font variants

["Adam Lindsay" <atl@comp.lancs.ac.uk>]

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Hi all,

I just wanted to run this technique by you all, and get a bit of
feedback, both on the utility as well as the style of the solution.

I'm a bit unhealthily obsessed by fonts, especially with getting the most
out of the various features. Unfortunately, each vendor expresses
different features in different ways, so that leads to font-sensitive
markup. This problem explodes in the OpenType and XeTeX world, because of
the number of features each font exposes.

However, it's relevant in the pdfTeX/type1 world as well. Just last
night, I discovered the FPL fonts (SC/OsF for URW Palladio) on CTAN
(<http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/fonts/fpl/>). How does one access the
old style figures in this font without knowing intimately about the font?

I took inspiration (and code) from the Unicode font mechanisms and the
new font effects. The code is in the attached test-psc, the typescript in
type-psc. The result is at <http://homepage.mac.com/atl/tex/test-psc.pdf>.

What this does and doesn't do:
- generalises font access to features in associated fonts
- adapts itself to current size/family/alternative
- doesn't allow further adaptation (e.g., \it \Var[osf] 123 \bf 456)
- best for short runs of associated fonts (e.g., OsF, sub/superscripts)
- can insert arbitrary features into existing typescripts
- relies on a couple special naming conventions within typescripts
- can be defined based on Serif/Sans/Mono family
- is not currently defined based on bodyfont namespace. 
     Is this more desirable with people \switchbodyfont ing in a doc?
- allows expansion beyond \tf\bf\it\bi\sl\bs\sc choices.

Any thoughts? 
(If anyone wants to give pointers on the correct usage/relevance of
[#1][#2]#3 parameters, pushfont/popfont, and adapting to bodyfont
namespaces, please feel free!)
[Hans, if you see the general utility of this kind of solution, I'd
appreciate the addition of Caps to the \fontstylesuffix.]
-- 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Adam T. Lindsay, Computing Dept.     atl@comp.lancs.ac.uk
 Lancaster University, InfoLab21        +44(0)1524/510.514
 Lancaster, LA1 4WA, UK             Fax:+44(0)1524/510.492
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

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