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What's in a Name? Handling Personal Names and Information
in a Global Application
32nd Internationalization and Unicode ConferenceAddison Phillips
Globalization ArchitectLab126
Internationalization and Names
International support for data types (numbers, dates, etc.) is generally built into your operating environment.
Data structures present more complex internationalization design issues.
Some of these structures include:◦Postal Addresses◦Account Information◦Personal Preferences◦Etc.
Personal names fall into this category.
Getting Personal: Personal Names and Applications
Names are strongly culturally linked.◦Not surprising: names generally indicate
lineage and other relationships between families, clans, and other “tribal” groupings.
Wide variation in formats, handling, semantics, and presentation.
Let’s examine:◦Considerations in input, validation, display and
management◦Elements of a successful design◦Generalized data structures◦Integration problems
Getting the Right Mix
Specialized applications for personal names are straightforward to create:
◦Design to cultural expectations◦No need to adjust formality, presentation,
content, validation, or format◦Fields are predetermined
Generalized ones are difficult:◦Cultural expectations vary◦Presentation varies◦Level of formality varies◦Field values vary
Anatomy of a Name
Salutation or Title Given Name Family Name “Middle” Name(s) Patronymic/Matronymic Generational Name
◦ Generational Suffix
Salutation or Title Honorific Writing System
◦ Pronunciation1
◦ Personal Characters2
Life Events Logins, Nicknames,
Callsigns, UIDs, etc. etc.
Dr. Charles Augustus Phillips, Jr., DDS
風以里譜守味尊 2 Addison Phillips フイリプスアジソン 1
Cultural Variations: A Sampler
Spanish/Latin AmericanIcelandicKoreanRussianMalaysianIndonesianThaiArabic
Application Problems…
Length of fieldsNumber of fieldsArrangement of fieldsWhat goes in the fieldsInput ValidationLevel of FormalitySorting and presentation
The Integration Issue
“I want to take our customer list from country X and use it to generate a bulk mailing.”
“Users from countries X, Y, and Z are all registering for my conference in Florida. My badge printer puts what on their badge?”
Gather Requirements
What does my application do?◦Simple “return of string”◦Used in more than one format (salutory, formal,
etc.)◦Legal usage?
What level of formality is needed?◦Need titles◦Need forms of address
Do I have an address book or directory?◦Needs pronunciation and sorting information◦Rendering in different contexts from that supplied
at inputHow does the user maintain the name?
◦Life events?
Consider Implementation Details
Can we use separate forms for separate countries/languages/cultures?◦Separate Web sites or software modules?◦How do we choose the form? (Ask for country
first?)Where is the data stored?
◦Shared repository?◦Separate presentation from storage
Romanization
Some applications require a change in writing system. Best to solicit this information from the user.◦Not necessarily when creating the
record! Do it when you need it (sparse population)?
Do we mean ASCII-fication?
Some Romanizations reflect an underlying ASCII restriction.◦Printers, fonts, and technology
(remember the badge printer?)◦Databases◦Old software◦Etc.
Simple Solution
Single name field, no validation, no parsing, no nothing◦Easiest to do◦Relies on the user to self-validate◦Useful for informal applications
Tips◦Make the field really big (some people will want
to type their whole name in)◦Really big == 128 bytes??
The Complete Package
Given nameSurnameAdditional NamesGenderPronunciation (2 fields, fixed length)Salutation (open enumeration)Generation (open enumeration)Nickname/Display NameASCII givenASCII surname
Open Enumerations
Some fields should be enumerated lists.Salutation:
◦English: Mr., Ms., Mrs., Miss, Dr.◦French: Monsieur, Madame, etc..
Open enumeration allows you to add (and remove) values according to culture.
Note: “Mr.” and “Monsieur” are “display names” for the SAME enumerated value internally.
Why Get Gender?
Male and female names used in sentences require knowledge of the gender.
Display names for titles may be different depending on language (Dr vs. Dra)
Dealing with Lists
Choosing the right display pattern◦“Last, First” has problems in some cultures!◦Use two (or more) fields whenever possible
Deal with multiple names carefully◦Avoid recapitalization whenever possible.◦For Latin American and Spanish surnames,
identify the maternal names (consider using the patronym field to store these)
Allow for “missing” names or fields◦Single names (Prince, Sukarno)
Searching and Organizing Lists
The Evil Alphabet Tab Interface◦Provide for sorting of names using the local
writing and indexing system (Latin, Cyrillic, kana, etc.)
Summary
Understand your requirementsUnderstand how names vary across the
worldUse lots of fieldsValidate locally, display globallyAllow sparse populationUse open enumerationsProvide for user-specific sorting