What’s New in D-Type 10
New Library: D-Type Script Interpreter
D-Type 10 introduces a new library: D-Type Script Interpreter. This easy-to-use, portable and lightweight C/C++ library allows its clients to seamlessly execute INTEGRAL programs and scripts on any device or platform. Two new examples have been added to the existing demo programs to showcase the library’s usage.
INTEGRAL is a modern, versatile, extensible and elegant domain-specific language (DSL) designed for dynamic content publishing. It can be used to create a wide array of electronic documents, ranging from simple texts and presentations to complex dynamic content that includes rich text, tables, figures, mathematical formulas and more.
The following animation showcases the output created by a demo INTEGRAL program found in the download package. D-Type Script Interpreter can execute this program on any platform, delivering 100% identical results down to the pixel.
FIG 1 The output of an INTEGRAL program that renders a set of complex mathematical equations to a PowerDoc document. The above animation alternates between the default view and the view in which PowerDoc frames are visible.Support for COLR Version 1 OpenType Fonts
D-Type Font Engine 10 provides built-in support for parsing OpenType fonts with COLR Version 1 tables, while D-Type PowerDoc Engine provides built-in support for rendering COLR Version 1 OpenType fonts. The OpenType COLR Version 1 table significantly enhances COLR Version 0 by introducing support for color gradation, as well as extended color variation capabilities in variable fonts. While Version 0 allows for simple layering of color glyphs, Version 1 enables multiple layers with varying opacities, transformations and blending/compositing modes, allowing for richer and more dynamic color glyph representations.
Here is an example:
Here are a few more examples illustrating extended color variation capabilities in OpenType COLR Version 1 variable fonts:
FIG 3 Nabla Regular is a COLR Version 1 OpenType font with variable extrusion depth and edge highlight effects. The above animation shows D-Type PowerDoc Engine rendering two specific instances of this font.
FIG 5 Sixtyfour Convergence Regular is another COLR Version 1 OpenType font with four variable parameters: scanlines, bleed, horizontal element alignment, and vertical element alignment. The above animation shows D-Type PowerDoc Engine rendering two specific instances of this font.
PowerDoc Engine: Advanced 32-bpp RGBA Glyph Caching for COLR Version 0 and COLR Version 1 OpenType Fonts
OpenType COLR Version 1 fonts can be quite complex to render, requiring sophisticated rendering machinery that supports 32-bpp alpha blending and compositing, transformations, masking, variable font support, gradients, and various other functions – essentially, a mini-Photoshop. Processing all these functions can be a time-consuming and resource-intensive task. To enhance the speed of color glyph generation, D-Type PowerDoc Engine 10 comes equipped with an advanced 32-bpp RGBA glyph caching system for both COLR Version 0 and COLR Version 1 OpenType fonts. This feature is built-in and enabled by default, requiring no additional setup; it simply works. D-Type PowerDoc Engine 10 also provides a few new initialization parameters to customize the RGBA glyph cache policy, if needed.
PowerDoc Engine: New Advanced Gradient
D-Type PowerDoc Engine 10 comes with a new advanced gradient object. The advanced gradient object is conceptually and functionally similar to the existing standard gradient object but features several key differences. For example, the advanced gradient is not confined to a rectangular region; it can either be infinitely large, filling the entire rendering surface, or it can be masked and clipped by an arbitrary polygon or polygon outline, resulting in a gradient with a finite extent. Additionally, the advanced gradient supports several extend modes (pad, repeat, reflect) for colors and transparencies that fall outside the working interval defined by the color stops.
The advanced gradient object comes in three different types: Linear, Radial and Sweep.
Linear Gradient
This gradient type provides gradation of colors along a straight line and is defined by three points.
Radial Gradient
This gradient type provides gradation of colors along a cylinder defined by two circles.
Sweep Gradient
This gradient type provides a gradation of colors that sweep around a center point.
PowerDoc Engine: Enhanced Standard Gradient
D-Type PowerDoc Engine 10 also improves the standard gradient object by adding twelve new options to the existing repertoire of gradient types: 30-41 (Sweep). Here is what they look like.
PowerDoc Engine: Many Internal Enhancements and New Features
D-Type PowerDoc Engine 10 includes many other improvements and new features. Here are some of them:
- Much faster rendering of OpenType color fonts with SVG glyphs due to highly optimized caching of SVG documents.
- OpenType color fonts with SVG glyphs now support SVG gradients.
- Built-in protection from infinite recursion and looping caused by incorrectly linked objects (cycles).
- A new function to check if a chain of linked objects is cyclic: pdLinkChainTest
Font Engine: New Functions
D-Type Font Engine 10 also brings a few new functions:
- dtFontGetNumericValueMM
- dtFontGetMMBlendValue
- dtFontGetMMAxisNorm
- dtFontAddOrFindMMInstance
- dtFontGetSerialValue
More information about these is available in the API documentation that comes with the download package.
D-Type Text Layout Extension: HarfBuzz Shaping Library Updated to Version 11.2.1
D-Type Text Layout Extension now includes the latest HarfBuzz 11.2.1 shaping engine.
D-Type Text Layout Extension: New Unicode Script Codes Exposed
D-Type Text Layout Extension also exposes the following new Unicode script codes.
Script Codes 198 - 199 (Unicode 15.0)
- kawiScriptCode
- nagmScriptCode
Script Codes 200 - 206 (Unicode 16.0)
- garaScriptCode
- gukhScriptCode
- kraiScriptCode
- onaoScriptCode
- sunuScriptCode
- todrScriptCode
- tutgScriptCode
