latin.mtx vs. latinsc.mtx

[Lars Hellström]

At 21.58 +0100 2001-02-26, Walter Schmidt wrote:
>Hi,
>
>when installing Adobe Minion with expert fonts,
>I noticed a strange behavior of the \latinfamily
>command (fontinst 1.914):
>
>The smallcaps VPLs had additional letterspacing,
>despite using real smallcaps glyphs from the
>expert fonts.  See e.g.:
>
>(CHARACTER D 120 (COMMENT Xsmall)
>   (CHARWD R 0.581)
>   (CHARHT R 0.446)
>   (MAP
>      (MOVERIGHT R 0.025)
>      (SETCHAR D 120) (COMMENT Xsmall)
>      (MOVERIGHT R 0.025)
>      )
>
>The log file said, e.g.:
>
>INFO> run \installfont <pmnrc9d><pmnr8r,pmnr8x,latin><T1cj><T1><pmnj><m><sc>
>
>IMHO, latinsc.mtx should be used, as opposed to
>latin.mtx, when there are real smallcaps in the
>expert font.

I'd say you're right about that.

>I generated the same VPL using latinsc.mtx then:
>
>\installfont{pmnrc9d}{pmnr8r,pmnr8x,latinsc}{T1cj}{T1}{pmnj}{m}{sc}{}
>
>There was no more letterspacing, and the result
>looked much better, indeed.  Am I wrong here, or
>is this a bug of the \latinfamily command?

It is certainly an area in which it could be improved. The problem is
however that the \latinfamily stuff has been essentially unmaintained for
the last two years, so, unless someone steps forward and assumes some kind
of responsibility, it is unlikely that there will be any change in this
stuff.

Any volunteers?

Lars Hellström