Suchergebnisse

This Article consists of a short review of the Arabic and Persian word processing software for the Macintosh computer called AlKaatibTM, as well as a presentation of some of the ways in which it is now being used as a pedagogical and research aid. It should be stated at the outset that although I did not personally develop this software, I was intimately involved with developing the fonts for it, and with testing it in its initial stages, thereby providing input that was incorporated into the present version. This article should therefore be viewed not so much as an outside review of the software, but as an expression by someone who uses it on a daily basis of what it has meant to him.

This article is a personal account of how I, a professor of Arabic with no computer background, managed to get Arabic word-processing capabilities out of the computing facilities already intact in my college, with relatively little capital outlay. Although many of the details would be different at other institutions, it is clear that the same basic strategies could be followed to get word-processing capabilities anywhere the basic computing facilities already exist.Before I begin my story, I should explain that there are Arabic word processors "out there" of varying qualities. CPT, Wang, Apple, Merganthaler, Xerox, and others have products either out or almost out which range in cost from a few thousand to almost a hundred thousand dollars. Except for the Xerox product, the Arabic on the screen is rather ugly, but when connected to a letter quality Arabic printer the hard copy of most is acceptable.

Der Autor, Professor für Arabisch, berichtet über das von ihm entwickelte Programm zur Nutzung eines verfügbaren Textverarbeitungssystems (SCRIPT; IBM 370) für arabische Texte. Bei der Eingabe werden die Texte nach einem einfachen System umschrieben (pro Buchstabe des arabischen Alphabets ein lateinischer Kleinbuchstabe bzw. ein Sonderzeichen); für die Ausgabe in arabischer Schrift über eine Kugelkopfschreibmaschine ermittelt das Programm die richtige Form der arabischen Buchstaben (je nach Stellung an Wortanfang, -mitte, -ende) und die Position innerhalb der Zeile (Simulation der arabischen Schreibrichtung). (DÜI-Hns)