BarahaDirect

BarahaDirect can be used to type Indian language text in applications such as MS Office, PageMaker, Internet Explorer, Notepad, so on... When BarahaDirect program is started, it shows as an icon in the system tray at the bottom-right portion of the screen.


BarahaDirect icon in the system tray.

Definitions:

ANSI Text:
The Indian language text that uses Baraha Fonts such as BRH Kannada, BRH Devanagari, so on...

UNICODE Text:
The Indian language text that uses Unicode fonts such as Tunga, Mangal, so on..

See: ANSI vs Unicode .

Menu commands:

Menu commands can be accessed by clicking on the system tray icon.

ANSI:
Unicode:
Select ANSI or Unicode format. Depending on this setting: 1) BarahaDirect will send either ANSI or Unicode characters to the target application.  2) The output of Sort and Convert To operations is either ANSI or Unicode.  (Note: Unicode option is not available if you are using Windows 95/98 operating systems.)

Language:
Select the language. (Kannada, Kannada Keyboard, Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Gujarati, Gurumukhi, Bengali, Oriya).You should select appropriate fonts based on the selected language.

Keyboard Speed:
The keyboard speed controls the rate at which character messages are sent to the target application. The default setting Fast works for most of the applications. But sometimes, the target application may not be fast enough to work synchronously with BarahaDirect, in which case some character messages can be lost. In such cases, you have to select the Slow speed.

Sort:
Provides various sorting options. See: Sorting text

Convert to:
Provides various conversion options. See: Converting text

Editing text:

After starting BarahaDirect, when you start a new application window or switch to an existing window, the application will have the system default (English) keyboard. You have to select the Indian language to activate the Indian language keyboard.

When you are editing using BarahaDirect, it keeps track of the characters typed in an internal buffer. During editing, if you use the BACKSPACE key, it deletes the last character typed and re-generates the whole word. If the keyboard is idle for more than 8 seconds, the internal buffer gets cleared automatically. Therefore, if you use BACKSPACE key after 8 seconds delay, the whole word is not re-generated. Instead, glyphs (characters in Unicode case) are deleted one by one. The internal buffer also gets cleared when you use the navigational keys such as arrows, page down, page up, e.t.c.

During the session, BarahaDirect keeps track of the language settings for individual application windows. For example, lets say you are running two wordpad applications one for editing Kannada and the other for editing Hindi. Once the languages for individual windows are set, everytime you switch to a window, the language is automatically set. This way, you can switch between applications without having to select the langauges again and again.

To type Indian language text:

To type English text:

Note: You may press F11 (or F12) key anytime to switch between Indian language and English.

Converting text:

Converion commands allow you to convert Indian language text from one script to another AND/OR from one data format to another. The text to be converted may contain different scripts in either ANSI, UNICODE. For example, In MS Word, let's say you have Kannada text in ANSI format along with Telugu text in UNICODE format. Now, you can convert this entire text to Devanagari in UNICODE format.

Indian language text can also be converted to ISO 15919 and IAST(see: Latin) formats. Text in ISO 15919 or IAST format can be converted back to Indian language text.

The conversion operation consists of 3 simple steps.

Step 1: In MS Word, select the Indian language text you want to convert and copy it by clicking Edit | Copy menu.

Step 2: In BarahaDirect, select Convert To --> ... menu command.

Step 3: In MS Word, paste the text by clicking Edit | Paste menu.

Note: BarahaDirect remembers the conversion command last selected. You can press F10 key to perform the same operation later.

Sorting text:

Sorting commands allow you to sort Indian language text in the correct alphabetical order specific to the language. The text to be sorted may contain different scripts in either ANSI or UNICODE format.

The sorting operation consists of 3 simple steps.

Step 1: In MS Word, select the Indian language text you want to sort and copy it by clicking Edit | Copy menu.

Step 2: In BarahaDirect, select Sort --> ... menu command.

Step 3: In MS Word, paste the text by clicking Edit | Paste menu.

Note: BarahaDirect remembers the sort command last selected. You can press F9 key to perform the same operation later.  

Some tips:

1) Using BarahaDirect in MS Office

2) If you are editing in MS Office applications in ANSI format...

You SHOULD NOT use any of the AutoCorrect options. These options automatically change the characters as you type, to correct them, which is good only for the English language. Click Tools | AutoCorrect menu command in MS Word/Excel to go to AutoCorrect options dialog box and DISABLE all the AutoCorrect options.

Some of the very important AutoCorrect options to be disabled are given below. But, it is better if you disable all other options also.

Disable the Check spelling as you type option in the Tools | Options | Spelling & Grammar dialog box. This will avoid the red underline for the Kannada words.