Akaram Tamil Editor 0.9

Akaram Tamil Editor is a simple text editor,  portable across Windows, Unix and Mac platforms. Its one, single, pure Tcl/Tk Script. Currently, its tested on Unix(Linux) and Windows platforms. This help file is for Unix users.

The salient features of this editor are:

  • Support for TAB encoding (TSCII encoding is NOT supported)
  • Supports Anjal Transliteration Input Method. Support for other methods are withdrawn. New Standard Phonetic Input method will be supported soon.
  • Comes with akaram_tab font. Other fonts will be published soon.
  • Facilities to work  with multiple files at the same time.
  • Option to save files in HTML format
  • Support to edit formatted text
  • Provides Toolbar controls and option to hide/display them
  • Provides Online Hyptertext Help
    • The source code of this software is available free for modifying and distributing.  Please see the section on License & Warranty. If you need the development version of the source code please send a mail to the author.

    Author:

    Nagarajan Chinnasamy (nagu)
    email:nagu@tinet.ie

    Contents:

    1. Acknowledgment
    2. License Agreement
    3. Instllation Instructions
    4. Help On Using Akaram Tamil Editor

    1. Acknowledgment

     
    Anjal Transliteration Scheme, InaiMathi & InaiKathir fonts are offered by:
    CACHE Enterprise Sdn. Bhd. Malaysia
    http://www.murasu.com
    email:info@murasu.com
    Avarangal fonts are offered by:
    Mr. Sinnathurai Srivas
    email:srivas@aol.net
    Mylai fonts are offered by:
    Dr. Kalyanasundaram
    email: kalyan@dcsun1.epfl.ch
    Sri fonts are offered by:
    Dr. Srinivasan
    email: srini@canada.com
    This Release of Akaram is tested by:
    Mr. Praveen Koodaly (Cheran)
    email: pravk@hotmail.com
    Mr. Kannan
    email: kannan@altavista.net
    Contents

     

    2. License Agreement

     
    License:

    You are allowed to use, copy, modify and distribute this software for commercial and non-commercial purpose.  Please refer to the respective License Agreement of other components that are integrated into this software.

    Warranty:

    The author does not warrant that the software will meet your requirements or that the operation of the software will be uninterrupted or error free.  In no event the author will be liable for any damage caused by using this software.
     

    Contents

    3. Installation Instructions

    Akaram is a pure Tcl/Tk script. So, it needs Tcl/Tk to be installed before you could run Akaram. Follow the three steps given below:
    1. Installing Tcl/Tk
    2. Installing Akaram software.
    3. Installing Tamil Bilingual Standard compliant fonts
    4. Running Akaram Tamil Editor
    Contents

    3.1  Installing Tcl/Tk

    Please visit http://www.scriptics.com to download Tcl/Tk  source version 8.0.3 or later. For Unix platforms, you may have to download the source and build it. Compiling and installing Tcl/Tk is very simple and its documented very well. Please follow the instructions given in the source package.

    After successful installation, please add the path of Tcl/Tk binaries in your PATH. For example if you had installed them in /usr/local/bin, then use the following commands:
     

    PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin
    export PATH
    You can add these lines into your login profile (eg.: .profile)

    [Installation Instructions]  [Contents]

    3.2 Installing Akaram software

    To install Akaram, first, uncompress the software using appropriate uncompress tools. Please use uncompress and then untar the package using the commands:
     
    uncompress akaram.Z
    tar -xvf akaram.tar
    When uncompressed, you can check that there are following files in the directory:
     
    Installing Akaram Software is pretty simple. Just follow the steps below:

    Copy akaram.tcl in any directory you want. For eg:

    cp akaram.tcl /usr/local/bin
    Make the directory Akaram/images (watch out the capital A) under Tcl's lib directory. If you had installed Tcl libraries under /usr/local/lib, then use the command:
    mkdir -p /usr/local/lib/Akaram/images
    Now, copy all the files from uncompressed Images directory to the new
    directory just created:
    cp Images/* /usr/local/lib/Akaram/images


