Thursday, February 20, 2014

Unicode 7.0.0 Beta

The next version of the Unicode Standard will be Version 7.0.0. The beta information page for Unicode 7.0.0 is located at: http://www.unicode.org/versions/beta-7.0.0.html
 
This version is planned for release in July 2014. A beta version of the 7.0.0 Unicode Character Database files is also available for public comment. We strongly encourage implementers to download these files and test them with their programs, well before the end of the beta period, April 28, 2014. These files are located in:

http://www.unicode.org/Public/7.0.0/
ftp://www.unicode.org/Public/7.0.0/
 
For detailed information and guidance on how to focus your review, see the section Notable Issues for Beta Testers on the beta page.

The Unicode Collation Algorithm (UCA) will be released in parallel with Unicode 7.0.0, and a beta version of the UCA is available at http://www.unicode.org/Public/UCA/7.0.0/. See also PRI #260.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Feedback requested for Unicode 7.0

Unicode 7.0 is slated to be released early in 2014Q3. Now is your opportunity to comment on the contents of this release.

The text of the Unicode Standard Annexes (segmentation, normalization, line breaking, identifiers, etc.) is open for comments and feedback, with proposed update versions for many of the documents posted at UAX Proposed Updates. Changes for the text of the annexes is relatively minor for Unicode 7.0, but the documents could still benefit from careful review. For some of the annexes, no proposed update version is posted, because there is no planned change to the content other than a nominal change to the version numbering. In such cases, feedback provided on the existing, published Unicode Standard Annex is still welcome, and will be taken into consideration by the Unicode Technical Committee before the release of Unicode 7.0.

Feedback on the Unicode Standard Annexes for Unicode 7.0 should be submitted by April 28, 2014, for review at the Unicode Technical Committee meeting in May.

Other planned changes for Unicode 7.0 include a large number of additions to the character repertoire and corresponding updates to the Unicode character properties. An announcement will be sent soon, when the beta version of the Unicode Character Database for Unicode 7.0 is available for comment.