Re: [Indic-computing-devel] Roadmap - suggestions

[<jk...@Fr...>]

g.k> First of all we need to use a common notation method & terminology. 
g.k>  TODO --> So two more things to add (notation technique & glossary 
g.k>  of terminology)

Point taken.  A common notation & terminology used across all
languages would make a big difference to the clarity of our
communication.

This notation should probably be documented in one of the introductory
chapters of the Handbook.  Could you contribute a write up on a
suitable notation?  Something aligned with popular existing practice
would be ideal.

g.k>  Few sugg.
g.k>    - Use Unicode naming technique for script/language alphabets.
g.k>    - Suitable abbreviations for commonly used phrases. 

Ok.

I've used "language information" loosely in the roadmap.

g.k> Define What we mean by language information ?

g.k>   For a script :
g.k>    a. The basic character set -   Consonants (C), vowels (V), 
	   vowel modifiers(M), diacritics (D), punctuation  etc.
g.k>    b. Glyph set for this basic set.
g.k>    c. Rules for syllable formation - 
g.k> 	consonant-vowel  - C V , C V M, C V D 
g.k>         consonant-consonant - tuples - C C , triples -  C C C , 
	     quads - C C C C etc. 
g.k> 	List all possible (which are actually used , now or were at 
	some point of time) with suitable
g.k> 		examples
g.k>   	how modifiers , diacritics , punctuation are used?
g.k>    d. complete Glyph set for (c)
g.k>    e. Writing rules
g.k>         writing direction
g.k>         word breaking
g.k>         line breaking
g.k>    f. Collation rules
g.k> 	Sort order
g.k>    g. TODO - add more                          

I'll add this list to "Language Information" chapter of the Handbook in
section "What kind of information are we looking for".

g.k> We need free & open source fonts
g.k>   - Define open source font .
g.k>      - font licensed under an open source license
g.k>      - all font data available in portable format , this includes foll.
g.k>          - outline data
g.k>          - mapping tables
g.k>          - opentype tables

Right.  As of now, I'm only aware of METAFONT technology that allows
fonts to be described in "source" form.  Is there any equivalent for
{True,Open}Type fonts?

g.k>   - List out complete glyph set for each language, which can be used as base 
	 by font designers.
g.k>      A minimal Glyph set usable for 8 bit encoded fonts
g.k>      A maximal set having all possible glyphs, used by multibyte encoded 
	  fonts - unicode fonts, opentype fonts etc.
g.k>   - A howto/tutorial on creating an opentype font from an existing TTF one - 
	 supplemented by examples, with font data.
g.k>   - TODO - add more

Will add.

Regards,
Koshy
<jk...@fr...>