From: Richard Wordingham (richard.wordingham@ntlworld.com)
Date: Mon Feb 27 2006 - 02:59:05 CST
Dear List,
I am having a problem understanding variant selectors. If the form of a
character may be selected by a variant selector, is its form nevertheless
specified to the same degree if no variant selector appears? One
possibility is that the renderer is free (within the constraints set by
specifications by other means, e.g. 'features', 'language', etc.) to choose
the form according to the renderer's author's taste and inclination (e.g.
programming time constraints). The other is that the Unicode standard
should specify the selection. In the latter case, should the proposal for
the addition of the variant selectors (and character, if appropriate)
specify the selection rules?
The question may be relevant to the Lanna proposal currently being reworked,
with the glyph in question the AA dependent vowel. However, the general
question needs to be answered first. If being 90% correct for most authors
is good enough, then there may be no issue. However, it has been suggested
that it is desirable that an author should be able to tell what alternative
forms he has selected. (The notorious example is breaking a conjunct in
Devanagari - an author cannot immediately see whether it was he or the
font+renderer that chose to use a half-form.)
Richard.
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