[XeTeX] XeTeX Win32 PDF file output error, second phase

[Jonathan Kew]

Hi Maurice,

Sorry to hear of your frustrations with the Laotian fonts on W32.  
Let's see if we can get to the bottom of this.

First, reviewing the font-loading records reported by xdvipdfmx:

> <PhetsarathOT(Phetsarath OT:Regular)@5.98pt<NATIVE-
> FONTMAP:PhetsarathOT/H>
> fontmap: PhetsarathOT/H -> c:/windows/fonts/PhetsarathOT.ttf 
> (Identity-H)

Here, it's loading the font with family name "Phetsarath OT", style  
"Regular", PostScript name "PhetsarathOT". This looks fine.

> <PhetsarathOT-Bold(Phetsarath OT:Bold)@16.94pt<NATIVE-
> FONTMAP:PhetsarathOT-Bold
> /H>
> fontmap: PhetsarathOT-Bold/H -> c:/windows/fonts/PhetsarathOT-Bold.ttf
> (Identity-
> H)

Family "Phetsarath OT", style "Bold", PostScript name "PhetsarathOT- 
Bold". Also fine.

> <PhetsarathOT-Bold(Phetsarath OT:Bold)@8.72pt
> fontmap: PhetsarathOT-Bold/H -> c:/windows/fonts/PhetsarathOT-Bold.ttf
> (Identity-
> H)

The bold font again, used at a different size.

> <PhetsarathOT-Italic(Phetsarath OT:Regular)@8.72pt
> ** ERROR ** Cannot proceed without the "native" font: PhetsarathOT-
> Italic (Phets
> arath OT Regular)...

This one looks suspect: it is expecting the PostScript name to be  
"PhetsarathOT-Italic", but the style name is "Regular". I think this  
indicates that the naming in the Italic font is still inconsistent,  
and that's what is confusing xdvipdfmx.

I may be able to make the driver more intelligent about locating  
fonts, even when the names are mixed like this (after all, xetex  
found and used a font -- though whether it was the one you wanted is  
another matter!). But I suspect the problem will be solved if you can  
get the naming fixed in the Italic font. Regular and Bold seem to be  
loading OK now. (Better check BoldItalic too; it didn't get that far  
this time.)

> SECOND, subsequently when I tried to test whether the .xdv file was
> corrupted by processing it back on my Macintosh as follows the
> versions appear to be incompatible:
>
> $ xdv2pdf 41Matt.xdv
> *** bad XDV file: version=5, expected 4

The version of the .xdv format was changed back in October 2005 (as  
part of the changes to make xetex run on other platforms; there used  
to be some OS X-specific aspects of the format). So this indicates  
that you have a fairly old version on your Mac; if you update to the  
current release, the .xdv files should be compatible (provided the  
same fonts are available on both machines).

> THIRD, are there any flags that I could use with xdvipdfmx that would
> cause it to accept my fonts?

No, the font naming (and/or the software, but the naming is probably  
quicker to update!) needs to be fixed.

HTH,

JK