Xmanager Forum

I have looked at the forum thread regarding Xmanager 3.0 support of Arabic with the use of font server on AIX, and the Xmanager FAQ about using the font server.

Our QA is using Xmanager 2.1 for one AIX 7.1 server and have configured a second AIX server as the font server and specified it in the Xmanager Xconfig, but when we use the X server from the first AIX server through specifying it with the DISPLAY env param to render documents to images, the rendering works fine but the Arabic fonts gets rendered as stars, blocks, and blanks.

Running xlsfonts from Putty connected to the first AIX and with the DISPLAY env param set to the Xmanager Windows server ip and port it will list fonts that has iso8859-6 as part of the font name, but xset q will not list any and only have a reference to the font server like this (ip address changed):
Font Path:
tcp/123.123.123.123:7100,C:\Program Files\NetSarang\Xmanager Fonts\Chinese_misc, ...

So, is there something wrong with this configuration?

Thanks,
Kristoffer Gjevre


Program Ver. : Xmanager 2.x
Connect Method : Xstart connection

BTW, running the X server on the AIX directly (in the VFB) and with the needed fonts installed on the server, or using a different Windows based X server that comes with Arabic font support, will in both cases allow the 3rd party product we use to render the Arabic fonts correctly in the generated images of documents, so it does not look to me like this is an issue with the 3rd party rendering product.

Also, I do not know if our QA configured Xmanager for Connection Method XDMCP or Xstart connection, so if that is important for this Arabic font issue let me know where to look to tell.

Thanks

Are you saying when you open the application from Xmanager, Arabic is displayed fine but when you set DISPLAY from AIX and start application that way, it corrupts Arabic fonts?

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Technical Support

We do not have an application that we run from Xmanager.
Xmanager is configured on a Windows server and can be used to access the AIX server.

The tool we use for document to image conversion on the AIX is Outside In Image Export and it requires that we set the DISPLAY env var to point to a running X server, which works and it generates the images, but it is not rendering the Arabic characters correctly.

I was curios why xset q did nto list the fonts but instead just tcp/123.123.123.123:7100 and the fonts that I assume Xmanager came with, but since xlsfonts lists iso8859-6 fonts when the DISPLAY env var is set to point to Xmanager it seems like it should work, but perhaps there is something I am missing with the Xmanager configuration?

The idea here is that we should not need to make Arabic specific configuration changes to the AIX server or the Xmanager configuration or Windows server (beyond making sure the needed fonts are available) as this will be used to potentially convert documents from a variety sources and languages.

And as mentioned a different X Windows server product does render the Arabic charters correctly when used just like this, so this is to be able to understand if we can recommend Xmanager to a customer or not.

Thanks

Are there any comments or suggestions on this issue?

Also, I looked at the specs for Xmanager 4 and the font download and did not see Arabic or 8859-6 listed, so is there still no direct support for this (except through a font server)?

Thanks

We are trying to learn more about the X application (Outside in Image Export by Oracle) you are using. So far we learned that this application receives input from various sources and generates image files. And, it seems rendering including font is processed from AIX. Xmanager simply displays what is the outcome of the rendered documents which is in image format such as jpeg, png or bmp.

If this process is right, then you have to find out why Arabic font is not included during conversion from the AIX server. Because Xmanager only displays what is the result of conversion, what you see on Xmanager screen is not text but an image. We do not have access to this application, so we won't be able to duplicate this problem from our end.

To further anaylize this problem, please send us the following information:

1. Xmanager log file. It is saved under %APPDATA%\NetSarang\Xmanager\2\Log\
2. Screenshot of the problem in comparsion with what is expected outcome.
3. Please make sure the settings on the other Windows X server is 'exactly' same as Xmanager such as connection protocol, setting the DISPLAY variable and user account.
4. If you can, please try running the application from Xstart without setting the DISPLAY variable.

Also, the reason you only see the URL of the font server with the 'xset q' command, is because xset lists the font directories. These directories are read dynamically when a font is called by an application. xlsfonts lists all avaiable fonts for the x server. So, in your case, Xmanager is connected to the font server and should have no problem usin gthe ISO8859-6 font.


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Technical Support

Thanks for the reply, and the comments about xset and xlsfonts was helpful.

Nothing is actually displayed, instead Outside In Image Export use X Windows calls to render an input document to an image (i.e. only the graphic render capabilities of X Windows is used without displaying anything anywhere).

Anyway, I have discovered that when I use vncserver to start an X Windows server on the AIX server itself, set the DISPLAY env var to this instance, and use xset to specify the remote font server, then again xlsfonts list the fonts on the font server (as it does when using the Xmanager), but again Outside In Image Export does not make use of them, so it looks like an issue with Outside In Image Export so I have created a case with Oracle Support.

I know it has been stated that the only way for Xmanager to support Arabic is through a font server, but I want to check again with you to make sure that fonts can not be added to the Xmanager installation directly?

And if not, are there any plans to either add Arabic fonts or to support adding them to the installation?

This particular issue is about Arabic, but I am concerned that fonts for other languages also may be missing so there will be additional limitations to using Xmanager if Outside In Image Export does not support remote font server.

Thanks

Arabic fonts are not supported at this time. The only way is by using the xfs. We hope to add them in our font package in the near future so that it would be easier for our users to use Arabic in Xmanager.

I attached a guide that you can follow to add new fonts to Xmanager manually.


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Technical Support