    [Installation Instructions]  [Contents]

    3.3 Installing TAB compliant Tamil Fonts

    Copy all the files from tabfonts/unix into any directory you want (Eg.: /usr/local/tabfonts) as shown below:
     
    cd tabfonts/unix
    mkdir /usr/local/tabfonts
    cp *  /usr/local/tabfonts
    Now cd to the directory where you copied the fonts to:
     
    cd /usr/local/tabfonts
    Now execute the following commands:
     
    mkfontdir
    xset +fp /usr/local/tabfonts
    Thats all. Just to verify if the installation was proper, execute the following command:
     
    xlsfonts | grep -i tsc
    This should list out TAB fonts like:  akaram_tab etc.

    One important reminder here:

    xset +fp /usr/local/tabfonts
    You can add the above command in a startup file like .xinit
    [Installation Instructions]  [Contents]

    3.4 Running Akaram Tamil Editor

    Assuming that you have
    you can execute Akaram Tamil Editor using the command:
     
    wish /usr/local/bin/akaram.tcl
    Vaazka Thamiz.... VaLarka Thamiz....

    [Installation Instructions]  [Contents]

    4. Help On Using Akaram Tamil Editor

    1. Help on typing in Tamil
    2. Help on Menu Options
    3. Help on using Tool Bar Buttons
    Contents

    4.1 Help On Typing In Tamil

    Please check help on following three menu options to type text in Tamil:

    Format->Configure Font
    Use Format->Configure Font to select the font, its size and style. This brings up a dialog box with options to select font family, its style and size. This also provides options to set Underline and Strikeout effects.

    To enter Tamil text, you need to select one of the TAB compliant fonts. This software is bundled with a few TAB compliant fonts. Their name begin or end with TAB. You can download other TAB compliant fonts from http://www.tamilnet99.org

    Format->Set Tamil Keyboard
    Use Format->Set Tamil Keyboard to enter Tamil text. You can switch to enter English Text by selecting this option again.

    To enter Tamil text, you need to select one of the TAB compliant fonts. This software is bundled with a few TAB compliant fonts. Their name begin or end with TAB. You can download other TAB compliant fonts from http://www.tamilnet99.org

    Format->Tamil Input Method
    Use Format->Tamil Input Method to set your favorite Tamil input method. Currently Anjal Transliteration mode is supported.
     

    [Help On Using Akaram Tamil Editor]  [Contents]

    4.2 Help On Using Menu Options

    1. File
    2. Edit
    3. View
    4. Tools
    5. Format
    [Help On Using Akaram Tamil Editor]  [Contents]

    4.3 Help On Using Tool Bar Buttons

    Sorry... No Help Available On This Topic Now...

    [Help On Using Akaram Tamil Editor]  [Contents]

    4.2.1 Help On Menu Options-File
    File->Open
    Use File->Open to open an existing file for editing. This creates a new window for editing the opened file. To switch between files use View option and select the file you want to edit.

    File->New
    Use File->New to create a new file. This creates a new untitled empty window. The file can be saved later using  File-SaveAs option. To switch between multiple files use View option and select the file you want to edit.

    File->Save
    Use File->Save to save the file currently being edited. If the file was created using File->New, then you will be given a Save As dialog box to save the file. If it was opened using File->Open, the file is simply saved. This overwrites the contents previously stored in the file. Use File->SaveAs if you do not want to overwrite the file.

    File->Save As
    Use File->SaveAs to save the file currently being edited in different file and/or in different format. This option is useful if you do not want to overwrite the current file with the changes. Options are provided to save file Akaram Text File format, HTML format or in plain text file format.

    File->Close
    Use File->Close to close the file in current window. If the file was modified, you will be prompted to save the file before closing.

    File->Exit
    Use File-Exit to quit Akaram Tamil Editor. For all the files that are currently opened and modified, you will be prompted individually to save them.

