Create Vietnamese Unicode text-based documents in VietPad

VietPad, available in Java and .NET versions, is a full-featured text editor which can open, edit, convert, print, and save Vietnamese text in Unicode formats. The program has a Vietnamese keyboard driver built in, thus does not need an external keyboard driver (such as VPSKeys, WinVnKey, VNI, VietKey, or Unikey) to help intepret keyboard entries. It is rich in features, offers many functionalities similar to the Microsoft Notepad application, and can run on different operating systems that have a Java/.NET virtual machine ported to.VietPad provides the following support:

• Multi-platform
• Unicode compatibility
• Font preview
• Common Vietnamese input methods: VNI, VIQR, and Telex
• Unicode Precomposed (NFC) conversion for Vietnamese legacy, Numeric Character References (NCR), UTF-8, and Unicode Composite (Decomposed or NFD) formats
• Full localization
• Sort Vietnamese words
• Vietnamese spell check
• Add/Strip diacritics
• Undo/Redo edit
• Find/Replace
• Shorthand
• File printing
• Text Drag-and-Drop capability
• Look & Feel for different operating systems

VietPad Java requires Java Runtime Environment 6 or later (US English version) to run. Launch VietPad with the Java interpreter either by double-clicking on the VietPad.jar file object or by executing the following command from the command line:

java -jar VietPad.jar

or (on Windows)

javaw -jar VietPad.jar

Note: The filename is case-sensitive in some operating systems. Be sure the directory that contains the VietPad.jar file is the current directory.

VietPad.NET needs Microsoft .NET Framework Redistributable. It functions similarly to its Java counterpart and can be launched from Windows desktop or explorer, or from command line.

Set up your preference by selecting your favorite Vietnamese input method on the Settings menu. The SmartMark option gives you increased flexibility in entering diacritical marks at word ends, besides the traditional method. Select a font that supports all Vietnamese characters on the Format menu; the Preview box in the Font dialog will help you choose the appropriate fonts. These options will be saved as VietPad program's settings, not as individual file's formats, when the program closes or exits.

You can begin entering Vietnamese text after you turn on Viet Mode.

Note: Turn off other external Vietnamese keyboard drivers when you use VietPad to avoid interference in interpreting key entries.

Be sure to select a proper file type when you save your work; choose a Unicode format when save your Vietnamese text. A .txt file extension will be automatically supplied if the given file name does not have a .txt extension when either Text Files option is selected. The file name for All Files type is as given.

Files created or saved by VietPad can be opened by Unicode-compatible text editors, such as Notepad of WinNT/2000/XP. For incompatible editors, the text would appear as obscure UTF-8 or UTF-16 byte sequences, such as:

Em hãy cùng ta mơ
Mơ một ngà y đất mẹ...

Note to Linux Users: To make Unicode fonts available to Java applications, you'll need to set the environment variable JAVA_FONTS to the appropriate font paths and then export it. This is usually done in /etc/profile file. More information can be found in Install and configure Unicode TrueType fonts in Linux and Configure Java environment on Linux.