[smc-discuss] Encoding of an online version of a malayalam bible

[Rajeesh K V]

> I was looking at a Malayalam version of the bible at http://www.pocbible.com/adyayam.asp?book=D%C2]%AFn&val=0
>
> I was surprised to find that the Malayalam text that I copy from there is actually what appeared to be random Latin characters.
>

Because the text/data in that webpage is _actually_ Latin, not
Malayalam Unicode.

> For example, in the above link, the word "ആമുഖം" is copied as "BapJw".
>
> But there is some pattern. Like
>
> അ = A
> ആ = B
> ഇ = C
> ഉ = D
>
> Could this be due to some specific font being used?

Yes, the data in that website is just Latin characters but using a
specific (ASCII) font, Malayalam character shapes are displayed.

For a better understanding, you can start learning the difference
between ASCII/ISCII and Unicode. For a start, check the documentation
at [1].

[1] http://www.nongnu.org/smc/docs/unicode-presentation/unicode.html