[MPEG-OTSPEC] near-term OT spec work

Fri Oct 2 23:19:15 CEST 2020

Why is Google / Peter conducting OpenType business on this list?

behdad
http://behdad.org/

On Sat, Sep 12, 2020 at 4:44 AM Dave Crossland <dcrossland at google.com>
wrote:

> Excellent progress! Thank you Peter
>
> On Sat, Sep 12, 2020, 12:12 AM Peter Constable <pgcon6 at msn.com> wrote:
>
>> I thought I’d mention a bit on status of this work: When I started on
>> August 10, the MicrosoftDocs/typography-issues repo had 99 open issues
>> pertaining to the OT spec. Since then, 117 additional OT spec issues were
>> opened—the count I’m tracking is now 216. Of those, I’ve marked 11 for
>> future (post OT 1.8.4) consideration, and resolved 158 with 154 “fixed”
>> (i.e. proposed revisions), leaving 47 still open.
>>
>>
>>
>> I’m still waiting on some logistics to prepare a way to have drafts of
>> pages available for review.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Peter
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* mpeg-otspec <mpeg-otspec-bounces at lists.aau.at> * On Behalf Of *Peter
>> Constable
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, August 18, 2020 3:59 PM
>> *To:* MPEG OT Spec list (mpeg-otspec at lists.aau.at) <
>> mpeg-otspec at lists.aau.at>
>> *Subject:* [MPEG-OTSPEC] near-term OT spec work
>>
>>
>>
>> OpenType / OFF stakeholders:
>>
>>
>>
>> I want to let you all know that I have been in discussion with the Google
>> Fonts team and Microsoft about getting work on the OpenType spec unblocked
>> for the near term. Google approached me about working on an extension to
>> the COLR table (more below). That was something Microsoft also wanted to
>> see move forward, along with a backlog of reported issues. I’ve been able
>> to work out compatible agreements with each of them which are making it
>> possible for me to resume working as editor on the OpenType spec for a
>> period of time.
>>
>>
>>
>> Let me be clear that this is not a long-term arrangement. There has been
>> recent community discussion about better structures for working together on
>> the OpenType spec and, perhaps, other specs related to text layout and
>> shaping. That is a parallel discussion, and this doesn’t presume any
>> particular outcomes of those discussions.
>>
>>
>>
>> There are a couple of specific spec projects that Google and Microsoft
>> agreed I should work on:
>>
>>
>>
>> The first is to address the backlog of issues on the OT spec that have
>> been reported* to Microsoft since OT 1.8.3 was published (two years ago
>> this month). This will include incorporating anything that was in Amendment
>> 1 of OFF that’s not yet reflected in OT. But it would not include extending
>> the OT format with any new capabilities. It also won’t include anything
>> regarding shaping-engine / script-implementation specs; it’s just the OT
>> spec proper.
>>
>>
>>
>> * OT spec issues can be reported using the feedback link at the bottom of
>> the page for each page of the OT spec
>> <https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Ftypography%2Fopentype%2Fspec%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7C4356b0de60584856c69408d843ca51b8%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333883515870496&sdata=fmFPZCFpqtAchK2yGhVUgDVwNXCmwb%2FrW7zHtIm8664%3D&reserved=0>;
>> these get filed as issues in a public GitHub repo,
>> MicrosoftDocs/typography-issues
>> <https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2FMicrosoftDocs%2Ftypography-issues&data=02%7C01%7C%7C4356b0de60584856c69408d843ca51b8%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333883515880492&sdata=sxFNlt0BQRZ90l2wNvCu1hTcgR%2FAz8vAJ4v%2FRnNquj4%3D&reserved=0>.
>> (I’ve tagged OT spec issues with the “OpenType spec” label.) For the time
>> being, this remains the preferred way to report issues on the OT spec. I’ll
>> say a bit more below about reviewing drafts of changes.
>>
>>
>>
>> The only technical changes to the OT spec would be corrections to errors
>> or clarifications—some of which might have larger impact, but all of the
>> changes will be proposals offered for broad review. Note that this will not
