From: Erkki I. Kolehmainen (eik@iki.fi)
Date: Wed Nov 19 2008 - 13:00:43 CST
In my understanding, named sequences are highly suitable for use in e.g.
requests for proposals, where they can be listed as having to be
appropriately rendered as a precondition for procurement. The sequences
themselves don't contain sufficient guidance for font manufacturers, but
anybody interested in bidding will find out more.
Regards
Erkki I. Kolehmainen
Tilkankatu 12 A 3, FI-00300 Helsinki, Finland
Puh. (09) 4368 2643, 0400 825 943; Tel. +358 9 4368 2643, +358 400 825 943
-----Alkuperäinen viesti-----
Lähettäjä: unicode-bounce@unicode.org [mailto:unicode-bounce@unicode.org]
Puolesta Mark Davis
Lähetetty: 19. marraskuuta 2008 19:51
Vastaanottaja: Andrew West
Kopio: Kenneth Whistler; unicode@unicode.org
Aihe: Re: Why people still want to encode precomposed letters
Please don't read too much into my statements on this list. I am speaking in
an official capacity as the president of the Unicode consortium only rarely,
and I make it very clear when that is the case, such as in
http://www.unicode.org/book/aboutbook.html#Foreword. So this, and other
messages, are not ex cathedra!
As to the matter at hand, there is not complete agreement on the goal of the
named sequences. However, specifically, we aren't planning to add named
sequences for every possible sequence that someone could reasonably want to
appear with an optimal presentation* in fonts. For example, someone
mentioned that it is appropriate to have an uppercase delta with a variety
of combining marks for use in mathematics, but that is not appropriate for
named sequences. So one should not be viewing named sequences as *the*
source for font developers to see which sequences they should account for in
their fonts.
As far as the sequences used by languages, the Unicode locales project
(CLDR) does have the capability to represent that, and does so for the
languages it covers. It does not, of course, cover all languages, and will
continue to be improved over time.
http://www.unicode.org/cldr/data/charts/by_type/misc.exemplarCharacters.html
* I say "with an optimal presentation". What users want is for the accent to
appear in the right location. Whether this is done by mapping the sequence
to a precomposed glyph, or by using anchor points, is an issue for the font
designer.
Mark
On Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 02:44, Andrew West <andrewcwest@gmail.com> wrote:
2008/11/18 Kenneth Whistler <kenw@sybase.com>:
>
> Andrew West responded:
>
>> <http://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/NamedSequences.txt>
>
> To which my comment is assuredly not. Unicode named sequences
> are not nor have they ever been intended to serve as
> guidance for font developers about what glyphs should or should
> not be supported for fonts.
UAX 34 (which you wrote) would seem support your confident assertion
that named sequences are not intended to act as guidance for font
developers. But I wonder how widely accepted this orthodoxy is amongst
UTC members.
For example, on Saturday 10th September 2005 Mark Davis wrote on the
Unicode list <http://unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/y2005-m09/0190.html>
:
"I think we are in agreement on named sequences; they should give
guidance to font developers as to which char sequences may need a
precomposed glyph."
Perhaps in the intervening three years his understanding of named
sequences has changed, but this statement on the public Unicode list
by the president of the Unicode Consotium has certainly informed my
understanding of what named sequences are about.
Andrew
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