[XeTeX] \font syntax

[Hans Hagen]

Jonathan Kew wrote:

> It seems to me that there's a pretty clear distinction between "tfm  
> names", which are the usually-cryptic names of TeX-specific files  
> that define a particular font *and encoding* (and are normally hidden  
> from end users behind higher-level packages) and "font names" as  
> normally used in XeTeX, which are the "real names" of fonts, as  
> provided by the designer/vendor, independent of the file name on disk.

well, sslt____.ttf is as cryptic -) (Serpentine)


> Traditionally, tfm names cannot contain spaces (because old TeX  
> versions couldn't parse such names), and don't need quoting (which  
> TeX didn't support). Font names, on the other hand, often contain  
> spaces and do need quotes. So the convention in XeTeX is that when  
> \font sees a quoted name, it treats it as the *font name* of a system- 
> installed font (TrueType, OpenType, Type 1), whereas when it sees an  
> unquoted name, it treats it as a tfm name and searches the texmf tree 
> (s) in the usual way.
> 
> Given that the two types of font are often not completely  
> interchangeable (e.g., they use different encodings), and are being  
> identified by names of different kinds in different "namespaces", I'm  
> inclined to think that maintaining a distinction is a good thing. So
>    \font\A = phvr8r at 10pt
> is expected to load Helvetica via a TFM file with the 8r encoding, while
>    \font\B = "Helvetica" at 10pt
> is expected to load the Unicode-encoded Helvetica (regardless of  
> filename) on the platform. Those are two entirely separate kinds of  
> name (and font); is it wise to confuse them?

i guess that the danger of clash is minimal

> The newer "[.....]" syntax, I grant, is a bit of a hybrid, as it  
> allows you to load an OpenType (or TrueType) font by filename,  
> regardless of the true font name; and the font need not be  
> "installed" where general applications can access it. I didn't really  
> expect this to be widely used; the "normal" ways to access fonts are  
> via tfm names (for legacy TeX fonts) or via "real names" (for  
> installed fonts on the platform). Having to install .otf files into  
> the texmf tree, update ls-r files, and refer to them by their (often  
> slightly cryptic) filenames rather than the human-readable font names  
> seems to me to negate some of the benefits of XeTeX's approach.
> 
> Having said this, it used to be that XeTeX would try both kinds of  
> font search, so if an installed font wasn't found for a "quoted"  
> name, it would fall back on searching for a tfm; and if a tfm wasn't  
> found for an unquoted name, it would fall back on searching for an  
> installed font by name. I backed away from that behavior a long time  
> ago now, as it seemed to be more confusing than helpful, but we could  
> reconsider it. I'd be interested to hear other people's opinions on  
> this.

but why not use the 'tfm search' as a fallback then? if a "name" cannot 
be resolved, search for a tfm one instead

> If we do go that way, I guess you'd want it to try searching for  
> a .ttf or .otf file by filename, too. There are actually three  
> separate naming schemes: tfm name, opentype filename, or opentype  
> font name. Currently, each scheme is deliberately distinguished at  
> the \font declaration level; the question is whether to erase those  
> distinctions. And if so, what order of precedence should we use?  
> E.g., if the texmf tree contains both lmr10.tfm and lmr10.otf, should  
> the declaration
>    \font\lm=lmr10
> load the tfm file (implying a legacy TeX encoding), or should it load  
> the opentype font (Unicode)? The results will differ. (Which gets us  
> back to why I think users -- or package writers -- need to be  
> conscious of which they're asking for.)

i'd go for otf first tfm next

anyway, there is currently no way to force xetex into a 'try hard to 
find a match'; why not:

"name" -> locate otf/ttf/type1 by name, and then by file, and fallback 
to tfm

name   -> locate tfm file and fallback to otf/ttf/type1 by name and then 
by file

"[name]" -> locate otf/ttf/type1 by file, and then by name and then 
fallback to tfm


(in that case i'd use "[name]" by default here -)
Hans



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