[HarfBuzz] Question about HarfBuzz-ng OpenType Implementation

[Behdad Esfahbod]

harfbuzz-ng already supports all you asked for and then some :).

On 09/14/10 14:32, Ed wrote:
> Hi, Behdad and Everyone,
> 
> I'm not sure if I know the best way to word the following question
> --which is also a sort of “feature request” too-- but I will try
> anyway:  Once you find time to implement support for complex script
> OpenType layout stuff in HarfBuzz-ng, will you insure (1) that the
> various OpenType features are *always* available *regardless* of the
> language or script tag, and also (2) always work correctly regardless
> of whether the font is "ttf" or "otf" format ?
> 
> One of the problems with the currently-available layout engines is
> that even though a font designer may implement certain OpenType
> features within a font, the layout engine may not process them for
> certain languages or scripts, or simply may not process them at all,
> for reasons that are usually not clear.
> 
> For example, I just learned from Vernon Adams that my GPOS
> mark-to-base lookups that I began working into a Tai Tham font I am
> designing  will not work in a lot of existing
> software and platform combinations:
> 
>>   <<< excerpt of email from Vernon Adams: >>>
>>
>> Your gpos lookups in OpenType fonts (.ot) do not work in all
>> applications. E.g. Scribus, OpenOffice dont work. I'm guessing this
>> maybe same with Inkscape. However a TrueType font with opentype lookups
>> does work, at least in Scribus, OpenOffice and Firefox (the 3 apps i
>> have tested).
>>
>> So basically, use opentype flavoured Truetypes instead of pure
>> OpenTypes.
>>
>> Also... your GPOS mark to mark and/or mark to base Lookups will only
>> show correctly in Firefox 3.6+ on Linux. Firefox 3.6+ on  OSX or Windows
>> will not read those gpos lookups. Chrome, IE explorer, wont either.
>> Safari 4+ on OSX seems to partially read something i think but basically
>> it doesnt.
>>
> 
> And of course, that is not just my problem: lots of people, like
> Vernon who is working on a Laos font, are constantly implementing
> imperfect, laborious, and footprint-augmenting work-arounds in fonts.
> 
> A lot of people like myself are hoping that the emerging webfont
> technologies are going to make it much easier to publish on the
> internet (inter alia) using some of the less-common scripts which may
> have only recently been encoded in Unicode, such as Tai Tham.
> 
> Achieving such a goal is not currently very easy, for many reasons.
> Continuing to use Tai Tham as an example, right off the bat I see that
> a script tag for Tai Tham is not yet published:
> 
>        http://www.microsoft.com/typography/otspec/scripttags.htm
> 
> ... and furthermore, even if Microsoft does publish a script tag for
> Tai Tham, how long will it be before Uniscribe knows how to deal with
> it?  Forever?  Yes.
> 
> Tai Tham is only one of many scripts that appear doomed to suffer
> miserably under OpenType's less-than-stellar implementations.
> Especially all of those persnickety scripts of South and South East
> Asia, of which Tai Tham is but one.
> 
> Best - Ed
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