[Fontconfig] A question about font styles

[Keith Packard]

Around 16 o'clock on Mar 7, Owen Taylor wrote:

> Perhaps the name PangoFontDescription is confusing. It doesn't describe
> a font (or face), rather it is a description of the needs of an
> application to Pango. So, there would never be a reason to include
> informative information in it.

Thanks for the clarification.

I see several options for pango then:

	1)	"face name" wins
	2)	abstract style/weight wins
	3)	last set wins
	4)	Attempt to merge face name and style/weight values
		(so a face name of 'black' and a style of 'italic' would
		yield a black italic font).

4) seems likely to be fragile and cause weird effects when faced with 
unusual fonts.  of 1) and 2), I suggest that 1) is a better choice as your 
abstractions may never capture all of the possible variations (outline 
anyone?) present in the 'face name'.  So, that leaves 3).  I think it's a 
poor choice as it makes the face_name="italic", weight="bold" case very 
confusing, and leaves us with an imperative spec rather than a declarative 
one.

At least, that was my reasoning when selecting the 'face name' wins rule 
for fontconfig.

-keith


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