rfe:java.text.BreakIterator needs more functionality for handling word breaks

Name: joT67522 Date: 10/17/97


I was really pleased when I first saw the
BreakIterator class, as I was hoping I would not
have to write my own wordbreak logic again for
the umpteenth time. Unfortunately, if you try to
use the class to implement the full complement of
word movement functions, you quickly find that
there are some fundamental pieces missing.

For instance: I need to write a nextWord() method.
However, calling BreakIterator.next() does NOT
move you to the beginning of the next word -- it
moves you to the next word boundary. This may in
fact be the start of a word, but it may also be the
end of a word, depending on where you started
from. This in itself wouldn't be too big a deal,
as long as there were a way to determine which edge
you're currently on ... but there isn't. You have
to resort to looking at character classifications,
which is ultimately doomed to failure, especially
when you start dealing with Chinese/Japanese/
Korean text.

In the same vein, I also need to implement
startOfWord(), endOfWord(), isStartOfWord(),
and isEndOfWord(). As far as I can tell, there is
no way to concoct these using the tools provided
by BreakIterator.
company - Lotus Development , email - ###@###.###
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