When we enter passwords, the text fields only show stars or some other character that corresponds to the number of characters. If I use an input method that produces unicode (especially Indian languages), I notice that this number varies in a different pattern (sometimes the number reduces) than the characters entered. A careful inspection showed that one star corresponds to one unicode codepoint, and format characters are not included.
I tried the malayalam word സരീകàµà´·àµà´¯àµ‚മനàµâ€ by using an input method tool called Keyman, which allows to enter the word by entering the roman character sequence “sareekshyooman”.
I used Windows XP Professional (SP 2) and IE 6.0. Here is what I found.
| Transliteration | Unicode | # stars | Unicode characters | Explanation |
| s | സൠ| 2 | D38 D4D | sa (D38), virama (D4D) |
| sa | à´¸ | 1 | D38 | sa (D38) |
| sar | സരàµâ€ | 3 | D38 D30 D4D 200D | sa (D38), ra(D30), virama (D4D). There may be a ZWJ(200D) also, but this doesn’t produce a star. |
| sare | സരെ | 3 | D38 D30 D46 | sa (D38), ra(D30), e(D46) |
| saree | സരീ | 3 | D38 D30 D40 | sa (D38), ra(D30), ee(D40) |
| sareek | സരീകൠ| 5 | D38 D30 D40 D15 D4D | sa (D38), ra(D30), ee(D40), ka(D15), virama(D4D) |
| sareeks | സരീകàµà´¸àµ | 7 | D38 D30 D40 D15 D4D D38 D4D | sa (D38), ra(D30), ee(D40), ka(D15), virama(D4D), sa (D38), virama (D4D) |
| sareeksh | സരീകàµà´·àµ | 7 | D38 D30 D40 D15 D4D D37 D4D | sa (D38), ra(D30), ee(D40), ka(D15), virama(D4D), sa (D37), virama (D4D) |
| sareekshy | സരീകàµà´·àµà´¯àµ | 9 | D38 D30 D40 D15 D4D D37 D4D D2F D4D | sa (D38), ra(D30), ee(D40), ka(D15), virama(D4D), sa (D37), virama (D4D), ya (D2F), virama(D4D) |
| sareekshyo | സരീകàµà´·àµà´¯àµŠ | 9 | D38 D30 D40 D15 D4D D37 D4D D2F D4A | sa (D38), ra(D30), ee(D40), ka(D15), virama(D4D), sa (D37), virama (D4D), ya (D2F), o(D4A) |
| sareekshyoo | സരീകàµà´·àµà´¯àµ‚ | 9 | D38 D30 D40 D15 D4D D37 D4D D2F D42 | sa (D38), ra(D30), ee(D40), ka(D15), virama(D4D), sa (D37), virama (D4D), ya (D2F), oo(D42) |
| sareekshyoom | സരീകàµà´·àµà´¯àµ‚à´‚ | 10 | D38 D30 D40 D15 D4D D37 D4D D2F D42 D02 | sa (D38), ra(D30), ee(D40), ka(D15), virama(D4D), sa (D37), virama (D4D), ya (D2F), oo(D42), anuswaram(D02). Can be ma (D2E), virama(D4D) instead of anuswaram(D02). |
| sareekshyooma | സരീകàµà´·àµà´¯àµ‚à´® | 10 | D38 D30 D40 D15 D4D D37 D4D D2F D42 D2E | sa (D38), ra(D30), ee(D40), ka(D15), virama(D4D), sa (D37), virama (D4D), ya (D2F), oo(D42), ma (D2E) |
| sareekshyooman | സരീകàµà´·àµà´¯àµ‚മനàµâ€ | 12 | D38 D30 D40 D15 D4D D37 D4D D2F D42 D2E D28 D4D 200D | sa (D38), ra(D30), ee(D40), ka(D15), virama(D4D), sa (D37), virama (D4D), ya (D2F), oo(D42), ma (D2E), na (D28) virama(D4D). There may be ZWJ(200D) also here, but that doesn’t appear. |
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