How to name a Tironian et ?

[MacEachaidh]

Hi all,
Can anyone help me by telling me how to name a Tironian "et" sign in a new font ?

I've created the glyph, but I can't work out how to name it.  The et has been assigned the Unicode value of U-204A, and I understood its name was "Tironian sign et".  I've tried a variety ways of naming this glyph (filling in the Unicode value in the "Glyph properties" dialogue and then clicking on the auto-generate Gem button for the Name only mirrors the Unicode value), but whatever I put in as a name, Fontlab generates a series of "glyph positioning rule" exceptions and refuses to compile the font.  If I remove the et glyph, the errors stop completely, so Im sure that's where the error is arising.

Can anyone help me with the correct naming information on this glyph, please?

Thanks!
Bran

[solfeggio]

Hi, Bran.

Unfortunately, the "Tironian et" wasn't included in even the largest Adobe Latin 5 character set*, so there probably won't be a glyph name assigned anytime soon. But that's not a difficulty. Skip the little green gem routine and manually enter as a glyph name "uni204A" and "204A" as the Unicode index info (both without quotes, of course). Type in that "uni" as lowercase and that "A" as uppercase and you should be good to go.

Perhaps someone else can address the "glyph positioning rule exceptions" you mentioned. I don't see it as a related issue if the glyph naming is correct.**

Hope this helps. Good luck.


* Should you be interested, extensive notes about Adobe's extended Latin character sets can be found at http://blogs.adobe.com/typblography/2008/08/extended_latin.html

** If you still have troubles after renaming the "et" as above, try this simple test: Create a new, blank font and open, say, the uppercase "A" slot. Whether you draw a dot in there or nothing at all is immaterial at this point. Try to reassign the glyph name and Unicode index as above using the "Properties" panel (on Win, use a right mouse click for the flyout menu or Alt+Enter; for a Mac, um... sorry, but I forget). If that works out without a hitch, perhaps you have problems elsewhere (e.g., a .vfb that's gone screwy).

[MacEachaidh]

Solfeggio,
I really appreciate your response.  Thanks !

I'm fairly certain the positioning errors were specifically related to the naming of the U204A character.  Since first posting, I've been experimenting further, and I discovered that if I removed reference to the et from the kerning table, none of the errors occurred when I then compiled the font.

I've also discovered that if I name the character "et" the errors don't occur.  So I guess that's what I'll stick with, at least for the time being.  (And it's also just dawned on me that I could probably benefit from checking Michael Everson's website and seeing what he has to say on the matter.)

As a follow-on question, do you know which version of the Adobe Latin table Fontlab Studio 5 supports directly ?
Bran

[solfeggio]

Since you discovered the errors don't occur if the character is named "et" that's a spot of good news. Did you try the name "uni204A" also? Was it error-free or error-prone? The "uni204A" name should work like a charm in a kerning table, too. (Try it, Bran. You may be pleasantly surprised.)

You can of course name said glyph pretty much as you chose, providing you follow certain conventions. But the reason I'd strongly suggest "uni204A" rather than "et" is for potential future use. If the font will never, ever be used except by yourself, go ahead & call it "et" if you please. But if this is for a shipping font, you might like to reconsider: following the "uni****" naming convention will save headaches. (This topic has been thrashed out at length in other fora. Giving a detailed explanation here would be produce more longwindedness than I'm up for today. So cut to the chase & save yourself some potential nasty headaches.)

"[W]hich version of the Adobe Latin table Fontlab Studio 5 supports directly?" Are you referring to the "default" encoding? If so, I think that its coverage falls somewhere between Adobe Latin 1 & 2 (i.e., less than 2, but more than 1; but that's from memory, without checking, so don't hold me to it). The "default" is certainly not the full "Adobe Glyph List For New Fonts" coverage by any means.

But none of these are truly bothersome points. One can always use custom encodings. See the FontLab Manual (under "Custom Encoding Files" or some such name). In short, you could build your own ... and even include that pesky uni204A slot and more.

Hope this helped somehow.

[solfeggio]

Bran,

Here are some additional resources on glyph naming you might like to check into:

Unicode and Glyph Names
http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/opentype/index_glyph.html

Glyph Names and Current Implementations
http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/opentype/index_glyph2.html

[Tips Glyph Naming] Glyph naming and encoding
http://groups.msn.com/fontlab/tipsandtricks.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=3065&LastModified=4675580010791628123

(That last item is getting a little dated. Perhaps one day Adam will update it and post it here before the "old forum" closes.)