Jump to content
Mr.Kim.Sanders

Control Panel Changes to accept Unicode characters

Recommended Posts

How do I get in contact with a Microsoft person who is familiar with Visual FoxPro? What licence number do I quote regarding TMG 6.12 (or TMG 7.00, since I have both)?

I need to be able to change my global settings so that the Windows-1252 limitations apparently imposed by Visual FoxPro are overridden, so that I can enter data using the alt-x Unicode input method like I can in MS Word.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

TMG 7 uses Foxpro9. TMG6 had an older version. Even with service packs, there is no Unicode support in Foxpro. Yes, it is a Microsoft problem, because they have already said that there will be no Foxpro10. The subject comes up now and then, because of foreign font accents that some would like to use. Microsoft is a challenge, but Foxpro9 is definitely the starting point on their site.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This has been a point of contention for years but one that TMG has no control over. You might want to take a look at a small "freeware" program called AllChars that will give you the capability that you want. I have used it for years and automatically install it on every computer that I use. AllChars is set up to load automatically when I boot up as it is almost transparent.

 

The link follows: http://allchars.zwolnet.com . Just copy it into your

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Rather than contending anything, we just need to move to a Microsoft umbrella that does support Unicode. If only somebody in TMG still had our Visual Foxpro license numbers. Then, this wouldn't have to hit us like a Hurricane Katrina that they knew for 50 years that New Orleans was vulnerable, but did nothing to dike it up, or move the people inland.

» I have in my Tree a cousin who was born in England, but died in Turkey during the first world war.

» I also have a Vietnamese acquaintance who moved to the Czech Republic, married a Czech lady, before coming to Canada. He's important enough for me to put in my Tree.

» I have a Turkish acquaintance who came to Canada and married a lady in Ontario who came from China.

» A number of ancestors on my mother's side moved to Kansas, where there is a colony of people who appear on the US census with their Czech names fully accented in Czech style because the census taker was a Czech-American.

» And I'm only one example. We live in a cosmopolitan world, in a time of modern technology and communication. Many of us are interested in recording the details that appear on the records, in all their glorious detail, inconsistencies and accents and all the rest.

» Surely Microsoft can help us to move from the dead-end backwaters of Visual FoxPro, which is known to be heading for extinction, to something where complaints are no longer required.

» Are there any creative thinkers amongst us? Anyone?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Rather than contending anything, we just need to move to a Microsoft umbrella that does support Unicode. If only somebody in TMG still had our Visual Foxpro license numbers. Then, this wouldn't have to hit us like a Hurricane Katrina that they knew for 50 years that New Orleans was vulnerable, but did nothing to dike it up, or move the people inland.

» I have in my Tree a cousin who was born in England, but died in Turkey during the first world war.

» I also have a Vietnamese acquaintance who moved to the Czech Republic, married a Czech lady, before coming to Canada. He's important enough for me to put in my Tree.

» I have a Turkish acquaintance who came to Canada and married a lady in Ontario who came from China.

» A number of ancestors on my mother's side moved to Kansas, where there is a colony of people who appear on the US census with their Czech names fully accented in Czech style because the census taker was a Czech-American.

» And I'm only one example. We live in a cosmopolitan world, in a time of modern technology and communication. Many of us are interested in recording the details that appear on the records, in all their glorious detail, inconsistencies and accents and all the rest.

» Surely Microsoft can help us to move from the dead-end backwaters of Visual FoxPro, which is known to be heading for extinction, to something where complaints are no longer required.

» Are there any creative thinkers amongst us? Anyone?

 

I second Mr.Kim.Sanders.

 

I have several Czech names in my ancestry and I want to use the correct letters.

Allchars is no solution as it only gives a possibility to type/input the 255 "standard" characters in the character set. It does not help for Czech Hačeks, Vietnamese characters ....

 

The problem for the development team probably is not only the database FoxPro (which probably could be replaced by Microsft-SQL or an OpenSource DB) but the programming interface/tools. This could mean a reprogramming of everything.

 

But at the end, Microsoft has cancelled the further development of VFP (at least what the integration of UTF concerns) and I think TMG must be aware of this. It is to be hoped, that they are already working on migrating TMG to another database - or users would move to another program that supports UTF.

 

Regards

Helmut

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Rather than contending anything, we just need to move to a Microsoft umbrella that does support Unicode. If only somebody in TMG still had our Visual Foxpro license numbers. Then, this wouldn't have to hit us like a Hurricane Katrina that they knew for 50 years that New Orleans was vulnerable, but did nothing to dike it up, or move the people inland.

» I have in my Tree a cousin who was born in England, but died in Turkey during the first world war.

» I also have a Vietnamese acquaintance who moved to the Czech Republic, married a Czech lady, before coming to Canada. He's important enough for me to put in my Tree.

» I have a Turkish acquaintance who came to Canada and married a lady in Ontario who came from China.

» A number of ancestors on my mother's side moved to Kansas, where there is a colony of people who appear on the US census with their Czech names fully accented in Czech style because the census taker was a Czech-American.