>> be an attempt to re-write major portions of the spec or rid it of legacy,
>> technical cruft. The main objective is to keep work alive and make
>> incremental but worthwhile improvements.
>>
>>
>>
>> The second project will be to add some significant new capabilities for
>> color fonts, extending the COLR table to support gradient fills and to
>> integrate variations. This is a proposal that’s been floated for a little
>> while. In particular, it was discussed between several companies over a
>> year ago (or maybe earlier?), and a preliminary proposal was drafted by
>> Behdad Esfahbod and Dominik Röttsches. That proposal (with some subsequent
>> revisions) is in the googlefonts/colr-gradients-spec
>> <https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fgooglefonts%2Fcolr-gradients-spec&data=02%7C01%7C%7C4356b0de60584856c69408d843ca51b8%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333883515890486&sdata=VExDewWHwPzTi%2B3eIaV%2B2T8Bw%2FiQsYufM1DomuiW6Do%3D&reserved=0>
>> repo. I’ve also prepared a separate doc
>> <https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2FPeterConstable%2FOT_Drafts%2Fblob%2Fmaster%2FCOLR_V1%2FCOLRv1formats_rev4.md&data=02%7C01%7C%7C4356b0de60584856c69408d843ca51b8%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333883515900480&sdata=qoYtjbemU%2F5GzShp1H08jJDBxHcOko1fqmPmdmne7dU%3D&reserved=0>
>> showing the new structure formats as they’d appear in the OT spec (for
>> those not familiar with C++ template syntax). For now, input should be
>> filed as issues in the googlefonts repo.
>>
>>
>>
>> In terms of timelines for these two projects, I hope both will progress
>> quickly. The only thing to slow down the first is the volume of feedback to
>> be considered, and possible need for in-depth investigation on some issues
>> to get the right information. The second project still requires some design
>> work, and that might take longer. If both can progress fairly quickly, then
>> I would combine the two into a proposed OpenType 1.9 release. But if the
>> second requires somewhat more time, then I could split these into a 1.8.4
>> release for the maintenance update, followed before long with 1.9.
>>
>>
>>
>> For both of these, I’ll be working with MS, Google and Vlad Levantovsky
>> to come up with as good a way I can find to make drafts (with changes
>> highlighted) available for public review and input. I’m open to suggestions
>> on how to do this, but for quick progress I’ll opt for what’s feasible
>> quickly over better long-term options. I know some would like MS’s private
>> repo that has the OT sources to be made public; that might not be so easy
>> since that repo has a lot more content than just the OT spec. Something
>> like that might eventually be possible, but we want to make sure that
>> what’s best for the long term doesn’t get in the way of making some
>> valuable progress in the near term, provided the latter is done in a manner
>> that reasonably transparent and that allows anybody who has useful input to
>> offer can do so.
>>
>>
>>
>> I should mention how I anticipate this will fold into ISO process for
>> OFF. After there’s been some public review (by whatever means), proposed
>> changes for OFF will be circulated on the MPEG-OTSpec list, which is how
>> the formal process for ISO would be initiated. ISO has certain policies
>> around amendments and timelines that somewhat limit flexibility. For that
>> reason, if there were to be an OT 1.8.4 update, there probably would _
>> *not*_ be a corresponding amendment to the OFF standard. Rather, any OFF
>> amendment would be held to take the additional changes that would go into
>> OT 1.9, notably COLR enhancements. Vlad can provide more info on ISO
>> process if needed.
>>
>>
>>
>> In the big scheme, this is a small step, but I hope it’s generally seen
>> as a positive step nonetheless.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Peter Constable
>> _______________________________________________
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>> mpeg-otspec at lists.aau.at
>> https://lists.aau.at/mailman/listinfo/mpeg-otspec
>>
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