Last Saturday, 16 October 2004, I tried updating my Quest Chess font from version 1.02 to version 1.03.
Version 1.02 is the update in which I had unchecked the Symbol Character Set checkbox.
The basic purpose of the version 1.03 update is to add, encoded at the code position of an asterisk, a solid block, so that the font could be used in two-colour work in producing pdfs.
The solid block consists of one contour, (0,-768), (0,2048), (2816, 2048) and (2816, -768).
The problem arose when I decided to calculate the Unicode Character Ranges and the Code Page Character Ranges: the calculations being performed using the two Calculate buttons in the Ranges panel of the Format | Settings facility. The Unicode Character Ranges came out as Basic Latin and Latin-1 Supplement and the Code Page Character Ranges came out as none.
I thought that a bit odd, but not knowing a lot about it, proceeded.
I then installed the font, but could not get Word 97 to pick it up nor Serif PagePlus 9.04 to pick it up.
In the event I edited the font and set the Code Page Character Ranges manually at Latin 1 (1252). The font then seemed to work properly.
Today, I have produced a test font, CODEPAGE.TTF, with just a roughly drawn letter h, using Font Creator Program 4.5.1 and found that, by deleting most of the characters, the Unicode Character Ranges are calculated as Basic Latin, Latin-1 Supplement and Basic Greek. I simply cannot figure out why Basic Greek is included! I appear, on the face of it, to have used essentially the same technique as I used when producing the Quest Chess font in the first place, namely start off with a New font within Font Creator Program, place designs in the desired glyphs and delete the others. The Code Page Character Ranges calculated as none. However, the main purpose of the test font was to establish whether Word 97 would pick up the font when I installed it: I had wondered whether the PC operating system had got muddled over the matter of deleting the version 1.02 of the Quest Chess font last week. In the event, the new test font was not picked up by Word 97.
Now, the Quest Chess version 1.02 font has the Unicode Character Ranges and the Code Page Character Ranges untouched from those for a New font in Font Creator Program 4.5, the then current version of Font Creator Program, except for the unticking of the Symbol Character Set checkbox. As this includes ranges and code pages relating to deleted glyphs, I was thinking in terms of tidying the font up. I am now using Font Creator Program 4.5.1.
However, I am now uncertain which Unicode Character Ranges and the Code Page Character Ranges I should include in the version 1.03 Quest Chess font. I am reluctant to delete code pages until I understand whether that has any implications. Hence this posting in the forum.
I did read in another thread something about the Code Page Character Ranges only showing for code pages which are complete.
As Microsoft Paint can pick up items from whichever code pages are flagged, would it be a good idea to have a second calculation button so that if a code page is touched in other than its Basic Roman part, then it is flagged; with that calculation also flagging Latin 1 (1252) if Basic Roman is used?
William Overington
Saturday 23 October 2004