Reconciling Script and Script_Extensions Character Properties

The Unicode Technical Committee would like to eliminate some ambiguity in the assignment of the character properties Script and Script_Extensions and is seeking input from developers.

There are currently a small number of characters whose Script value is explicit (neither Common nor Inherited) and whose Script_Extensions value set has more than one value (a “diverse” value set). These characters are not typical; most characters with a diverse Script_Extensions value set have a Script value of either Common or Inherited. Possible policies and solutions are discussed and outlined in the proposal:

PRI #277 Reconciling Script and Script_Extensions Character Properties

Feedback on repertoire for ISO/IEC 10646:2014 (4th Edition, Amendment 2)

The Unicode Technical Committee is soliciting feedback on pending additions to the draft repertoire of characters, to help discover any errors in character names, incorrect glyphs, or other problems. There is a short window of opportunity to review and comment on the repertoire additions noted below.

• The following draft repertoire from ISO/IEC 10646:2014 (4th Edition), which is in its PDAM stage, is under review: Draft Additional Repertoire for Amendment 2 to ISO/IEC 10646:2014 (4th Edition).

The Unicode Standard is developed in synchrony with ISO/IEC 10646. After ISO balloting is completed on any repertoire additions, no further changes or corrections will be possible. (See http://www.unicode.org/faq/sdos.html for additional information on the stages in ISO standards development.) Advance feedback on these repertoire additions will help inform the UTC discussions about its own contribution to the ISO balloting process.

Please see the PRI page for further details:
PRI #276, Feedback on repertoire for ISO/IEC 10646:2014 (4th Edition, Amendment 2)

Please also see the general instructions for Public Review Issues.

Announcing The Unicode Standard, Version 7.0

Version 7.0 of the Unicode Standard is now available, adding 2,834 new characters. This latest version adds the new currency symbols for the Russian ruble and Azerbaijani manat, approximately 250 emoji (pictographic symbols), many other symbols, and 23 new lesser-used and historic scripts, as well as character additions to many existing scripts. These additions extend support for written languages of North America, China, India, other Asian countries, and Africa. For full details, see http://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode7.0.0/.

Most of the new emoji characters derive from characters in long-standing and widespread use in Wingdings and Webdings fonts. Additions to emoji characters include, for example:

Major enhancements were made to the Indic script properties. New property values were added to enable a more algorithmic approach to rendering Indic scripts. These include properties for joining behavior, new classes for numbers, and a further division of the syllabic categories of viramas and rephas. With these enhancements, the default rendering for newly added Indic scripts can be significantly improved.

Unicode character properties were extended to the new characters. The old characters have enhancements to Script and Alphabetic properties, and casing and line-breaking behavior. There were also nearly 3,000 new Cantonese pronunciation entries, as well as new or clarified stability policies for promoting interoperable implementations.

Two other important Unicode specifications are maintained in synchrony with the Unicode Standard, and have updates for Version 7.0. These will be released at the same time:

• UTS #10, Unicode Collation Algorithm — the standard for sorting Unicode text
• UTS #46, Unicode IDNA Compatibility Processing — for processing of non-ASCII URLs (IDNs)