I've been contacted by someone who is not a member of B-Greek, with the following problem :
"I am collaborating with someone, working on a paper regarding Galatians in the Greek New Testament.
This person is using SPIonic on Word for Windows. I am using a Mac, running Word 11.
When I received the paper, the Greek showed up as boxes, although I had SPIonic font installed. I visited several website, redownloading SPIonic fonts. When I visited you site, the Windows version of SPIonic, when installed, does display the Greek properly. However, when I try to type in Greek, it types symbols, etc.
They person I am colloaborating with is not willing to use a unicode font. So, is there a way that I can use SPIonic, viewing his document, and then being abel to type in Greek on my Mac and return the document to him?"
I know - my initial reaction is "tell him to get into the 21st century". But does anyone know of a work-around for this poor guy ?
Shirley Rollinson
SPIonic
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Shirley Rollinson
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RandallButh
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Re: SPIonic
If the person is using XP or later, their system should automatically present any unicode font that the second person types into the document. (Maybe even Windows98, though some things needed special installing.) The non-unicode material should still appear 'in Greek' because of the non-standard font that is installed in the first person's system.
The only potential glitch that I see is if the same generic name on the font forces the first system to read the second system unicode input with the non-unicode font. If that happens, then I would recommend typing Greek with a unicode keyboard with the doc font formatted to something like TimesNewRoman or Arial UnicodeMS. Those fonts will be on the Windows system of the first person and will read the unicode Greek encoded material. The second person will need to manually switch between language inputs when the doc is in his system. He should use the Mac Greek Polytonic input, hopefully already installed in the little "international" box on the top screen frame. If not, its easy to install from the language input list.
Sometimes a Mac program will not encode the "language" metadata (Language: Greek) in a way for a Windows program to access the metadata, which might result in the Windows program trying to read the unicode SPIonic with non-unicode SPIonic. The second person above can go back and reformat any unicode SPIonic that the second person typed, with any other unicode font that includes the Greek set, which always includes timesNewToman and Arial MS on XP and later, ifnIRememberCorrectly.
PS: it sounds like your advisee's advisee is not interested in using or learning the Greek National Keyboard. You might at least suggest to both that such a thing exists, and that it is a good thing for someone learning a language to learn the typewriter layout of the language. If they install the Greek Polytonic keyboard under "Regions, Language" within Control Panel of Windows (yes, this already existed in both of their systems), then a unicode visable Greek font will appear when anyone reads the doc in a 21st century platform. There will also be a long list of font typefaces that will be available and can be switched as easy as formatting a different font, without any need for retyping. In addition, GentiumAlt and the old Greek classic "Porson" are both available on the web as free downloads.Some people get a kick out of seeing Machen's old font appear in their doc with its pleasant, dark, clear, readable, semi-italic typeface.
The only potential glitch that I see is if the same generic name on the font forces the first system to read the second system unicode input with the non-unicode font. If that happens, then I would recommend typing Greek with a unicode keyboard with the doc font formatted to something like TimesNewRoman or Arial UnicodeMS. Those fonts will be on the Windows system of the first person and will read the unicode Greek encoded material. The second person will need to manually switch between language inputs when the doc is in his system. He should use the Mac Greek Polytonic input, hopefully already installed in the little "international" box on the top screen frame. If not, its easy to install from the language input list.
Sometimes a Mac program will not encode the "language" metadata (Language: Greek) in a way for a Windows program to access the metadata, which might result in the Windows program trying to read the unicode SPIonic with non-unicode SPIonic. The second person above can go back and reformat any unicode SPIonic that the second person typed, with any other unicode font that includes the Greek set, which always includes timesNewToman and Arial MS on XP and later, ifnIRememberCorrectly.
PS: it sounds like your advisee's advisee is not interested in using or learning the Greek National Keyboard. You might at least suggest to both that such a thing exists, and that it is a good thing for someone learning a language to learn the typewriter layout of the language. If they install the Greek Polytonic keyboard under "Regions, Language" within Control Panel of Windows (yes, this already existed in both of their systems), then a unicode visable Greek font will appear when anyone reads the doc in a 21st century platform. There will also be a long list of font typefaces that will be available and can be switched as easy as formatting a different font, without any need for retyping. In addition, GentiumAlt and the old Greek classic "Porson" are both available on the web as free downloads.Some people get a kick out of seeing Machen's old font appear in their doc with its pleasant, dark, clear, readable, semi-italic typeface.