Re: SVG Fonts [...]

On Thu, Jun 3, 2010 at 6:48 PM, Dirk Schulze <vbs85@gmx.de> wrote:

> What do you mean with i18n issues? SVG Fonts support unicode, you can
> define glyphs dependent on the language:
>
> http://dev.w3.org/SVG/profiles/1.1F2/test/harness/htmlObject/fonts-glyph-03-t.html
>

I mean support for processing text in complex scripts like Indic, where the
rules for mapping Unicode to positioned glyphs are very complex. For
example: http://www.microsoft.com/typography/otfntdev/indicot/default.htm

It looks like you just give explanatory statements why Firefox
> won't support SVG Fonts.
>

No. I really wish there was a good reason to support SVG Fonts in Firefox
(at least the easy-to-implement subset that Opera and Webkit have); then we
could get 100/100 in Acid3, and we wouldn't have to feel guilty about adding
a useless feature just to pass some tests.

Your statement that SVG Fonts are not widely used is not the best point
> of view. I could also say, that WOFF or OpenType is not widely used,
> comparing all websites out there. Or that WOFF is not widely used, so do
> we need to support it?
>

There are a few possible reasons to add a new Web platform feature:
1) it adds capabilities that aren't available using existing features
2) it adds capabilities in a way that makes them much easier to author than
using existing features
3) it's widely used on the Web so it's needed for compatibility

Downloadable Opentype fonts with @font-face have reason (1). WOFF is a
combination of (1) and (2).

The same for your annotation, that SVG Fonts 1.1 is not implemented on
> any viewer. That's not true. There is just no complete implementation
> out there.
>

The problem is, SVG Fonts 1.1 is easy to implement except for the part where
you allow arbitrary SVG content in each glyph. As far as I can tell, that is
actually really hard to implement in a performant way, in a typical Web
browser engine where you expect to be able to use SVG fonts for HTML
content, and when you want style inheritance into the glyphs to work the way
the spec says it should. Saying a browser's implementation is "not complete"
when it entirely omits the really hard part would be an understatement.

Rob
-- 
"He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are
healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his
own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." [Isaiah
53:5-6]