[HarfBuzz] 'init' OT feature in Hebrew

[Behdad Esfahbod]

On 11/12/10 15:53, James Cloos wrote:
>>>>>> "KH" == Khaled Hosny <khaledhosny at eglug.org> writes:
> 
> KH> I just checked the MS description page, it even gives cursive Latin
> KH> as a use case:
> KH> http://www.microsoft.com/typography/otspec/features_fj.htm#init
> 
> In short, they are for any font which replicates handwriting, whether a
> formalized caligraphy, an individual's hand or a generic scratch.

Right.  Someone made a huge design mistake back in the days it seems.  To copy
what I just wrote to the OpenType list:

The Arabic init-medi-fina-isol forms have nothing to do with start/middle/end
of word.  It is decided by rules of the script and the neighboring letters.
With the current dual use of these features, an Arabic font cannot have a
special glyph for start-of-word since 'init' used in a different way.


behdad