Re: seeking 'hello world' example for Arabic typesetting with conTeXt

From: "Idris Samawi Hamid ادريس   سماوي حامد" <ishamid@colostate.edu>
To: "Mojca Miklavec" <mojca.miklavec.lists@gmail.com>
Cc: mailing list for ConTeXt users <ntg-context@ntg.nl>
Subject: Re: seeking 'hello world' example for Arabic typesetting with conTeXt
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 07:46:14 -0700	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <op.vmznbc1xpw6hmh@ishamid-pc> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=+sjQ_Yh3o6A1d=sa2pvmUpCpTo=t2jN-uG1Rh@mail.gmail.com>

On Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:50:58 -0700, Mojca Miklavec  
<mojca.miklavec.lists@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> 2010/11/29 Idris Samawi Hamid ادريس  سماوي حامد wrote:
>> On Mon, 29 Nov 2010 11:03:06 -0700, Khaled Hosny wrote:
>>
>> OK: In that case, let's include the standard Scheharezade as is in the
>> minimals until another unicode-complete font comes along. It has an Open
>> Font License so should be no problem.
>>
>> Mojca: Till then, where do you suggest placing Scheharezade in the tree?
>
> If we make some font the default one ... it makes sense to put it on
> CTAN and include it in TeX Live as well, right?

Well, I only use ConTeXt;-) but TeXLive could use a default Arabic font as  
well for XeTeX (a fellow SIL project); surprised it's not there already ...

> But then ... I somehow find it a bit weird to have Arabic fallback
> inside Latin Modern unless a user requests that explicitely and also
> says which font he wants to use. That it: I would suggest to have some
> setting that would tell exactly which glyphs to replace in the main
> font, which features to use ... but then the user would say that this
> font needs to be added.

What we need is for new users to be able to say, eg,

\setmainlanguage[arabic]
\setupdirections[bidi=global] % maybe this should be implied by  
\setmainlanguage[arabic]

\starttext
أهلا بالعالم!
\stoptext

And get Scheharezade without doing anything else.

Indeed, especially once bidi is fully tested etc, one should be able to do  
just

\starttext
أهلا بالعالم!
\stoptext

and get correct Arabic output, with an implied

\setupdirections[bidi=local]

In other words, users need to be able to invoke default Arabic without  
doing really much of anything, just as they currently do with LM. Then  
users can switch fonts, adjust bidi controls, change features etc.

Since LM has no Arabic, "replacement" of glyphs is not an issue, and  
Scheharezade is simple enough that a default feature set will suffice.

Default Arabic boosts moral, attracts more users, saves time on the list,  
helps to focus on bugs and tweaks [as opposed to "How can I get  
Arabic-script working"], is a Good Idea (TM) etc :-)

Best wishes
Idris
-- 
Professor Idris Samawi Hamid, Editor-in-Chief
International Journal of Shīʿī Studies
Department of Philosophy
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523

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