[XeTeX] XeTeX 0.99 released

[Jonathan Kew]

It's been a while coming, but XeTeX version 0.99 is now available  
from <http://scripts.sil.org/xetex> and through i-Installer.


** What's new in XeTeX 0.99 **

* bug-fixes, including a possible bus error crash during initialization

* updated OpenType layout code, affecting aspects of the rendering of  
several scripts, including Arabic, Lao and Mongolian

* added Syriac OpenType support for Meltho (and similar) fonts to the  
layout engine, activated with "script=syrc"

* new primitive \XeTeXcharglyph <char-code> returns the default glyph  
number of character <char-code> in the current font (or 0 if the  
character is not available in the font)

* true glyph height and depth information available for native fonts,  
when using \XeTeXglyph; this means you can get character ht/dp as  
well, by mapping the character code to a glyph ID and then measuring  
this: \hbox{\XeTeXglyph\XeTeXcharglyph`g} will be a box with the  
correct height and depth of "g" in the current native font

* \fontdimen1 (slant) and \fontdimen5 (x-height) are set  
appropriately when a native font is loaded; as a bonus, a newly- 
assigned value \fontdimen8 is set to the cap height

* italic correction: the \/ command now has an effect (depending on  
glyph shape) when using native fonts; previously, it was ignored

* \accent enhanced to work properly with native fonts, using either  
spacing (e.g., "02C9) or non-spacing (e.g., "0304) accent characters  
-- provided they're present in the font, of course

* fonts can now be loaded by PostScript name or Family-Style names,  
in addition to the Full name; no matter which is used in the \font  
command, the Full name will be printed if you use \show to examine  
the resulting font selector

* the /B and /I font modifiers may work more consistently (at least,  
the new implementation seems to be working more reliably for me)

* a warning message is issued (in the log file; also the console if  
\tracingonline is positive) if a font mapping file is not found

* font mappings are now applied to the text before checking for  
possible hyphenation points, which can change behavior in certain  
cases; in particular, en- and em-dashes typed as "--" and "---" will  
no longer be considered possible line-break positions

* a new setting \XeTeXdashbreakstate=1 will enable line-breaks after  
en- and em-dashes (whether input literally as Unicode characters, or  
as "--" and "---" using the tex-text font mapping)

* there is a new experimental "upwards mode" typesetting feature: if  
parameter \XeTeXupwardsmode is positive, then successive lines of  
text (and rules, boxes, etc.) will be stacked upwards instead of  
downwards (useful for scripts such as Mongolian and Manchu, that  
require top-to-bottom, left-to-right layout -- equivalent to left-to- 
right, bottom-to-top with 90° rotation)


** NOTE ** that the new implementation of font mappings, and changes  
to the way metrics are derived for native fonts, make it possible  
that this update will cause the layout of existing XeTeX documents to  
change slightly, especially if line-spacing has not been explicitly  
controlled within the document. You have been warned!


** ALSO ** this update includes some significant internal revisions  
of the code, which may increase the chances that I've made a silly  
mistake (always a strong possibility) and broken something that used  
to work. I hope not; but more cautious-minded (unadventurous?) users  
might like to wait for a few reports from early adopters, just in  
case. (But I hope *someone* will try it!)


Enjoy!

Jonathan