On 2014-05-05 11:29, Michael Ash wrote:
... see message 56606
<http://www.mail-archive.com/ntg-context%40ntg.nl/msg56606.html> in the
list archive. This is not the post-simplefonts solution, but the
pre-simplefonts solution. It does allow much better control over all of
the fonts that make up the typeface (using ConTeXt terminology).
 
If you set only some Hebrew/Aramaic/Arabic, and especially if you do not
need font variants (bold, italic, ...) you might prefer to define a
single font. 

Thank you very much again.  This was helpful, and here is my minimal working example:


\definefontfeature[hebrew][default][script=hebr,ccmp=yes]
\definefont [myhebrew] [SILEOTSR.ttf*hebrew] 
\setupdirections[bidi=on,method=two]

\starttext
Here is the first line of the Bible.

{\myhebrew  בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃  }
\stoptext



I still have some questions.  It took me a long time to understand that

\definefont [myhebrew] [SILEOTSR.ttf*hebrew] 

would use the fontfeature "hebrew" that I had defined together with the font file SILEOTSR.ttf and assign this pairing to the nickname "myhebrew".  Rik's example also has "sa 1" which I do not understand. 

\definefontfeature [aramaic] [default][ccmp=yes,script=hebr]
\definefont [aramaic] [KeterYG-Medium.ttf*aramaic sa 1]

Is the syntax for definefont using "*" documented somewhere?  Is it similar to definefontsynonym at http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Fonts_in_LuaTeX  (and below)?


I also do not understand the full syntax from the referenced message.  Here is my best effort to annotate it, but I would appreciate corrections or additions

%% The following defines the fontfeature "hebrew" 
%% which can then be applied to a font.
%% definefontfeature is documented at
%% http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Command/definefontfeature
%% and the available features are specific to the font
%% e.g. http://www.microsoft.com/typography/otspec/featurelist.htm
\definefontfeature[hebrew][default][script=hebr,ccmp=yes,mark=yes]


%% I am confused below.  When was font:fallback:serif defined?



%% Why file: but features= ?
%% How will the  fontsynonym "Serif" function?
\starttypescript [serif] [ezrasil]



  \setups[font:fallback:serif]
  \definefontsynonym [Serif] [file:sileot] [features=hebrew]
\stoptypescript


%% Still confused
\starttypescript [ezrasil]
  \definetypeface  [ezrasil] [rm] [serif] [ezrasil] [default]
  \quittypescriptscanning
\stoptypescript


%% Sets the main body to the font 
%% that has been named and given features
\setupbodyfont[ezrasil]
%% Would an alternative at this point be to use
%% \definefont [myezrasil] [ezrasil] 



%% to define a single font and  then use {\myezrasil בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית}  for short passages



\setupalign[r2l]

\starttext
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃  
\stoptext

              

            

          

        

      

    

    

    Michael,

    

    Wolfgang already answered most of your questions, at least by the
    expedient means of teaching a man to fish. However, not all of the
    questions are answered in the font manuals, and in particular your
    question about the font fallbacks. (The word setups does not appear
    in mfonts, and fallback appears once. In the MKIV font manual setups
    appears once and fallback thrice. None provide your answer.)

    

    Font definition in ConTeXt allows extreme degrees of indirection.
    There is a lot of flexibility that follows from this. By defining
    synonyms such as serif and serifbold and using these in the
    document, the document can be written independently of the actual
    fonts used. The names are to some degree arbitrary, but used
    conventionally. There is nothing stopping you from placing a sans
    font at the end of a chain of serif references.

    

    Setups are at their simplest a way to bundle other commands for
    reuse. They also provide a namespace mechanism and a mechanism for
    group setting and resetting of values.

    

    The ConTeXt source file type-fbk.mkiv (and undoubtedly something
    similar for MKII) defines a set of font name synonyms in a
    font:fallback: namespace that is useful for gracefully substituting
    one font for another when required, as when the document calls for a
    bold italic but the font in use does not have that style. You can
    leave this out, or define your own fallback hierarchy if you wish.

    

    So, the first part of the typescript above defines ezrasil as a
    synonym for the serif face and associates it with the file sileot
    and certain otf features labeled hebrew. The file naming and search
    mechanism are well described in the manuals. The setups brings in
    the standard set of substitutions that will be applied when the
    document calls for serif styles that the specific font does not
    offer.

    

    The second part of the typescript defines another synonym
    (confusingly also ezrasil) for the typeface and includes in it only
    a roman face definition. In a latin script there would likely be
    another definetypeface for the sans face, another for the mono face,
    and a fourth for the math face.  Setupbodyfont uses the name of a
    typeface so defined. (You can see that this is a separate synonym by
    substituting 

    
\starttypescript [bart]

        \definetypeface  [bart] [rm] [serif] [ezrasil] [default]

        \quittypescriptscanning

      \stoptypescript

      \setupbodyfont[bart]

    

    for the similar lines further above.) With a latin face there would
    have been additional occurrences of the first part of the typescript
    as well for each of the different face variants.

    

    As to why I have "sa 1" (scale at 1) in the KeterYG definition: This
    is not needed, but it serves as a reminder that I have evaluated the
    font and that this scale is okay for me. I find that when I mix
    fonts, it helps to adjust the sizes. Ezra SIL needs to be scaled to
    0.85 or so, but of course that depends on the other fonts in use and
    one's own taste. (In LaTeX, the fontspec package provides a
    mechanism to automatically scale fonts to match the x-height or full
    height of one font to another. The process is manual here.)

    

    I'll step aside now and let those who know better correct me.

    

    -- 

    Rik