Over the past few months, a team of Sun engineers with experience in X
internals, internationalization, and fonts have been working on a
proposed new text architecture for X. We've all been watching the
discussion of various font & text problems and proposed solutions on
mailing lists such as the XFree86 lists, but have had to keep quiet
pending management approval to discuss our project openly.
The Sun project was started because the current X font and text
mechanisms are dated and do not meet the needs of globalized
applications. We have designed a display and platform-independent text
architecture, the Standard Type Services (ST) framework, which handles
not just font rendering, but text layout and font management as well.
ST incorporates typographically sophisticated features and ideas from
the best regarded existing APIs, including Apple Type Services for
Unicode Imaging (ATSUI) and Java2D TextLayouts. On top of ST, we have
layered a new extension to the X protocol, called XST, which
incorporates the ST functionality. The ST API will also be exposed to
applications independant of the X environment so that it can be used
for Java servlets and applets and text rendering to printers, image files,
and other displays.
The ST Framework provides a scalable client-server architecture that
allows multiple clients to share access to common fonts, while
allowing applications with private fonts to keep them private. ST
provides a pluggable API through which many font scalers can be used
by the Font Server, including handling of "smart font" technology such
as OpenType & TrueType GX. Plugins for several font scalers are
available today, each providing a different set of capabilities,
properties and licenses, but unified under a single API for the
client.
The ST API includes functions for font management, rendering, text
layout, and access to all available information about the font,
including access to outlines for output to vector devices. ST is
designed around Unicode and support for languages requiring complex
text layout is included as a core part of the design.
We are preparing to release ST under a X/BSD-style license, and once
that happens, we plan to work with the XFree86, X.org, and li18nux.org
communities to make sure ST & XST meet the needs of the widest
audience. We will send a further announcement to these groups when
the ST materials are released.
- The ST Core Team:
Alex Gelfenbain [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Alan Coopersmith [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Jay Cotton [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Jay Hobson [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Stuart Kreitman [EMAIL PROTECTED]
X11 & Globalization Technology Group
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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