Acon
		
This program provides the capability of right to left displaying
of text, and process the arabic texts to change the letter shape
depending on its position.

Installation

    1-Extract the archive :
	tar xzvf acon-1.0.5.tar.gz
	cd acon
    2-If you want, edit acon.h for some configuration.
    3-Compile the program:
	make
    4-Then install the binary and data files
	make install
	
**** Notes
    -acon will be installed as setuid. I made my efforts to make
    it not risky. Please tell me if any thing goes wrong.
    -the unicode mode is still not tested. Please tell me if you
    find errors.

Using:

    To run Acon, simply type:
	acon &
    Acon will first search for configuration file '~/.acon.conf'. if
    it is not found, Acon will try '/etc/acon.conf'. If both aren't
    found Acon will run in the current console with the defaults.
    
    Acon can work with more than one console. Each console can has
    its own font, keymap and translation data. Which means that each
    console can handle different codeset.
    
    Acon can be configured in three different ways:
    1- Command line options:
	By using command line options, Acon won't read the 
	configuration file. Type 'acon -?' to know what options are
	available.
	The sequence of options is important. You first set the 
	different options for one console and then adding it using 
	'-s n', where n is the console number. For example
	'-f sample.f16 -ha -dr -s 3' sequence will add console 3 to
	the list of consoles monitored by Acon, with font sample.f16
	using the hendi numbers and the direction of the console is
	from right to left. Repeate for different consoles in the same
	command line. The line
	acon -f sample.f16 -ha -dr -s 3 -hn -dl -k cp-1256 -s 4 &
	will run Acon in the background. Acon will work with the 
	consoles 3 and 4.
	
    2- configuration file:
	It works in the same manner as above. But you write each option
	and its parameter in on line. 
	
    3- online configuration
	You can configure Acon using menus at any time by pressing the
	key CTRL-ALT-O at the same time (use left ALT).
	Press CTRL-C to exit menu or ENTER to select an item.
	Use the 'Save' item to save the configuration to '~/.acon.conf'.
	Then you can change it or use it the next time you run Acon.
	
Hot keys:
    You can press the following keys when a console monitored by Acon is
    the active console (you can make any console active using the kays
    ALT-F1 for console number 1, AlT-F2 for console number 2 and so on):
    CTRL-ALT-TAB : Change the direction of the console.
    CTRL-ALT-A   : Change the language of writing(Arabic<->English)
    CTRL-ALT-O   : Open the options menu.
	(use left ALT)
	
    CTRL-left SHIFT : Change the direction of the console to LTR.
    CTRL-right SHIFT: Change the direction of the console to RTL.
    ALT-left SHIFT  : Change the language to English.
    ALT-right SHIFT : Change the language to Arabic.

Unicode:
    Select UTF-8/Enable from the menu to enable unicode input and output.
    You should use ISO-8859 translation and keymap to function correctly
    in UTF-8 mode. This mode is still under test and I'm not sure if it
    works right. Please I need your feedback.
    
Usefull hints:
    -To enable 'bash' to accept and display arabic letters, create
     a file name '.inputrc' in your home directory containing:
	set meta-flag On
	set convert-meta Off
	set output-meta On

    -To read files which contains arabic letters using less add the
     flag '-r'
         less -r filename
	 
acon.conf format
    For each console you set its options then add it to the list of consoles.
    Each line is started by the option name, then its value.
    white scapes, emty lines and commants started bu '#' are ignored.
    The available options are:
    hendinums:	set the hendinumbers options.
	values:
	    never, always, context
    unicode:	set the unicode options.
	values:
	    disable, enable
    direction:	set the general direction of the console.
	values:
	    LTR, RTL
    font:	set the font file name
	values:
	    file name
    keymap:	set the keymap file name
	values:
	    file name
    translation:set the translation file name
	values:
	    file name
    add_console:add a console to the list with the previous options
	values:
	    console number
    
    You can select options/save from the menu to save the option to ~/.acon.conf,
    Look at this file to know the exact form.

Files:
    /usr/lib/acon/fonts/*	font files
    /usr/lib/acon/keymaps/*	keymap files
    /usr/lib/acon/translation/* translation files
    /etc/acon.cnf
    ~/.acon.conf
    
Visit my home page : http://members.tripod.com/ahmedahamid/
you may find more usefull tools

Report problems with this package to:  ahmedam@mail.usa.com

13 Sep 1999.