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gawl · 03-26-2013, 02:52 AM

First, please accept my apologize, because this is a bit off-topic, as I am not a Sigil user (and won't be, because I prefer to use XML+XSLT to create EPUBs).

But the Sigil forum was recommended to me as a first reaction to my original post, because a lot of EPUB creators are participating here.
In the (EPUB) e-books I create, I need support of ligatures (and the contrary, the "non-joining of glyphs"). However, I am quite desperate because my impression is that...:
-- either I am doing something completely wrong, or...
-- the support of the related OpenType features is simply non-existent, when it comes to recent mobile e-book devices.

In particular:
I am wondering whether/how it is possible to have Unicode characters like ZWNJ (U+200C) correctly "displayed" by e-book devices/software, when these appear in EPUB documents. (Just for completeness: "My" EPUBs look fine when using PC software like e.g. the Calibre preview!)

I am currently doing some tests on my Pocketbook Touch and also tried a Sony reader, and I get the impression that all EPUB software there simply ignores this character. (That means: All ligatures are automatically built, just like defined within the embedded OTF font, but they are also built at places where they must not appear (although being separated by ZWNJ from each other).)

Anyone else here in this forum interested in "Typography and EPUB"?
Can someone...
--- confirm or deny this typography problem?
--- tell me [if my impression is correct] whether this is an unchangeable fact that I simply have to accept (for the time being), or is there anything I can do?

The only trick that seems to come somewhat near to what there should be is to use U+200A (Hair Space) instead, because it prevents a ligature being built from the glyphs left and right to this character. But the downside of it is that a "Hair Space" allows a line-break, which no-one wants within a word, of course. I haven't found the time yet to test characters like U+2060 ("Word Joiner") or similar. But probably it's pointless anyway to check all the endless ranges of Unicode characters, because ZWNJ is the officially declared candidate for this purpose.

Maybe some other ideas?

Thanks for your efforts!

03-26-2013, 02:52 AM	#1
gawl Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 18672 Join Date: Mar 2013 Device: Pocketbook Touch	Support of Special Unicode Characters? First, please accept my apologize, because this is a bit off-topic, as I am not a Sigil user (and won't be, because I prefer to use XML+XSLT to create EPUBs). But the Sigil forum was recommended to me as a first reaction to my original post, because a lot of EPUB creators are participating here. In the (EPUB) e-books I create, I need support of ligatures (and the contrary, the "non-joining of glyphs"). However, I am quite desperate because my impression is that...: -- either I am doing something completely wrong, or... -- the support of the related OpenType features is simply non-existent, when it comes to recent mobile e-book devices. In particular: I am wondering whether/how it is possible to have Unicode characters like ZWNJ (U+200C) correctly "displayed" by e-book devices/software, when these appear in EPUB documents. (Just for completeness: "My" EPUBs look fine when using PC software like e.g. the Calibre preview!) I am currently doing some tests on my Pocketbook Touch and also tried a Sony reader, and I get the impression that all EPUB software there simply ignores this character. (That means: All ligatures are automatically built, just like defined within the embedded OTF font, but they are also built at places where they must not appear (although being separated by ZWNJ from each other).) Anyone else here in this forum interested in "Typography and EPUB"? Can someone... --- confirm or deny this typography problem? --- tell me [if my impression is correct] whether this is an unchangeable fact that I simply have to accept (for the time being), or is there anything I can do? The only trick that seems to come somewhat near to what there should be is to use U+200A (Hair Space) instead, because it prevents a ligature being built from the glyphs left and right to this character. But the downside of it is that a "Hair Space" allows a line-break, which no-one wants within a word, of course. I haven't found the time yet to test characters like U+2060 ("Word Joiner") or similar. But probably it's pointless anyway to check all the endless ranges of Unicode characters, because ZWNJ is the officially declared candidate for this purpose. Maybe some other ideas? Thanks for your efforts!