Presentation Axmedit Arabic Parameters Support The Dual Keyboard The Global Writing direction Arabic Data Storage and Display Arabic Numerals Arabic Numerals Diacritic or "Tashkil"generation Handling of Neutral characters and Spaces The Cut'n Paste feature Axmedit menus File menu Edit menu Search menu Utilities menu Arabic menu Codeset menu XLANGBOX-ARA Environment variables   Download the Linux version

Axmedit is a Graphical X11/Motif based text editor. Axmedit could be run on any X Window server display. This program has been enhanced for Arabic language using the XLANGBOX-ARA Arabic support features. More over, a new "Arabic" popup menu has been added in order to facilitate access to XLANGBOX-ARA Arabic parameters from Axmedit directly.

All Arabic parameters of the XLANGBOX-ARA product are available with Axmedit. These are mainly the following:

The Dual Keyboard

The Arabic characters are obtained with a single keystroke switch. You just have to press the <CRTL>T switch toggle in the Text area widget. The next <CTRL>T sequence will switch back the keyboard in Latin. The Cursor shaping differs when the current keyboard is either in Latin (Black I Beam) or in Arabic (Gray I Beam).

The Global Writing direction

Contrary to Latin-based languages, Arabic text is written from right to left. Because of this fundamental difference in writing direction, Axmedit allows two kinds of sessions :

• The Latin (left to right or L2R) type session where the initial cursor position is located at the leftmost position of the text widget, and text is written from left to right.
• The Arabic (right to left or R2L) type session where the initial cursor position is located on the rightmost position of the text widget, and text is written from right to left.

Arabic Data Storage and Display

Axmedit allows the user to work with two different Arabic codesets

• ASMO 708 (ISO 8859-6)
• ASMO 449+

Moreover, Axmedit can convert dynamicaly MS CP 1256 or ISIRI 3342 text data to ASMO, using menu button

Arabic Numerals

Arabic digits, or Numerals, are written from left to right, as in Latin languages. Arabic digit may be displayed in either Hindi or Arabic digits depending on the choice of the user.

Diacritic or "Tashkil" generation

Axmedit manages and displays the vocalization characters witch are supported by ISO 8859-6 and ASMO 449+ codesets. They are the following :

• The Shadda
• The Sunkun
• The Fatha
• The Damma
• The Kasra
• The Fathatan
• The Dammatan
• The Kasratan.

Handling of Neutral characters and Spaces

Arabic and Latin characters conflict in the direction of the display. When writing Arabic in an English line, characters are pushed on the line as they come from the keyboard or from a file. The reverse effect happens when entering an English character in an Arabic line.

The user may define neutral characters which will follow the global writing direction despite their language value. This feature is useful when editing tables.

The Cut'n Paste feature

The standard Motif Cut'n Paste feature is transparent and is compatible with the X Server Cut'n Paste buffer. User may cut an Arabic string from an Axmedit session and paste it in a second one.

File menu

As its counterpart xmeditor, the file menu of axmedit allows the user to manage edited file. The meaning of each entry is very easy to understand. The File menu entries are as follows:

• Open: Open a file by launching a file selection box.
• New: Create a new file by asking its name through a dialog box and open it.
• Close: Close the current opened file. Ask for saving if the file has been modified since last save.
• Save: Save the file.
• Save As...: Save the file in a different filename by launching a dialog box.
• Print: Print the file (using XLANGBOX-ARA printing spooler)
• Exit: quit axmedit.



In this menu, only the "Print" menu action has been enhanced. In order to print an Arabic text file, the user need to use the XLANGBOX-ARA printing subsystem. This is normally done by using the "alp" line printer spooler instead of the regular UNIX "lp" one.


alp causes the file to be queued for printing on an Arabic line printer. If no files are named, the standard input is read. The same options as the lp(1) command can be used.

Before using the alp command, verify that the Arabic character set has been correctly downloaded to your printer (see aloadp) or that your printer supports Arabic printing (including context analysis).

If the axmedit user wants to use an other way to print his file, he must previously set the AXMEDIT_PRINTCMD variable to the desired command.

Edit menu

As for the File menu, the Edit menu is classical.

• Undo: Cancel the latest command or text modification
• Cut: Cut an Highlighted area and store it into the Cut X server Internal buffer.
• Copy: Copy the Highlighted area into the Cut X server Internal buffer.
• Paste: Paste the X Server Internal buffer to the current cursor position.
• Clear: Clear an Highlighted area.
• Reformat: Reformat the Text area widget
• Insert file: Allows to insert an other file at the cursor position
• Top: Go to the Top of file.
• Bottom: Go to the End of file
• Jump to line: Go to a specific line number
• Jump to cursor position: Reset the display screen in order to view the area of the cursor position

Search menu

• Find : search for a string
• Find Again : search next occurrence
• Replace : replace a string by an other
• Replace again: replace the next occurrence of string
• Replace all: replace all occurrences
• Case sensitivity now: set the lowercase/uppercase sensitivity

Utilities menu

• Formating option: Customizes some formatting options
• Font Selection: Allows to select dynamically a new Arabic text font

Arabic menu

The axmedit allows the user to set dynamically some Arabic parameters from the Arabic menu directly. This new menu contains toggle button widgets that switch on or off an Arabic parameter and refresh the text screen consequently.

These toggles are the following:

• Arabic direction : Toggle Latin and Arabic direction (right to left and left to right)
• Data processing mode: Toggle Word processing and data processing mode.
• Hindi Digits : Toggle Arabic and Hindi digit shapes.
• Tashkil mode: Enable or disable Tashkil management.
• Neutral Space mode: Set or Unset English space as a neutral character

Codeset menu

This menu allows to select the input data codeset, and eventually force a dynamic codeset conversion from the selected codeset to ISO 8859-6. This menu is useful when editing or sharing Arabic text with MS Arabic windows systems.

A Toggle button is "on" when the black square box appears in front of the Label and is "off" when no square box is displayed.

The XLANGBOX-ARA working environment uses these environment variables, which could be set under Axmedit too:

Free download Axmedit for Linux here