Maltese Language System 2.0 notes

• What is MLS? Where do I get it

  The MLS is a set of code and macros which enable you to type Maltese into Microsoft(tm) Word (Office). It is in test and is available from the Central Information Management Unit (CIMU), at this address: http://cimu.magnet.mt/maltese_language_support.asp

  I have no connection with CIMU or this project- this is just a page to collect comments and hopefully helpful hints about using this important software.

  Note that MLS doesn't actually add the capability to process the Maltese letters- it just allows you to actually type them in a reasonable way. If you have the right fonts installed, you can see for yourself even without MLS- go to Insert -> Symbol, choose a font like Lucida Sans Unicode or Times New Roman, and if there is a popup on the right with 'Subset:' or 'Basic Latin', change it to 'Latin Extended-A'. You should find the Maltese characters.

• Why is MLS better than XYZ solution that I already have for typing Maltese?

  There are a few easy ways to show the value of MLS versus existing font-based systems. Try the following tasks with and without MLS: (Note, of course substitute the correct Maltese spelling for that found here)
  • Type 'tieghi' and press space (but with the cut h).
    On many systems when autocorrect is turned on, you will get this: 'tiegh I'. Why? Because the cut H is interpreted by the software as a punctuation character, because you are simply changing the shape of the punctuation character to look like a cut H. In fact, under MLS, Word will even automatically capitalize the Maltese letters when they appear at the beginning of a sentence. This is because the computer actually knows about the Maltese letters.
  • Type in Maltese: 'hobz HOBZ hobz HOBZ'. Now, select the lowercase 'hobz' and Copy it. Go to the Find menu (control F) and paste in the lowercase word. ("match case" should be off) Click Find Next.
    Under MLS, both the upper and lower case versions will be found. On font based systems, only the lowercase will be found. To see why, just change the font-based (non MLS) text into a different font like Arial. You will see something like: "[ob` {OB~". Well, of course one doesn't match the other- the left square bracket and the left curly bracket have nothing to do with each other!
  • Type something in Maltese and change it to a different font.
    Instead of getting garbage, you will at worst get square boxes. Many fonts today are Unicode based, and include the Maltese characters as part of their repertoire. You can download even more fonts from places like www.microsoft.com/typography. Likely you will find a large number of fonts already installed which support Maltese! Ippruvaw!
  • (Windows NT/2000 only) Copy some Maltese text, and paste it in as a folder name. Open that folder, you should see the Maltese name of the folder in the window and in the tray
    Win NT/2k use Unicode for file names.

    MLS allows you to type using the international standard for languages, Unicode (ISO 10646). Yes there is need for conversion programs. But you can be sure that your data is in a standard format that isn't tied to a single solution. (See also: about encodings)

• OK I'm sold.

  * note that the MLS is designated as being under test. *
  Good. Download and install. To use it, first go under Tools -> Macro -> Security and set the security level to Medium. You should NOT set it to Low, as this could leave you prone to viruses!

  I recommend the following modifications:

  1. Launch Word, go to File ->r; Open, and find 'C:\Program Files\MLS for MSWord-2.0\MALTI.DOT' (or other installed localtion). Press Enable when asked about macros.
  2. Type in some text, like just the word 'Malti'.
  3. Go to Edit -> Select All
  4. Here is your chance to choose a font and size that you prefer- change the font to anything, if you want.
  5. Go to the Tools -> Language -> Set Language menu and set the langauge to Maltese
  6. Save and close MALTI.DOT. This will make sure any new documents opened under this system are marked as Maltese and not spell checked for English! (NOTE: The MLS does NOT affect any other documents you have other than those derived from this MALTI.DOT stationery)
  7. Go to Start->Run, and run 'notepad c:\windows\malti.ini' (or other installation location)
  8. Look at the number 3 key on your keyboard, and choose whether you have a US (# above 3) or UK (£ above 3) keyboard, and click one of these two links. Copy and paste the contents, replacing the MALTI.INI in the Notepad window.

     This will use the key to the left of '1' as C bit-tikka, equalsign (=) as Z bit-tikka, and the left and right braces [ and ] as g bit-tikka and cut H, respectively.

  Now, go to the Start menu -> MLS for MS-Word v2.0 -> Maltese Language Support (MLS) for MsWord. You will get a question if you want to Enable macros for 'MALTI.DOT'. Only press Enable in response to this question for MALTI.DOT, or for your own Maltese documents!

• How do I use it?

  Simply press F12 (above the backspace key) and a little window will come up with the Maltese seal. At this point, you can type normally and as well use the special Maltese keys ` [ ] = for the Maltese C G H Z respectively.

  You can use the arrow keys, backspace, etc, to navigate, however in this mode you cannot click on text or even menus. To exit this mode, close the small window or press the (Esc)ape key. In this way you can use F12 to start with Maltese and Esc to exit.

  A more flexible way is to click the 'Set permanent Maltese characters'. In this mode, the small window dissapears and you can use the mouse, etc, normally. To exit THIS mode (such as to type the square brackets again) press "F12" followed by "Esc".

  Pressing F12 twice will give you the MLS configuration dialog, Pressing F12 followed by F1 will show help on further MLS options.