[poppler] Chinese characters broken

[mpsuzuki at hiroshima-u.ac.jp]

Hi,

On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 01:38:39 +0800 (CST)
ddreamer at ms93.url.com.tw wrote:
>    If it is the patent issue that blocks the implementation of normal
>randering currently, why can Xpdf show normal result?

Oh, this is new info from you! If so, I cancell my previous
proposal.

If so, the output device initialization of Okular & Evince
might be insufficient (if they use poppler via any language
bindings instead of raw poppler, the language binding should
be improved). I guess they don't invoke
SplashOutputDev::setFreeTypeHinting(), and FreeType rasterizer
is running without hinter.

# Anyway, the samples in poppler/utils/ don't invoke
# SplashOutputDev::setFreeTypeHinting() either.
# I will post a patch to add a switch to enable/disable
# the hinting feature, to show better samples of poppler
# users.

>    How can I get around this issue and still use free software
>(maybe by modifying some configuration files, etc...)?
>(I know Adobe Reader show correct result, but I prefer the
>environment of free software)

I appreciate your preference.

>    I really want to know about the SimSun Issue. But I am
>not familiar with that. Hence, I don't know much of the basic
>terminology like
>(1)TrueType rasterizer,
>(2)hinting instruction,
>(3)glyphic component,
>(4)composed glyph shape.
>Maybe you can refer me, such a newbie in this field,
>to some basic documents.
>Then I can ask you if I have further questions.

For the terminology, please refer TrueType specification:
  http://developer.apple.com/fonts/TTRefMan/
  http://www.microsoft.com/typography/SpecificationsOverview.mspx
  
>Of course, many people will appreciate, including I,
>if you have the time and energy to write some about it.

I don't know any existing documents about SimSun issue.
Talking about my case, it was difficult for me to show
side-by-side comparison of the glyph image with or without
TrueType hinter because TrueType hinter had been patented.
Considering that the patents are expired now, maybe it's
time is ready (for me) to write such, but now I don't
have sufficient time.

>    About the two solutions you proposed: How can I update
>FreeType font? How can I enable TrueType rasterizer by
>using older FreeType font with non-default configuration?

I cancell my previous proposal, but if you're interested
in, please find /usr/include/freetype2/freetype/config/ftoption.h.
It has various options to be determined in building.

Regards,
mpsuzuki