Questions about HKSCS and Encoded File Conversion

1. Why do we need to develop HKSCS?
The popular Chinese characters coding schemes (Big5 and Unicode) use on computers in Hong Kong do not contain all the special Chinese characters used in Hong Kong. Thus users need to define the characters specific to Hong Kong in the Private User-defined Area (PUA) of the coding schemes used on their computers. In order to facilitate electronic communication and data exchange in Chinese on the network, it is necessary for the Government developed and standardised a set of special Chinese characters of Hong Kong.

2. Where to find an detailed information on HKSCS?
The latest information of HKSCS can be found in the "Digital 21" web site of the Government (http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/structure/cli_main.html).

3. What is the different between BIG5-HKSCS Encoded File and Unicode Encoded File?
For files containing characters in the extension of Big-5 scheme, are named Big5-HKSCS encoded files. For example, characters string "香港深水" are encoded into "ADBB B4E4 B260 A4F4 96F5".
For files containing characters in Unicode scheme, are named Unicode encoded files. For example, "香港深水" are signed with unicode3.0 "9999 6E2F 6DF1 6C34 57D7".

4. What is Big5-HKSCS Encoded File Conversion Systems (BFCS)?
The BIG5-HKSCS encoded File Conversion System (BFCS) is for converting the BIG5-HKSCS encoded document file into Unicode encoded file. The features of the system are listed as follows:

  • Abilities to convert text based file types (Text file, HTML file & Rich Text Format file) and Microsoft Office Application file types (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel & Microsoft PowerPoint). The conversion can be single file conversion as well as whole folder batch conversion.
  • Integrated powerful graphical user-friendly interface.
  • Conversion information such as the source and destination folders, conversion file types filter settings and additional settings can be saved as individual configuration file for each independent conversion project and retrieved later whenever necessary.
  • Output Log File will be produced for each conversion batch, thus allowing the user to have a clear understanding of the result of each conversion batch. (And for user to double-check the validation of the links embedded in the files.)
  • The BFCS can be used on Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows 98. The Installation Wizard allows the user to install the BFCS System with only just a few clicks of buttons.