[mpeg-OTspec] Re: [OpenType] MS Proposal for a new Name Table ID

[John Hudson]

On 09/01/13 2:36 AM, Jelle Bosma wrote:

> If you need fonts to have additional classification info,
> and you cannot rely on fonts having this information, you still end
> up having to create code that looks at the cmap to see what is there,
> rather than getting the type producers do the work.

But querying the cmap doesn't give you this information, which I think 
is Peter's point. The information is about intentionality, not 
capability. A font like Nirmala UI contains an 8-bit Latin subset, and 
querying the cmap, just like querying the OS/2 codepage or Unicode bits, 
will suggest that this is a font that can be used for setting at least 
some Latin-script languages. But that is not the intention of the font. 
The intention is that it should be used to set text in the ten Indic 
scripts supported, and the Latin subset is there for purely technical 
reasons and is, in fact, derived directly from another font, which is 
the one that should be used to set Latin-script text. That information 
about intentionality cannot be derived from the cmap.

Now, the Nirmala UI fonts are also a good example of something that 
would benefit from additional meta-data of the kind that John Jenkins 
and Adam Twardoch have suggested might be included: 'Only for use in the 
UI; not suitable for document creation'.


JH


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