BabelMap 14.x.x.x Release Notes

BabelMap version 14.0.0.1 (2021-09-14)

• Updated Unicode data for Unicode 14.0.0 data.
• Updated Emoji data for Emoji 14.0.
• For colour fonts (COLR/CPAL format only), polychromatic glyphs are now rendered in colour (NB colours are rendered using RGB values, and so the alpha component is not supported). Colour glyphs are automatically shown single characters with colour definitions (typically emoji) in the following contexts: in the character grid, for the magnified character in the popup window (right-click on a cell in the character grid), for glyph copy (F6), in the export font glyphs utility, in the composite font mapping sample text, in the font analysis sample text, and for the font-provided sample text in the font information utility. Colour glyphs, including colour glyphs for emoji sequences and emoji ZWJ sequences, are optionally supported (on by default) for the display of the selected emoji in the emoji lookup utility (however complex emoji sequences which rely on contextual substitution and positioning are not rendered correctly as a single glyph). The edit buffer will also show colour glyphs when available in the font if "Simple Rendering" is checked (complex rendering uses the Uniscribe API which does not support polychromatic rendering). At present colour emoji sequences (e.g. country and regional flag emoji sequences, and emoji for complex family groupings) are not supported in the edit buffer in either simple or complex rendering mode.
• Added keyboard shortcut for opening the Font Information dialog (Ctrl+F7).
• Added Font Revision, Created, and Modified fields from the Head table to the Font Information dialog.
• Added button in the Font Information dialog which opens a separate dialog which lists all font tables in the font.
• Added button in the Font Information dialog which opens a separate dialog which lists all OpenType features defined in the font.
• Fixed -font command line parameter (was not automatically selecting the specified font).
• Fixed loading an uninstalled font from the command line (was installing the font but not automatically selecting it).
• Fixed bug when scrolling to end of a plane with ">>>" button or Ctrl+End if unassigned ranges are hidden.
• NB Due to an unavoidable upgrade of my development environment (Visual Studio 2008 to Visual Studio 2019), BabelMap now only runs on Windows XP SP2 or later. BabelMap version 13.0.0.11 (2020-12-18) which runs on Windows 2000 is available for download here.

BabelMap version 14.0.0.2 (2021-09-19)

• By popular demand, I have reverted my development environment to 2008, so that BabelMap once again runs on Windows 2000 or later.

BabelMap version 14.0.0.3 (2022-07-29)

• Renamed "Simple Rendering" and "Complex Rendering" modes to "Glyph Mode" and "Text Mode" respectively. Replaced the "Simple Rendering" checkbox with "Glyph Mode" and "Text Mode" radio buttons (also activated by pressing Ctrl+0 and Ctrl+9 respectively).
• Added a "Colour Glyphs" checkbox next to the Glyph Mode and Text Mode buttons. When checked polychromatic glyphs in COLR/CPAL fonts are rendered in colour (also activated by toggling Ctrl+7).
• Now supports colour glyphs in COLR/CPAL fonts for character sequences that use OpenType features (e.g. emoji sequences, flag sequences, and tag sequences). This includes support for very complex family emoji sequences in the Segoe UI Emoji font, where multiple contextual glyph substitution and glyph positioning operations are required to render the emoji glyph correctly. NB in colour mode (using the Babel rendering system), selecting some of the characters of a multi-character sequence for a colour glyph results in partial highlighting of the glyph, whereas in non-colour mode (using the Windows Uniscribe API) the whole glyph is selected even when only some of the corresponding characters are selected. Note also that colour mode supports some character sequences such as flag tag sequences that are not supported by Uniscribe in non-colour mode (so flag tag sequences supported in a COLR/CPAL font will be rendered correctly in colour mode, but as the fallback black flag in non-colour mode).
• Enhanced rendering of emoji sequences in the Emoji Lookup tool when "Render in colour" selected.
• Removed button to paste arbitrary text in the Emoji Lookup tool.
• Fixed bug in context menu for the edit buffer (casing submenu was available when no text is selected)
• Added an option to specify a default flag font in the Composite Font Mappings dialog. If this option is enabled, the specified font will be used in Text mode for sequences of Regional Indicator Symbols corresponding to flag glyphs, overriding the font configured for the Enclosed Alphanumeric Supplement block (which is where Regional Indicator Symbols are located), as well as for flag tag sequences starting with Waving Black Flag.
• Added an option to customize the background and text colours used in the edit buffer("Customize Colours..." from the Options menu).
• Thoroughly refactored the code used to render text in the edit buffer. This has resulted in some minor changes in display behaviour and editing behaviour.
• In Text mode, backspace deletes a single character, whereas Ctrl+backspace deletes a single grapheme cluster (i.e. a single character or a sequence of characters that form a single glyph, e.g. 'e' with a combining acute accent, or two Regional Indicator Symbols rendered as a flag glyph).
• In Text mode double-clicking selects a word, whereas in Glyph mode double-clicking selects a glyph.
• Rationalised descriptions of some emoji sequences.
• Added an option to filter fonts in the Overview of All Fonts dialog by Vendor ID, Design Language, or Supported Language.
• Added Vendor ID, Design Language, and Supported Language to the Font Information dialog.
• Fully supports the Last Resort High-Efficiency font, which uses a Format 13 cmap subtable.
• Improved the filtering out of last resort and fallback fonts when auto-configuring the font-to-block mappings.
• Added an experimental OpenType Test Framework for rendering text with OpenType features using BabelMap's own rendering system.

BabelMap version 14.0.0.4 (2022-08-08)

• Fixed crash when changing to Medium Size view (from the View menu)

BabelMap version 14.0.0.5 (2022-08-17)

• Fixed an issue with the Font Configuration dialog and Font Analysis dialog whereby selecting a Unicode block with no fonts and then pressing the "Options" or "Font Info" button causes the Options or Font Info dialog to open invisible. BabelMap appears to freeze, but can be unfrozen by hitting the Escape key.

BabelMap

BabelMap Version History

BabelStone Home Page