[XeTeX] Font variant selection in Fontspec/Mathspec options incomplete

[Christian Schmidt]

Hi Ross,

>> Though, this leads me to the additional note, that in math mode---which  
>> is typically set in italics---, the use of \mathbf{x} does not produce  
>> a bold italic variant but rather only a bold upright variant of x in  
>> this case.

> This is the way it has always been in LaTeX.
> It should not be changed, else this will affect millions of existing  
> documents.

I wasn't aware about this issue. In normal text mode, italic and bold font  
selections work complementary... so I expected the same behavior in math  
mode too. I can't really understand these differing approaches.

>> If I use the \pmb{x} or \bm{x} commands instead for instance, XeLaTeX  
>> produces a bold italic looking variant of the letter x. In closer  
>> inspection, however, the bold italic x is nothing else than a normal  
>> italic x superimposed on another one with a slight offset...

> Yes. This is a hack to compensate for lack of math fonts.
> This kind of thing should no longer be necessary with proper OTF math  
> fonts, but you need new macros to refer to the desired characters.
> This is what Unicode-math and math spec are for. They completely rewrite  
> how LaTeX handles mathematics with such fonts. It is a massive job, not  
> yet completed.

I already had a look at the Unicode-math package, but as I understood is  
it used instead of Mathspec, which however would provide better  
customization I think.

>> Is there a way to use the regular \mathbf{...} command to have bold  
>> italic math?

> Isn't there a command \mathbfit or similar spelling?

Thanks a lot for this hint. Even after "googling" for bold fonts in math  
before I haven't come across this command. I tried it out and it totally  
works! :)

> But better is to define a macro for the concepts that require use of  
> such bold symbols;
> E.g.  \newcommand{\xx}{\mathbfit{x}}and use these within the body of  
> your document.

Yeah, I might do that.

> Hope this helps,

>        Ross

Absolutely.

Thanks a lot for the help.

Pinfeng