[Tux4kids-tuxtype-dev] SDL_Pango, SDL_ttf, and the default font

[Matthew Trey]

I uploaded some pngs to tuxtype/people/treymd in a zip file to show what I’m seeing as far as text rendering in SDL_ttf.  I included examples of different screens using Andika and another bundled font Rachana_w01.  It appears that no consistent results can be reached.  

I did download and try the latest version of Andika, but the results were the same.

You can see the difference on Debian if you configure with the --without-sdlpango switch.  I just wanted to make sure that this was indeed an issue with everyone and not just my build environment.

In any event, getting SDL_Pango working on windows would make this a non-issue, that is probably the answer.



-----Original Message-----
From: David Bruce [mailto:davidstuartbruce at gmail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2009 9:17 AM
To: Matthew Trey
Cc: tux4kids-tuxtype-dev at lists.alioth.debian.org
Subject: Re: [Tux4kids-tuxtype-dev] SDL_Pango, SDL_ttf, and the default font

Hi Matt,

> I believe this is actually due to the font file AndikaDesRevG.ttf, I
> burrowed ariel.ttf from windows and used it in place, and both pango and ttf
> rendered the text exactly the same, which is what should happen, as
> functions outside of SDL_extras should not care which method is used.  If
> possible, could someone confirm that they are seeing the same thing on their
> end, and if there is indeed an issue with the font, a substitute should be
> considered.

I can't look at it over the weekend because I don't have a Windows
machine at home, but I'll try next week.

If I understand correctly, the issue is different text placement with
SDL_Pango vs. SDL_ttf, right?  And the text placement with SDL_ttf is
correct with ariel.ttf, but incorrect with Andika?  It doesn't sound
like this behavior should be determined by the font, but I don't know
that much about it - maybe you have uncovered a bug in
AndikaDesRevG.ttf.  I know all the Andika fonts were under development
(we got them added to Debian specifically because we wanted to use
them in tuxmath and tuxtype), and perhaps there is a newer release
that fixes this issue.  Andika was selected because it is was
specifically developed to be easy to read for young children that are
just learning the language.

Anyway, if we go with something other than Andika, it has to be fully
DFSG free, so don't think Ariel itself is a candidate.

Also, we increasingly need SDL_Pango - if we can get our non-Linux
versions to use it successfully, it will obviate a lot of these
issues.  It should be possible for all platforms we support except
BeOS/Haiku, where I don't think SDL_Pango is likely to ever appear.

Best,

David