[ft-devel] Type42 handling

[Huver]

Hi,

This is NOT a bug report, but rather something like a request/question.

Why isn't a Type42 font handled internally the same as a TrueType?  Put
the other way: why can't the Type42 font handler extract the "sfnt" array
from the Type42 font file, and hand it over to TrueType handler?

Type42 format is rather a "wrapper" for sending TrueType font to an Adobe
RIP.  The entire TrueType font file data is encoded into the "sfnt"
array (strings or binary), then other Adobe Postscript-ish header/footer
added.  The TrueType data in "sfnt" is not altered in any way.

So the "type42 driver" should simply extract sfnt, into a temporary file
for example, then just "proxy" all other work for the TrueType driver, and
delete the temporary file(s) when font/lib is closed.

It is not so different from "OpenType" handling: an OT font is either TT
or CFF, so doesn't really need a "ot" driver per se.  What's the problem
of handling Type42 similarly?


-huver  address@hidden