FMi on text symbol encodings

[Ulrik Vieth]

Lars.Hellstrom:

> On the LATEX-L list yesterday, Frank Mittelbach
> <frank.mittelbach@UNI-MAINZ.DE> mensioned something about text symbol
> encodings which I think is relevant for fontinst, so I have forwarded it
> here:

>> In particular it works not very well in the current situation where
>> the TS1 is effectively ony correctly implemented in CM fonts while
>> all the PS fonts contain huge gaps in the encodings that claim to
>> be TS1.
>> 
>> BUT ... in my opinion there error here lies in calling those font
>> encodings TS1. My approach would be to distangle TS1 into several
>> sub-encodings, eg
>> 
>> TSA = Text Symbol Adobe basics
>> TSX = Text Symbol Adobe basics + expert

that's essentially what's actually in 8c and 9c at the moment

>> TS1 = Text Symbol as defined by Joerg

that's an encoding which is only realized in Joerg's TC fonts
and nowhere else

>> and a change in textcomp to allow loading a subset

>> This needs some further thoughts i'm sure but the current situation
>> is not good where the problem appears only at the printing stage
>> (and it does violate the invariant of the encoding, ie that 2 fonts
>> in the same encoding produce the same glyph set)

> The current average behaviour of fontinst (or perhaps rather of
> \latinfamily, but that's not important)---to make "TS1 encoded"
> fonts which contain a substansial amount of Unfakable
> \specials---isn't very friendly.  Perhaps it should rather be to
> make TSX or TSA encoded fonts, depending on what fonts are found.