macvim-dev / macvim-dev/macvim

CoreText renderer doesn't do font fallback

Open
#243 36 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Dominant language
Vim Script
Stars
7.9k
Forks
691
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

When using the CoreText renderer, MacVim doesn't appear to do any font fallback. Glyphs that don't exist in the current font are always rendered with the missing glyph icon instead of invoking system font fallback to find some font that can supply the glyph.

This used to work. But I'm not quite sure when it broke. Either MacVim used to do font fallback and stopped at some point, or updating from OS X 10.10 to 10.11 somehow broke this. I'm using a custom font (a patched version of Menlo for Powerline) so I know the font didn't change out from under me.

To see this, try pasting ⟶ or ⟹ into MacVim with the 'guifont' set to Menlo:h11 and "Use Core Text renderer" enabled. Here's a screenshot showing it occurring with mvim -N -u NONE:

screen shot 2016-02-14 at 4 15 29 pm

Note: When the CoreText renderer is disabled, MacVim does use font fallback, but it doesn't handle line height properly. I've filed this as #244.

OS X 10.11.3 (15D21), MacVim 7.4-96 (via Homebrew)

> vim --version
VIM - Vi IMproved 7.4 (2013 Aug 10, compiled Feb 14 2016 15:39:36)
MacOS X (unix) version
Included patches: 1-1265
Compiled by Homebrew
Huge version with MacVim GUI.  Features included (+) or not (-):
+acl             +farsi           +mouse_netterm   +syntax
+arabic          +file_in_path    +mouse_sgr       +tag_binary
+autocmd         +find_in_path    -mouse_sysmouse  +tag_old_static
+balloon_eval    +float           +mouse_urxvt     -tag_any_white
+browse          +folding         +mouse_xterm     -tcl
++builtin_terms  -footer          +multi_byte      +terminfo
+byte_offset     +fork()          +multi_lang      +termresponse
+channel         +fullscreen      -mzscheme        +textobjects
+cindent         -gettext         +netbeans_intg   +title
+clientserver    -hangul_input    +odbeditor       +toolbar
+clipboard       +iconv           +path_extra      +transparency
+cmdline_compl   +insert_expand   +perl            +user_commands
+cmdline_hist    +jumplist        +persistent_undo +vertsplit
+cmdline_info    +keymap          +postscript      +virtualedit
+comments        +langmap         +printer         +visual
+conceal         +libcall         +profile         +visualextra
+cryptv          +linebreak       +python          +viminfo
+cscope          +lispindent      -python3         +vreplace
+cursorbind      +listcmds        +quickfix        +wildignore
+cursorshape     +localmap        +reltime         +wildmenu
+dialog_con_gui  +lua             +rightleft       +windows
+diff            +menu            +ruby            +writebackup
+digraphs        +mksession       +scrollbind      -X11
+dnd             +modify_fname    +signs           -xfontset
-ebcdic          +mouse           +smartindent     +xim
+emacs_tags      +mouseshape      -sniff           -xsmp
+eval            +mouse_dec       +startuptime     -xterm_clipboard
+ex_extra        -mouse_gpm       +statusline      -xterm_save
+extra_search    -mouse_jsbterm   -sun_workshop    -xpm
   system vimrc file: "$VIM/vimrc"
     user vimrc file: "$HOME/.vimrc"
 2nd user vimrc file: "~/.vim/vimrc"
      user exrc file: "$HOME/.exrc"
  system gvimrc file: "$VIM/gvimrc"
    user gvimrc file: "$HOME/.gvimrc"
2nd user gvimrc file: "~/.vim/gvimrc"
    system menu file: "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim"
  fall-back for $VIM: "/Applications/MacVim.app/Contents/Resources/vim"
Compilation: clang -c -I. -Iproto -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -DFEAT_GUI_MACVIM -Wall -Wno-unknown-pragmas -pipe  -DMACOS_X_UNIX  -I/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.11.sdk/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/include/python2.7 -I/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.11.sdk/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/include/python2.7 -fno-strict-aliasing -fno-common -dynamic -arch x86_64 -arch i386 -g -Os -pipe -fno-common -fno-strict-aliasing -fwrapv -DENABLE_DTRACE -DMACOSX -DNDEBUG -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -Wshorten-64-to-32 -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -Os -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -DENABLE_DTRACE -isysroot /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.11.sdk -mmacosx-version-min=10.11 -U_FORTIFY_SOURCE -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=1      
Linking: clang   -L. -L/usr/local/lib -L. -L/usr/local/lib -L/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.11.sdk/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/config -lpython2.7 -framework CoreFoundation -Wl,-syslibroot,/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.11.sdk -mmacosx-version-min=10.11 -L/usr/local/lib -o Vim -framework Cocoa -framework Carbon       -lm  -lncurses -liconv -framework Cocoa  -L/usr/local/lib -llua -fstack-protector  -L/System/Library/Perl/5.18/darwin-thread-multi-2level/CORE -lperl -framework Python   -framework Ruby    

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Reproduce with mvim -N -u NONE, 'guifont' set to Menlo:h11, and the CoreText renderer enabled, then paste ⟶ or ⟹. Compare with CoreText disabled; done means missing glyphs use system font fallback while the CoreText renderer remains enabled.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
macos
Domain
computer-graphics, desktop
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.