» And I'm only one example. We live in a cosmopolitan world, in a time of modern technology and communication. Many of us are interested in recording the details that appear on the records, in all their glorious detail, inconsistencies and accents and all the rest.

» Surely Microsoft can help us to move from the dead-end backwaters of Visual FoxPro, which is known to be heading for extinction, to something where complaints are no longer required.

» Are there any creative thinkers amongst us? Anyone?

 

 

Of course there are creative thinkers among us... Bob Velke to name just one.

 

Do you really think Bob hasn't been aware of this all along- and has made plans accordingly?

 

TMG rarely comments on future developments and yet has managed to stay at the top of the heap for over a decade against some very well funded competition. Just look at that competition; with each release they try to get closer to what TMG already is.

 

I trusted Bob and TMG with my data 10 years ago or more, I trust them with it today, and I'll trust them to meet my future needs until they show me that they can't meet them.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There's a free utility download called Quick Unicode Input (QUI). It's downloadable from http://www.cardbox.com/quick/download.htm, which puts quick100.exe on the user's system.

 

You can see what any Unicode value would look like by holding down the alt-key and pressing . (i.e. dot from the numeric keypad) followed by its 4 hex numbers. This QUI method could be referred to as the alt.xxxx method.

 

Another QUI method, using alt., allows the user to access the Character Map. (That's by holding down the alt-key and pressing just the numpad dot [alt.].) From there, the user can choose some characters from a variety of character sets (including Unicode) just by pointing the mouse and clicking on the desired characters.

 

Unfortunately, until further whollygenes.com-side action, the user is just tantalized on TMG with all of this, at least so far. Alas, by the time the user presses OK to close the input window, it's converted the Γ (Alt.393) to a G, changed the Θ (Alt.0398) to a ?, and dumbed down the Ệ to Ê, which just isn't what the user wants or is prepared to accept. It's "not what was ordered".

 

As far as I understand, the user's contract regarding TMG 6.0 and TMG 7.0 is with the operators of whollygenes.com. The user could care less what its platform is (Visual FoxPro 7.0, VFP 9.0, etc. are quite beside the point) or the history to any of the various "issues", as long as the latest Unicode data is available for display and use (throughout TMG after the input windows close) from now onwards.

 

A consultant of mine advises me that MySQL is a possibility for those (in this case, on the whollygenes.com side of the user's TMG contract) who know how to rewrite the utilities which are still not in sync with Unicode. Perhaps there are other options as well, useful input available on the Internet, for the creative thinkers onboard, which would allow the creative thinking users to input family tree data in an æsthetically pleasing format, giving full respect to the way family members actual write and have written their story, in whatever language.

Mr.Kim.Sanders shaw.ca.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

:rolleyes: Mick Thankyou so much for the fix, my mom immigrated from Finnland and many of the names and places are in either Sweedish of Finnish, TMG v.4 was easy but v.7 (I just got it) didn't like my keyboard shortcuts. Thanks again. Adonika in NC

 

This has been a point of contention for years but one that TMG has no control over. You might want to take a look at a small "freeware" program called AllChars that will give you the capability that you want. I have used it for years and automatically install it on every computer that I use. AllChars is set up to load automatically when I boot up as it is almost transparent.

 

The link follows: http://allchars.zwolnet.com . Just copy it into your

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

:rolleyes: Mick Thankyou so much for the fix, my mom immigrated from Finnland and many of the names and places are in either Sweedish of Finnish, TMG v.4 was easy but v.7 (I just got it) didn't like my keyboard shortcuts. Thanks again. Adonika in NC

 

You are very welcome. Happy New year.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Further to my post #7 above, I suggest that TMG hires someone with Microsoft who has experience with both Visual FoxPro and Unicode-enabled database software. There ought to be a way for that someone to upgrade the proprietary capabilities to full Unicode operability, perhaps by offering a download which allows the user the ability of converting the file extensions away from those used by Visual FoxPro.

/Mr.Kim.Sanders@shaw.ca

A true master isn't content with an outmoded system.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Further to my post #7 above, I suggest that TMG hires someone with Microsoft who has experience with both Visual FoxPro and Unicode-enabled database software. There ought to be a way for that someone to upgrade the proprietary capabilities to full Unicode operability, perhaps by offering a download which allows the user the ability of converting the file extensions away from those used by Visual FoxPro.

/Mr.Kim.Sanders@shaw.ca

A true master isn't content with an outmoded system.

 

 

Dear Mt. Sanders,

 

Just exactly how long do you intend to beat this deceased equine?

 

Give it up! It ain't gonna happen as long as TMG is based on Foxpro-PERIOD!

 

Now- get over it... and get over yourself!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

With a Microsoft programmer on board, it doesn’t have to remain based on FoxPro. That’s my point.

/Mr.Kim.Sanders@shaw.ca.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
With a Microsoft programmer on board, it doesn’t have to remain based on FoxPro. That’s my point.

We are not prepared to make any announcement at this time regarding future migration but you have made your point repeatedly, thank you.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.

×