I18N Round Table

Today saw the long awaited I18N (Internationalisation) meeting in Ealing. Revelation UK staff and Mike Ruane, over from the US, were joined by a handful of key developers from Europe involved and interested in better support for I18N within OpenInsight.

Following the usual introductions during which attendees highlighted their needs for I18N within OpenInsight, Mike touched on the position of OpenInsight when he took over the product and then the main I18N enhancements that Revelation have built into the product since version 4.1.3, through the 7.x series and into the recent enhancements in 9.x.

The day then followed a round table discussion format during which various topics were openly discussed. The idea was for Mike and Carl, to fully understand what our International clients need for enhanced I18N support in OpenInsight version 9.2, 10.0 and later.

Some of the topics discussed included; better support for UTF8 and possible future support for UTF16, collation sequences, LH4 to handle full UTF8 data, caching and performance implications following the necessary changes.

Collation sequences became a major topic of discussion and Mike showed how version 9.x can use Windows Collation. Attendees were invited to submit examples of their collation sequences to Mike.

Following a lengthy discussion, most of which was beyond my comprehension, the general consensus was that Revelation are almost there already, but that the proposed changes will address most of the things that our International clients need and that the enhancements should open up more doors and opportunities for us all.

I’ll not go as far as indicating what Revelation’s plans are following the meeting as it is too early and Mike has much to think about. However, the meeting generated five key areas to consider for 9.2 and certainly leaves the development team with a more clearly defined idea of what is needed for far better support for I18N in OpenInsight 9.2 and later.

Personally, I would like to thank Kerry Walter, Alexander Holliday, Stefano Cavaglieri, Neville Jones and Gary St Denis for taking time to meet with us and to contribute to this large and complex topic.