Descriptive Names for Stylistic Sets

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graphity
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2017 6:44 am

Descriptive Names for Stylistic Sets

Post by graphity »

I'm wondering whether FontCreator is correctly interpreting the syntax for Descriptive Names in Stylistic Set feature scripts introduced as of OpenType specification 1.6.
I did a Syntax Check in a font generated from FontLab that had three Stylistic Sets each with a featureName script at the start of the features and FontCreator's Syntax Check failed with an "empty feature" error. I removed the featureName scripts, regenerated the font and now the Syntax Check was successful. A sample Stylistic Set script with Descriptive Name is in the form:
feature ss01 {
featureNames {
name "Alternate Ampersand";
name 1 "Alternate Ampersand";
};
sub ampersand by ampersand.ss01;
} ss01 ;
Any ideas? Is FontCreator DescriptiveNames-aware?
Regards, Kevin.
MikeW
Posts: 625
Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 2:51 pm

Re: Descriptive Names for Stylistic Sets

Post by MikeW »

Hello Kevin,

Yes it works, but the syntax between FL & FC are different. Easiest means to do the names is via the "Feature Parameters" dialog accessed by selecting any Stylistic Set at its main level. So...
capture-001378.png
capture-001378.png (34.34 KiB) Viewed 4181 times
The syntax if editing the code is:

Code: Select all

...
  feature "German Double S";
...

feature "German Double S" ss06 {
  params FeatureParams_ss06;
  lookup Ligature8;
}
...
Mike
MikeW
Posts: 625
Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 2:51 pm

Re: Descriptive Names for Stylistic Sets

Post by MikeW »

BTW, I don't know how many applications support this yet. My ID CS6 was produced before 1.6 was introduced and the only ID I am renting on an as-needed basis is ID2015 (one client who doesn't want to update their plug-ins) so I haven't/cannot check the newer versions until I need to rent ID again.

I do know that Xara Design Pro does with the XDP365 version. But beyond that, I dunno what applications support descriptive naming.
Erwin Denissen
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Re: Descriptive Names for Stylistic Sets

Post by Erwin Denissen »

graphity wrote: Mon Sep 04, 2017 12:42 pm I'm wondering whether FontCreator is correctly interpreting the syntax for Descriptive Names in Stylistic Set feature scripts introduced as of OpenType specification 1.6.
I did a Syntax Check in a font generated from FontLab that had three Stylistic Sets each with a featureName script at the start of the features and FontCreator's Syntax Check failed with an "empty feature" error. I removed the featureName scripts, regenerated the font and now the Syntax Check was successful. A sample Stylistic Set script with Descriptive Name is in the form:
feature ss01 {
featureNames {
name "Alternate Ampersand";
name 1 "Alternate Ampersand";
};
sub ampersand by ampersand.ss01;
} ss01 ;
Any ideas? Is FontCreator DescriptiveNames-aware?
Regards, Kevin.
In general a feature without lookups is useless, so that's why FontCreator won't accept it if you compile such script. The size feature is the only exception, but it is (becoming) deprecated.
Erwin Denissen
High-Logic
Proven Font Technology
graphity
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2017 6:44 am

Re: Descriptive Names for Stylistic Sets

Post by graphity »

Thanks for that. Regarding applications that support Descriptive Names, I believe the MacOS Fonts Panel displays these names (in its Typography window). This would automatically provide access to the Descriptive Names to quite a wide variety of Mac applications - eg Sketch, NisusWriter, iBooks, Pages, TextEdit etc. Cheers, Kevin.
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