[XeTeX] typesetting hyphen in xelatex

[Herbert Schulz]

On Dec 19, 2012, at 9:24 AM, Pander <pander at users.sourceforge.net> wrote:

> On 2012-12-19 16:15, Sasi Kumar wrote:
>> Dear friends,
>> 
>> When I enter two consecutive "minus" signs, it does not typeset in the
>> form of a long dash as in latex. Instead, it appears as two small dashes
>> together. So, what should I enter to obtain a long dash? Perhaps, the
>> same difference exists in the way three dashes are also typeset in
>> xelatex. If it does, could someone please guide me on how to get the
>> corresponding dashes in xelatex that one gets in plain latex? I have
>> another doubt too. This is regarding what is usually called "smart
>> quotes". You know those cute-looking quotes with a bulb at the bottom
>> instead of the straight dashes. I am not able to get them in xelatex,
>> whereas they used to appear by default in latex when the appropriate
>> quote symbols are used.
>> 
>> Thanks in advance for any help.
> 
> I think it involves this option:
>  \setmainfont[Mapping=tex-text]{...}
> 

Howdy,

The more ``modern' way of doing this is to use the option Ligatures=TeX, e.g.,

\usepackage{fontspec}
\defaultfontfeatures{Ligatures=TeX}

to enable that feature in all defined fonts. I tend to NOT want that available in a monospace (typewriter) font so I usually use something like

\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont[Ligatures=TeX]{My Roman Font}
\setsansfont[Ligatures=TeX]{My Sans Serif Font}
\setmonofont{My Monospace Font}

so the option isn't set for the monospace font.

Good Luck,

Herb Schulz
(herbs at wideopenwest dot com)