>> Certain layout processes, in certain cases, in certain languages, >> simply can't be fully automated. > > And interestingly, there is a crucial difference between ligatures > and hyphenation in this regard: While a conservative processor could > simply omit hyphenation in ambiguous cases (potentially leading to > suboptimal linebreaking though), a decision ought to be made for > ligatures if one uses a font requiring them. But then, although > getting ligatures wrong in this case is categorically somehow > "worse" than too-wide inter-word spacing, who knows which visual > effect actually has more adverse effect on the reading process ...
Well, it's not that complicated. Ligatures in German must not happen at compound break points, while they can be applied to ordinary break points. Consider the word `Dorfladen' (village shop). Using `=' to indicate a compound break point and `-' for normal ones, the proper break points are `Dorf=la-den' which means no `fl' ligature. Note that `Fladen' means `cow dung', so having a ligature there is really bad. On the other hand, consider `Löffel' (spoon). Inspite of the hyphenation `Löf-fel', a ligature looks good. Werner
