[tlug] CJK Printing with Fixed Width Font

[jep200404 <jep200404@example.com>]

How can I print plain text with mixed CJK/European characters
with a "fixed width"[1]? 

Here's some test text: 

我                                                                       MMM
我 I can eat glass. I can eat glass. I can eat glass. I can eat glass.   MMM
我能吞下玻璃而不傷身體。我能吞下玻璃而不傷身體。我能吞下玻璃而不傷身體。 MMM
我                                                                       MMM
我 I can eat glass. I can eat glass. I can eat glass. I can eat glass.   MMM
我能吞下玻璃而不伤身体。我能吞下玻璃而不伤身体。我能吞下玻璃而不伤身体。 MMM
私                                                                       MMM
私 I can eat glass. I can eat glass. I can eat glass. I can eat glass.   MMM
私はガラスを食べられます。それは私を傷つけません。私はガラスを食べられま MMM
나                                                                       MMM
나 I can eat glass. I can eat glass. I can eat glass. I can eat glass.   MMM
나는 유리를 먹을 수 있어요. 그래도 아프지 않아요.  나는 유리를 먹을 수   MMM

The 'M's line up fine when viewed in an xterm, 
such as when editing with vi, or when output with cat, 
but when I print with paps[2], the spacing changes. 
With a few fonts, the 'M's line up in some GUI programs like kedit, 
but when printed from same GUI program, the 'M's don't line up. 

I've been concentrating on selecting the right font[3] so far, 
but my focus on fonts might be too narrow, hence the broader 
question of how to print fixed-width plain text. 

[1] With a mix of single-width and double-width characters, 
    "fixed width" is a misnomer. What I mean by "fixed width" 
    is that all single-width characters are the same width, 
    and that all double-width characters are twice as wide 
    as single-width characters. 

[2] Thanks to Scott Robbins for his CJK page[4] and tip to use 
    paps[4][5]. I greatly appreciate the way paps just gives me 
    the text and nothing but the text; i.e., it does not pester 
    me with headers, footers, or cutesy boxes. I also greatly 
    appreciate how it gives me control over the fonts and margins. 

       paps --font='Sazanami Mincho 7' --paper letter \
       --bottom-margin=12 --top-margin=12 \
       --left-margin=12 --right-margin=12 <cjk-width-test | lp

[3] The Sazanami Mincho font has been the least worst font so far, 
    but even it's still not correct. 

[4] http://home.nyc.rr.com/computertaijutsu/jpninpt.html#printing
[5] http://tlug.jp/ML/0611/msg00622.html

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