Single case vs mixed case * Word separation * Alphabet size changes CHARACTER SETS, CODE PAGES, and ENCODING SCHEMES: Discussions about the ways different languages are mapped within computing systems are included. We describe the approaches used in the various IBM computing systems. Suggested programming procedures are introduced to support the variety of encoding schemes (which code pages to use). ASIA PACIFIC UPDATE: IBM Asia Pacific presents information about the new IBM-Japan subsidiary, "EncycloSoft Engineering & Services Co., Ltd", and the range of services they provide. CDRA, LCS: "ISO 10646 DIS 1.2" is now an official ISO standard. It reflects the merger of Unicode and ISO proposals for a universal character set capable of mapping all active languages to computing systems. Character Data Representation Architecture (CDRA) is a tagging scheme to preserve the meaning of data within distributed processing environment. The combination of CDRA and this new ISO standard ensures data integrity when moving information across countries. We discuss the latest status of CDRA work efforts and this recent merger and how this can help you in the future. NATIONAL LANGUAGE DEPENDENT FUNCTIONS: The manner in which culture influences your product design is explored, including the ways in which date, time, currency, calendar, rounding, sort, etc. are handled in different countries. High level programming approaches are suggested for supporting a variety of cultural formats. DBCS INTRODUCTION: Basic approaches for enabling your products to support Asian DBCS languages are discussed. Mapping ideographic data into a "Double Byte Character Set" representation is explained. NL SAMPLE DEMONSTRATION: A demonstration prototype is used to illustrate various NL enabling rules discussed throughout Day One. This sample code is POSIX compliant. Rules for enabling SBCS languages (including some bidirectional support) are featured. Demo code is shown for a culturally correct sort to illustrate an approach for resolving sorting requirements. IBM INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR NOVEMBER 5-6 and NOVEMBER 12-13, 1992 PRELIMINARY COURSE DESCRIPTION - DAY TWO PLATFORM SPECIFICS and API INFORMATION DBCS GENERAL INFORMATION: On Day Two you may attend two platform-specific breakout sessions of your choice. The day begins with a discussion of DBCS data and string management principles common across the various platforms. Important DBCS enabling rules are emphasized. CONCURRENT BREAKOUT SESSIONS: NLS/DBCS functions, how to invoke these functions, and available APIs or interfaces are discussed by platform. International hardware and software availability by platform is included. * OS/400 + OS/400 Release 2.2 + CCSID Implementation * OS/2 + OS/2 Release 2.0 * European Discussions + Open exchange with NLS Consultant regarding European environments. * AIX + AIX Release 3.2. This release is a converged operating system with the ability to handle double-byte characters. * DOS (Most currently announced system) + Differences between DOS 5.02 J and V * MVS DESIGNING PANELS FOR NUMEROUS LANGUAGES: You need to consider more than just translation of textual data for multilingual displays. Other factors, for example use of acceptable input parameters and delimiters, and culturally acceptable formats, should be considered. We discuss ways to design your application displays to allow support of many languages. TRANSLATION CONSIDERATIONS: We discuss high level programming approaches, such as isolation of message and textual data, for easy translation. Ideas for reducing overall translation costs are presented in a video created by IBM's European Language Services. HINTS AND TIPS: A guest speaker discusses experiences from conversion efforts to give you some "hints/tips." IBM INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ENROLLMENT PLEASE CHECK THE SESSION YOU WILL ATTEND: ______NOVEMBER 5 and 6 ______NOVEMBER 12 and 13 IBM CORPORATION IBM CORPORATION ONE COPLEY PLACE 425 MARKET STREET BOSTON, MA SAN FRANCISCO, CA ________________________________________________________________________ COMPANY NAME ________________________________________________________________________ STREET ADDRESS ________________________________________________________________________ CITY STATE ZIP ________________________________________________________________________ PHONE FAX ________________________________________________________________________ ATTENDEE LAST NAME FIRST NAME POSITION/TITLE >> REGISTRATION SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION BY IBM. RETURN COMPLETED << >> FORM BY OCTOBER 21st WITH NON-REFUNDABLE $350. << _____ CHECK (PAYABLE TO IBM CORPORATION) _____ CREDIT CARD _______ AMEX _______ MC _______VISA CARD NO. _______________________________ NAME ON CARD ____________________________ SIGNATURE ON CARD _______________________ RETURN CHECKS TO: IBM CORPORATION ATTN: K. S. FLYNN / MAIL STOP 35 PHONE: 203-783-7292 472 WHEELERS FARMS ROAD FAX: 203-783-7653 MILFORD, CT 06460