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matthewbauer 17 hours ago

You can just show the user the transliteration & have them confirm it makes sense. Always store the original version since you can't reverse the process. But you can compare the transliterated version to make sure it matches.

Debit cards a pretty common example of this. I believe you can only have ASCII in the cardholder name field.

Muromec 17 hours ago | parent | next [-]

>But you can compare the transliterated version to make sure it matches

No you can't.

Add: Okay, you need to know why. I'm right here a living breathing person with a government id that has the same name scribed in two scripts side by side.

There is an algorithm (blessed by the same government that issued said it) which defines how to transliterate names from one to another, published on the parliament web site and implement in all the places that are involved in the id issuing business.

The algorithm will however not produce the outcome you will see on my id, because me, living breathing person who has a name asked nicely to spell it the way I like. The next time I visit the id issuing place, I could forget to ask nicely and then I will have two valid ids (no, the old one will not be marked as void!) with three names that don't exactly match. It's all perfectly fine, because name as a legal concept is defined in the character set you probably can't read anyway.

Please, don't try be smart with names.

lmm 14 hours ago | parent [-]

Your example fails to explain any problem with GPs proposal. They would show you a transliteration of your name and ask you to confirm it. You would confirm it or not. It might match one or other of your IDs (in which case you would presumably say yes) or not (in which case you would presumably say no). What's the issue?

Muromec 14 hours ago | parent [-]

You will compare the transliterated version I provided with the one you have already, it will not match and then what? Either you tell me I have invalid name or you just ignore it.

lmm 13 hours ago | parent [-]

I think they were suggesting the opposite order - do an automatic transliteration and offer you the choice to approve or correct it.

But even if the user is entering both, warning them that the transliteration doesn't match and letting them continue if they want is something that pays for itself in support costs.

8organicbits 15 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I have an ID that transliterated my name, and included the original, but the original contained an obvious typo. I immediately notified the government official, but they refused to fix it. They assured me that only the transliterated name would be used.

Human systems aren't always interested in avoiding or fixing defects.