Re: Font Rendering Issues on Linux But Not Windows

On 17/06/11 22:02, Mathew Brown wrote:
> Hi Tony,
>
> Thanks for your reply. To make sure that I'm using the exact same
> fonts, I copied the ttf fonts used by Windows and replaced the ones on
> Linux and then proceeded with running fc-cache. I'm still running
> into the same problem. So why is it still working on Windows and not
> on Linux although it is the exact same font? The only difference is
> that I have the cDEFAULT option under Windows. Any other suggestions?
> Thanks.

Well, another difference (sometime we fail to see the most obvious) is
that on Windows you're using a gvim with Windows GUI while on Linux
you're using (IIUC) a gvim with GTK2 GUI. There are quite a lot of
differences in how fonts are handled by Windows and by GTK2, and most of
them are not in Vim code.

There may or may not be other differences in your vimrc, and even if
there aren't, some options have different defaults on both platforms.

When viewing pointed Arabic text in GTK2 gvim, I don't always see it
displayed correctly; moving the cursor over the text may correct the error.

Could you post somewhere a screenshot of a single file as seen in your
Windows gvim and your GTK2 gvim? For comparison, I've uploaded the
following files to the hosting space offered by my ISP:

- a simple unpointed Arabic example:
http://users.skynet.be/antoine.mechelynck/other/salaam.txt
http://users.skynet.be/antoine.mechelynck/other/salaam.png

- the same text, but pointed, after running the cursor over every letter
of the text in turn:
http://users.skynet.be/antoine.mechelynck/other/salaam-rahma.txt
http://users.skynet.be/antoine.mechelynck/other/salaam-rahma.png

These screenshots were taken in gvim with GTK2, with (of course)
'arabic' set, and otherwise my usual vimrc, which, among others, includes
set gfn=Bitstream\ Vera\ Sans\ Mono\ 8

which is a font similar to DejaVu Sans Mono, but slightly more pleasing
to my eye, and 20% smaller than what you use. (The Pilcrow mark is what
I use to indicate EOL, using the 'list' and 'listchars' options.)

When looking at the pointed example in SeaMonkey, which also uses GTK2,
I notice (in the word "Allah") that the alef-wasla is borrowed from a
different font and that the superscript-alef is left of where it ought
to be, making the lam and heh disjoint. It looks like GTK2 has a hard
time displaying composing characters correctly (the superscript-alef is
a "second composing character" in a group made of lam, shadda,
superscript-alef)

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
Tony.
--
Aquadextrous, adj.:
Possessing the ability to turn the bathtub faucet on and off
with your toes.
-- Rich Hall, "Sniglets"

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