ISWA 2010 for Implementers

[Alan Post]

You are amazing!

Thank you so much, you've eliminated a huge worry I had about using
new versions of SignWriting.

Thank you!

-Alan

On Wed, May 04, 2011 at 01:03:00PM -0500, Steve Slevinski wrote:
> Hi Alan,
> 
> I updated the ISWA 2010 conversion for the BSW 3 strings you are using.
> Use Online: http://www.signbank.org/iswa_dev/convert/
> Download: http://www.signbank.org/iswa_dev/convert.zip
> 
> The conversion package requires a PHP configured web server.
> 
> I was able to convert and verify the test string you sent.
> 
> On 5/3/11 3:57 PM, Alan Post wrote:
> >0fb15a38d39a47a4c71c538c3934854b920638c3924884d30fd1c538c39315a38d39a20638c392
> 
> To convert the BSW 3 string to the ASCII Markup of Formal SignWriting, 
> use the following page:
> http://www.signbank.org/iswa_dev/convert/cksw.php
> 
> The conversion page will output the ASCII markup.  You can verify the 
> markup with the import page of SignPuddle 1.6 beta.
> http://signbank.org/signpuddle1.6/import.php?ui=1&sgn=4
> 
> If the import process was successful, press the Data Format button for 
> the preliminary Unicode and visualization.
> 
> The rest of this email steps through the conversion.
> 
> Here's the technical details of how the conversion works for your 
> string, using groups of 3 digits.
> 0fb15a38d39a47a4c71c538c3934854b920638c3924884d30fd1c538c39315a38d39a20638c392
> 
> Your string contains 2 parts.  A spatial arrangement:
> 0fb 15a38d39a 47a4c7 1c538c393 4854b9 20638c392 4884d3
> 
> Second part is a temporal order.
> 0fd 1c538c393 15a38d39a 20638c392
> 
> In Formal SignWriting, the temporal order comes first.  Instead of using 
> a character code, the temporal prefix uses the ASCII letter "A".  A 
> temporal order is just a list of ordered symbols.
> 
> In Formal SignWriting, symbols are refered to with symbol keys in the 
> form of "S" followed by 3 digits for the base character and 2 digits for 
> the position.  The first digit of the position represents the fill and 
> the second digit of the position represents the rotation.
> 
> Your string identifies 3 symbols.  Each symbol is identified with 9 digits.
> 
> The string 1c538c393 becomes key S1c501.
> The string 15a38d39a becomes key S15a18.
> The string 20638c392 becomes key 20600.
> 
> Considering the symbol key "S15a18", the base in hexadecimal is "15a".
> http://www.signbank.org/iswa/15a/15a_bs.html
> 
> The position is "18" in hex.  The position, fill, and rotation all start 
> from 1, so remember to add 1 to the hexadecimal to decimal conversion.
> http://easycalculation.com/hex-converter.php
> 
> The position is 25, the fill is 2 and the rotation is 9.
> 
> If we look again at the temporal order in the new ASCII markup, we have:
> A S1c501 S15a18 S20600
> 
> Preliminary Unicode uses 3 characters to identify a symbol.
> A 𝣅𝪚𝪡 𝡚𝪛𝪨 𝤆𝪚𝪠
> 
> If a font was working, these character sequences would be replaced with 
> the appropriate symbol image.
> A
> 
> This is the visualization for the temporal order to your sign.  We call 
> it the SignSpelling Sequence.  It is used for sorting.
> 
> Just as we replace the sequence character with "A", we also replace the 
> sign box lane markers with ASCII characters "L, M, R" for left lane, 
> middle lane, and right lane.
> 
> If we return to the spatial arrangement of your string with updated lane 
> marker and symbol keys:
> M S15a18 47a4c7 S1c501 4854b9 S20600 4884d3
> 
> One of the last parts to convert are the coordinates.  Your string has 
> the following coordinates:
> 47a4c7
> 4854b9
> 4884d3
> 
> These coordinates use 3 hexadecimal digits per number.  In your string, 
> each number starts with a 4.  The first coordinate in your string is ( 
> "47a","4c7") which is the top-left of the symbol.  When recentered for 
> zero, the coordinate resolves to (-18,-5).
> 
> Formal SignWriting does not use coordinate characters, but a string 
> representation.  Negative numbers use the letter "n" as a prefix.  
> Numbers are combined with the letter "x". The coordinates (-18,-5) would 
> use the string "n18xn5".
> 
> If we put it all together, the Formal SignWriting string for your sign is:
> AS1c501S15a18S20600M18x18S15a18n18xn5S1c501n7xn19S20600n4x7
> 
> With Preliminary Unicode, the string becomes:
> A𝣅𝪚𝪡𝡚𝪛𝪨𝤆𝪚𝪠M18x18𝡚𝪛𝪨n18xn5𝣅𝪚𝪡n7xn19𝤆𝪚𝪠n4x7
> 
> Once a font is installed, the data can be seen as:
> A M18x18 n18xn5 n7xn19 n4x7
> 
> It's still complicated, but much easier to explain.  The temporal 
> sequence starts the string.  This optional prefix sorts the signs.
> 
> The sign is in the middle lane.  The first coordinate of "18x18" is the 
> new maximum coordinate for the sign - a preprocessed value based on 
> (0,0) as the center of the sign.  This new coordinate makes layout easy 
> and fast.  Using the "padding-left" attribute of CSS, sign layout is as 
> simple as addition and subtraction.
> 
> Regards,
> -Steve

-- 
.i ma'a lo bradi ku penmi gi'e du