Inaccuracies in 'name' table proposed updates

[Levantovsky, Vladimir]

Hi Sairus, all,

The changes in the 'name' table you're referring to were made long time ago (July 2010) by amendment, the current text of the OFF specification and the OpenType spec text (http://www.microsoft.com/typography/otspec/name.htm) are identical in this regard. As I mentioned earlier, the working draft of the 3rd edition includes all the prior changes that were made by amendments and corrigendum _as well as_ the recent changes we discussed and agreed on the AHG list.

In my kick off message (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mpeg-OTspec/message/769), I did point (out as one of the items on my proposed changes list) that there was a proposal for complete revision of the 'name' table spec. We cannot simply back out of the changes that were already made by amendments in prior years; however, we can discuss and agree on a new proposal to change the text in question and replace it with the new language - either by modifying certain paragraphs of the spec or replacing the certain subclause with the new language that is deemed suitable and appropriate. Feel free to suggest changes you would like to discuss on this list. If needed, we can also setup a conference call to discuss proposed 'name' table changes in details.

Thank you,
Vlad


> -----Original Message-----
> From: mpeg-OTspec at yahoogroups.com [mailto:mpeg-OTspec at yahoogroups.com]
> On Behalf Of Sairus Patel
> Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2012 2:30 PM
> To: mpeg-OTspec at yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [mpeg-OTspec] Inaccuracies in 'name' table proposed updates
> 
> In Vlad's Working Draft I see a couple of tweaks to the 'name' table
> wording. I don't know who proposed them, but at least one of them is
> inaccurate:
> 
> ====
> The following:
> 
> > All 'name' table strings for platform ID 3 (Windows platform) must be
> in Unicode, using the UTF-16 encoding form. The character set encding
> [sic] for 'name' table strings with platform ID 0 (Macintosh) is
> determined by the encoding ID.
> 
> was replaced in the WD by:
> 
> > Note that OS/2 and Windows both require that all name strings be
> defined in Unicode. Thus all 'name' table strings for platform ID = 3
> (Windows) will require two bytes per character. Macintosh fonts require
> single byte strings.
> ====
> 
> The "two bytes per character" part is incorrect, given that there's a
> possibility that UTF-16 may be OK for Windows platform encoding 0, 1,
> and perhaps 10, from recent discussions on this list. Also, "Macintosh
> fonts require single byte strings" is vague -- single byte strings in
> which platform ID/encoding ID strings?
> 
> As Bob Hallissy, Josh Hadley, and others have pointed out, there is a
> significant amount of work needed to clean up the 'name' table with
> respect to (at least):
> (a) encoding forms of strings and
> (b) recommendations/requirements for what kind of 'name' strings are
> expected by various font engines and OSes.
> 
> Patching things piecemeal, as in the above example, complicates the
> issue since there are now more deltas to track (not to mention the fact
> that these patches aren't entirely accurate).
> 
> I'd strongly recommend backing out this change, as well as the one just
> before it in the WD (which introduced problematic wording such as
> "While both Apple and Microsoft support the same set of name
> strings..."), and revisiting them when we redo the 'name' table.
> 
> I think keeping the Preferred family -> Typographic family change is
> fine since it doesn't involve either (a) or (b) above.
> 
> Thanks,
> Sairus
> 
> 
> 
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