[XeTeX] Maths in XeLaTeX

[Jonathan Kew]

On 9 Sep 2004, at 1:27 am, Bruno Voisin wrote:

> Le 8 sept. 04, à 19:21, Jonathan Kew a écrit :
>
>> Just one comment that comes to mind looking at your sample output: if 
>> using Hoefler Italic in this way, you might want to consider 
>> disabling the "smart swash" features, as many of the line-final swash 
>> forms may look odd in the midst of a formula.
>
> It took me some time to figure out how to disable smart swashes, but 
> finally I dug out a post by Casper Lassenius who gave the trick:
>
> 	Smart Swashes=!Line Final Swashes,!Line Initial Swashes
>
> Having started to experiment with AAT features, I went further but 
> soon came out with the impression that either Hoefler Text, or AAT, is 
> somehow bugged: spending some time with AAT-info.tex from XeTeX 
> Samples, and with TextEdit which can now display (in the Show Fonts 
> window) typographical features, it appears that the names and 
> classification of features from one "instance" of a font to the other 
> are all but random.

Yes, they're not very consistent, unfortunately. Which means there's no 
substitute for actually checking the feature names supported by the 
particular font you're using.

> Some examples for Hoefler Text:
>
> - Uppercase numbers are specified with:
>
> 	Hoefler Text:              Number Case=Upper Case Numbers
> 	Hoefler Text Italic:       Number Case=Uppercase Numbers

That's a silly inconsistency between the fonts, and obviously it's a 
great nuisance.

> 	Hoefler Text Black:        Number Case=Diphthong Ligatures
> 	Hoefler Text Black Italic: Number Case=Normal Vertical Position

That's just ridiculous!

> - Character alternates (or swash caps, for italics) are specified with:
>
> 	Hoefler Text:              Character Alternates  =Alternates
> 	Hoefler Text Italic:       Character Alternatives=Normal Vertical 
> Position
> 	Hoefler Text Black:        Character Alternatives=Alternates
> 	Hoefler Text Black Italic: Character Alternatives=Lower Case Numbers

What a mess.

> In particular, the instruction "Character Alternatives=Swash Caps" 
> from FontSamples.tex, for Hoefler Text Italic, does not seem to work.

You're right. There was such a feature in an earlier version of the 
font, shipped with Mac OS 8 or 9, but it seems to have been removed. 
(The FontSamples file is descended from an old TeXGX one; obviously, I 
need to review what it contains.)

> Jonathan, please feel free to report a bug to Apple if you think that 
> is indeed one.

I'll file a bug on the general topic of feature naming consistency, 
with your Hoefler examples (but the problem is broader than just 
Hoefler).

Jonathan