[Fontconfig] Font priorities

[Stefan Baums]

Dear list,

I am using fontconfig 2.1 with pango 1.2.0 and GTK+ 2.2.0.  In my
~/.fonts directory, I installed the Devanagari OpenType font
"Raghindi" (raghu.ttf), and it is duly found by fontconfig, as
evidenced by its appearance in the font selection dialogues of GTK+ 2
applications.

However, when rendering text with the GTK+ default fontset ("Sans"),
such as in file selection dialogues, fontconfig/pango/GTK+ insist on
using the ClearlyU bitmap font for Devanagari instead of Raghindi.
ClearlyU contains some Devanagari glyphs, but obviously lacks all
GSUB/GPOS information, and is consequently completely unsuitable for
the rendering of Devanagari text: all consonant conjuncts and
consonant vowel combinations fail to be properly combined.

How can fontconfig be configured to return a Devanagari font that is
of actual use to the font renderer (Pango)?

In general, would it not make sense to teach fontconfig not to return
fonts in formats that are unsuitable for the script to be rendered
(i.e., return if available only OpenType fonts for Indian scripts,
etc.)?

Best regards,
Stefan

-- 
Stefan Baums
Asian Languages and Literature
University of Washington