    [Help On Using Menu Options] [Help On Using Akaram Tamil Editor] [Contents]

    4.2.2 Help On Menu Options - Edit
    Edit->Copy
    Use Edit-Copy to copy the highlighted text to the clip-board. Copied text can be pasted into other applications(eg. Mail Composer, MS Word etc.) using Paste option of the application."

    Edit->Cut
    Use Edit-Cut to remove the highlighted text and copy it to the clip-board. Copied text can be pasted into other applications(eg. Mail Composer, MS Word etc.) using Paste option of the application.

    Edit->Paste
    Use Edit-Paste to copy the text from clip-board to your file. This inserts the text at the current cursor position. This option is useful to transfer text from other applications (e.g.. Mail Composer, MS Word etc.) to your file.

    Edit->Delete
    Use Edit-Delete to remove the highlighted text.

    Edit->Select All
    Use Edit-Select All to highlight the entire text.

    [Help On Using Menu Options] [Help On Using Akaram Tamil Editor] [Contents]

    4.2.3 Help On Menu Options-View
    View->Toolbar
    This is a toggle option to hide or display the toolbar. By default the toolbar is displayed. Select this option to hide the toolbar. Select again to display it.

    View->Status Bar
    This is a toggle option to hide or display the status bar at the bottom of the editor. By default the status bar is displayed. Select this option to hide the status bar. Select again to display it.

    View->Format Bar
    This is a toggle option to hide or display the format bar. By default the format bar is displayed. Select this option to hide the format bar. Select again to display it.

    Switching between files
    Under view option, all the files currently opened are listed with their serial number and name. To switch to a file, simply select the file from the list. This will bring up the window having the file you want.

    4.2.4 Help On Menu Options-Tools
    Tools->Find
    Use Tools->Find to search a string in the text being edited. This brings up a dialog box with options to enter the string that you want to search. Enter the string and press Find Next button. This searches the string in the text and highlights it if a match is found. Continue searching for the same string by pressing Find Next button repeatedly.

    You can select the direction of searching by selecting one of Forward and Backward buttons.

    By default, searching is case in-sensitive. To make it case sensitive, select the Match Case option.

    If you want to enter a regular expression as the search string, enable Regular Expression option.

    Tools->Find Next
    Use Tools->Find Next to continue the previous search operation without bringing the Tools->Find dialog box. You search the through entire text by invoking Find Next repeatedly.

    [Help On Using Menu Options] [Help On Using Akaram Tamil Editor] [Contents]

    4.2.5 Help On Menu Options-Format
    Format->Configure Font
    Use Format->Configure Font to select the font, its size and style. This brings up a dialog box with options to select font family, its style and size. This also provides options to set Underline and Strikeout effects.

    To enter Tamil text, you need to select one of the TAB compliant fonts. This software is bundled with a few TAB compliant fonts. Their name begin or end with TAB or tab. You can download other TAB compliant fonts from http://www.tamilnet99.org/

    Format->Foreground Color
    Use Format->Foreground Color to select the color in which the text is to be displayed.

    Format->Wrap Long Lines
    Use Format->Wrap Long Lines to fold the lines that are longer than the editor's window size. You can toggle this option by selecting it again.

    Format->Set Tamil Keyboard
    Use Format->Set Tamil Keyboard to enter Tamil text. You can switch to enter English Text by selecting this option again.

    To enter Tamil text, you need to select one of the TAB compliant fonts. This software is bundled with a few TAB compliant fonts. Their name begin or end with TAB or tab. You can download other TAB compliant fonts from http://www.tamilnet99.org/

    Format->Tamil Input Method
    Use Format->Tamil Input Method to set your favorite Tamil input method. Currently Anjal Transliteration mode, Support for other methods are withdrawn. New Standard Phonetic Input method will be supported soon.
     

    [Help On Using Menu Options] [Help On Using Akaram Tamil Editor] [Contents]