FOP-devs: WRT font-selection-strategy, I think the new aXSL methods provide the means to client applications to implement the "character-by-character" option.
My current reading of the spec is that the "auto" option is merely an opportunity, a hook if you will, for an implementation to do something fancier than "character-by-character". This whole attribute is actually an extension to CSS, which only does character-by-character. The definition of "auto" is "The selection criterion given by the contextual characters is used in an implementation defined manner." That seems to cover almost anything doesn't it? Including character-by-character. The "Note" under "auto" seems to confirm this. Nevertheless, the example given in the "Note" provides some ideas for other algorithms, and seems to suggest that there is room for more than one. So, the general framework would seem to include the definition of one or more such algorithms, naming each one, and then providing that name through some global-ish mechanism like a font-configuration file or other configuration option. The font system can then implement the algorithm, perhaps with the help of call-back methods to provide, for example, the various pieces of contextual text. Now, I suggest that the creation and definition of such algorithms should be driven by the user base. IOW, if a user wishes to suggest an algorithm for font-selection that provides something useful to them, it should be considered. I say this partly because I don't seem to have a need for any such thing. My general approach is going to be to provide a list of exactly one font-family and then (by perusing the log!!) make sure that font-family actually got used. If it did not, I'm going to consider my stylesheet to be deficient as opposed to the font selection algorithm. In other words, I am going to implement my own manual algorithm. The other wrinkle that the standard seems to present is qualitative judgments like "better quality fonts" and "match each other badly stylistically". I know of no way to get this information other than asking the user for it. So it is likely that some algorithms will require additional information in font-configuration. This post does not require any response from anyone. I realize you are trying to get a release out the door. I just wanted to document my thoughts on the matter for you before they escaped. Victor Mote
