On 9/9/19 2:37 PM, Zach Laine wrote:
> On Sun, Sep 8, 2019 at 8:16 PM Tom Honermann <tom_at_[hidden]
> <mailto:tom_at_[hidden]>> wrote:
>
> On 9/8/19 12:02 PM, Steve Downey wrote:
>> Character repertoire sounds good, and I will eventually learn to
>> spell it. Character set is definitely terminology from the
>> pre-unicode times, and unfortunately tends to merge the
>> repertoire and encoding,
>> https://www.iana.org/assignments/character-sets/character-sets.xhtml
>
> I think I was a little over zealous earlier in stating that
> Unicode uses "character repertoire" as I described. I looked
> again and don't find that term formally defined in the standard.
> However, "repertoire" is used throughout the standard in ways that
> I believe are consistent with my description. I wasn't able to
> find an alternative formal term.
>
> I fully endorse overzelousness as applied to Unicode discussions.
:)
>
> The way I've been thinking about it is that a "character
> repertoire" describes a set of /abstract characters/ (a formal
> Unicode term) and a "character set" describes a set of /encoded
> characters/ (a formal Unicode term) that associate each /abstract
> character/ member of a "character repertoire" with a /code point/
> (a formal Unicode term) within a /codespace/ (A formal Unicode
> term). See sections 2.4 and 3.4 of Unicode 12 and uses of the
> word "repertoire" within those chapters. The Unicode standard
> does use the term "character set", but I didn't find a formal
> definition.
>
> I think I follow, except that I don't see whether there is a
> distinction between "character repertoire" and "abstract characters".
> Is there? I'm asking because if there is not, I'd prefer to
> standardize the formally described term, which sounds like is
> "abstract characters".
"character repertoire" is singular and, as such, a "character
repertoire" can be given a name. "abstract characters" is plural and
can be used in a more generic sense (e.g., "a property of abstract
characters is that they blah blah").
> Zach