iPLUGIN

iPlugin is an application development tool, to develop interactive applications supporting Indian languages to be deployed over the internet or intranet. iPlugin is designed for MS Windows environments. There are additional Java based components which enable iPlugin to work in various environments like Linux, Solaris, Unix, or any OS supporting Java Run Time.

The languages supported are:

• Hindi

• Punjabi

• Bengali

• Oriya

• Kannada

• Assamese

• Marathi

• Gujarati

• Telugu

• Malayalam

• Tamil

Salient Features:

• Server Platforms supported -

  • Windows, Linux, Solaris, Unix, or any OS supporting Java Run Time.
    

• Works with web servers like Tomcat, Apache, JRun.

• Single JAR deployment for all Indian languages on server.
  

• Option for individual languages also supported.
  

• Development in JSP, Servlets, PHP possible.
  

• Java based serverside components are available.
  

• Server-side conversion between various character formats-
  

  • ISCII to Unicode and reverse

  • ISCII to UTF8 and reverse

  • Unicode to UTF8 and reverse

  • ISCII8 to ISCII7 and reverse
    

• Three keyboards layouts available viz Inscript, Phonetic and Typewriter.
  

• The size of the components downloaded at the client side is 100 Kb only.
  

• Very robust client side architecture.
  

• Does not require Java Runtime at client end.
  

Other Features:

• Floating Keyboard available as a separate component

• Evaluation version of client side components is available for all languages

• All iPlugin client side components are digitally signed with VeriSign Class 3 Code Signing 2001 -4 CA for making it possible to be downloaded with safer browser settings

• No manual cleanup required. Uninstall process of client side component has been automated, which cleans client system.
  

For easy development:

• The task of browser and OS detection can be simplified by using script files included with iplugin.
  

• Server side setup makes deployment on windows seamless.
  

• Script and Keyboard properties can be changed dynamically.
  

• Sample working web site included with the software.
  

• Sample web site operational from CD directly.
  

• Sample VB Script and JavaScript Client Code provided, HTM and JSP/ASP files
  

• A "checklist" for interactive web development is provided.
  

• Extensive Documentation to deploy on web-servers including remote servers has been provided.
  

• Extensive Documentation has also been provided for effective use of server side components.
  

• Information on migration from existing iPlugin 1.0 application, included

Demonstration site:

To demonstrate the working of iplugin, a small application has been put up. The application has 3 fields namely Name, Address and Taluka. There is a option of selecting the keyboard layout between INSCRIPT, Phonetic and Typewriter.
We have put up the application as an ASP and as a JSP option. Please access it here -

• For the ASP site you may visit - http://iplugin.cdacindia.com

• For the JSP site, you may visit - http://iplugin.cdacindia.com/jsp
  

Application areas

• Develop your own multilingual eMail application

• Develop interactive chat facility on your website for the languages of your choice

• Develop scheduler that helps task management

• Develop specialized Indian language calendar

• Indian language ticker can make things dynamic

• Many more far reaching applications to give your website or portal the look & feel you would like
  

How does iPlugin work?

Technically speaking a plug-in is a separate code module that behaves as though it is part of the browser. Plug-ins offers a rich variety of features that can increase the flexibility of browser. The life cycle of a plug-in, unlike that of an application, is completely controlled by the web page that calls it.

How Plug-ins Work: 

When the user opens a page browser responds with the following sequence of actions:

• check for a plug-in

• load the plug-in code into memory

• initialize the plug-in

• create a new instance of the plug-in.

Browser can load multiple instances of the same plug-in on a single page, or in several open windows at the same time.When the user leaves the page or closes the window, the plug-in instance is deleted. When the last instance of a plug-in is deleted, the plug-in code is unloaded from memory.

Once the server application is ready, the Indian Language components need to be deployed at the client's site. The components normally consist of the font and keyboard driver. These components are delivered in the form of CAB files for IE (auto download) and self-extractor .exe files (forced download) for Netscape. Once the components are downloaded, then one needs to just put on the CAPS Lock key and start typing.