[pdftex] Correction to pdftex-a.pdf

[Gernot Hassenpflug]

Hello all,
I've been reading various pdfTeX manuals (from the early TUGboat
article in 1997, to various presentation style files pdftex-s.pdf and
the current pdftex-a.pdf on CTAN), and noticed one recurring
inconsistency in the font explanation section.

Using reference [1], in Section 6.1 Map files, Page 12, there is:

"If the fontflags field is not given, pdfTEX treats it as being 4, a
symbolic font."

Problem: 4 is script font, symbolic font is 3 according to Table 3.

Correction: I don't know what pdfTeX does here, but I suspect 3 rather
than 4, if the font is to be treated as symbolic.

[1] The pdfTEX user manual (May 9, 2016)
pdftex-a.pdf (up to version 1.40.17)
[2] 62 page version (up to version 1.20b):
http://www.pragma-ade.com/pdftex/pdftex-s.pdf
[3] 47 page version (older):
http://vlado.fmf.uni-lj.si/texceh/kako/tex2pdf/ex/pdftex-s.pdf
[4] The pdfTEX user manual TUGboat, Volume 18 (1997), No.4
https://www.tug.org/TUGboat/tb18-4/tb57than.pdf

Best regards,
Gernot Hassenpflug

[Karl Berry]

"If the fontflags field is not given, pdfTEX treats it as being 4, a
symbolic font."

Problem: 4 is script font, symbolic font is 3 according to Table 3.

Thanks for reporting that. I will fix it for the next release. -k

[Karl Berry]

Hi Gernot,

Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2016 14:01:30 +0900
...
"If the fontflags field is not given, pdfTEX treats it as being 4, a
symbolic font."
Problem: 4 is script font, symbolic font is 3 according to Table 3.

Coming back to this: actually, both the documentation and the code are
correct, if not a model of clarity. Table 3 shows bit positions, not
decimal values. The decimal value "4" means that bit position 3 is set
-> symbolic font.

What was omitted from the manual is that this is the default for
embedded fonts. For non-embedded fonts (not that anyone should be using
those), the default is 0x22.

I added a few more words of description. --thanks, karl.

[Gernot Hassenpflug]

Post by Karl Berry
Hi Gernot,
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2016 14:01:30 +0900
...
"If the fontflags field is not given, pdfTEX treats it as being 4, a
symbolic font."
Problem: 4 is script font, symbolic font is 3 according to Table 3.

Hello Karl,

Post by Karl Berry
Coming back to this: actually, both the documentation and the code are
correct, if not a model of clarity. Table 3 shows bit positions, not
decimal values. The decimal value "4" means that bit position 3 is set
-> symbolic font.

Whew, sorry I could not grok that correctly, thanks for checking that.
Glad to know it is correct, and that it is merely my comprehension
that was faulty.

Post by Karl Berry
What was omitted from the manual is that this is the default for
embedded fonts. For non-embedded fonts (not that anyone should be using
those), the default is 0x22.
I added a few more words of description. --thanks, karl.

Many thanks! It is tough work to put out a manual (also tough to read
it, from a different viewpoint), very happy I could help to improve it
even just a little.
Best regards,
Gernot