Top and bottom parts: which is written first

How a top part and a bottom part are counted

A top part is a top-level slot of the character group whose kvg:position is top. A bottom part is a top-level slot whose kvg:position is bottom. KanjiVG’s top and bottom mark any upper or lower split. A top-level slot is one immediate piece of that group. Sibling groups with kvg:part, the same kvg:element, and the same kvg:number are one slot. The helper is slots_of in tools/positions.py. left, right, kamae, tare, nyo, and any other value are not top parts or bottom parts. A top-level kvg:part fragment is left out when another part of the same element sits inside a left or right sibling.

Top part

A top-level slot with kvg:position top. The slot’s strokes are the top part. The value marks an upper piece. It does not by itself name a dictionary crown.

Bottom part

A top-level slot with kvg:position bottom. The slot’s strokes are the bottom part. The value marks a lower piece. It does not by itself name a dictionary base.

The rest

Every stroke of the character that is not in that slot. On a character with both a top part and a bottom part, each slot is counted against the other strokes, including the other slot.

Before

The slot’s strokes are one unbroken run, the run starts at stroke 1, and it does not include stroke N. Every other stroke comes after the slot. This is the expected place of a top part.

Split

The slot’s strokes fall into two or more separate runs, with at least one other stroke in a gap. The top part or the bottom part is interleaved with the rest.

After

The slot’s strokes are one unbroken run, the run ends on stroke N, and it does not include stroke 1. Every other stroke comes before the slot. On a bottom part this is the bottom part drawn entirely last, which is the expected place.

Middle

The slot’s strokes are one unbroken run, and that run is neither the start nor the end. Other strokes are written before it and after it.

The whole character

The slot contains every stroke. It is not before and not after. In this snapshot the count is 0.

What the neighbouring pages count

The positions page counts seven families. Its top and bottom rows time these same kvg:position values as first, last, interrupted, and in the middle, and that page keeps the one fragment this page leaves out. Once a family has more than twenty elements, that page prints eight elements and does not give them a timing column. This page keeps only top and bottom. It gives every element with five or more slots, and one row for the rest, so the rows add to the side. The frames page keeps kamae, tare, and nyo. top and bottom are not frames there. The radical-order page asks where the radical marked general falls. It does not list every top part and every bottom part. The handoffs page counts a change of top-level component between consecutive strokes. It does not ask whether a top part is one run from stroke 1. The component-order page asks whether a component keeps one stroke-type sequence. It does not time the top part or the bottom part against the rest.

Counts by element

Top parts

Bottom parts

Last, on a bottom part, is the after class: one run that ends on stroke N. Before is a bottom part drawn entirely before the rest.

Crowns and bases

KanjiVG’s top and bottom position marks any upper or lower split, and only the listed elements are crowns or bases in dictionary terms.

Exceptions

Plates