Certain writing systems and advanced typographical scripts (such as Nastaliq for Urdu/Shahmukhi, Myanmar/Burmese scripts, and various minority scripts) rely on Graphite font technology (developed by SIL International) rather than standard OpenType layout tables.
Currently, fonts utilizing Graphite features (like Awami Nastaliq, Padauk, or Scheherazade) do not render contextual alternates, complex ligatures, or dynamic glyph positioning correctly in ONLYOffice Desktop Editors, Mobile, or Server solutions. This limits usability for users working with complex or minority scripts globally.
Proposed Solution
Integrate Graphite font engine support into the ONLYOffice rendering pipeline across Desktop, Web, and Mobile platforms.
Reference Implementations: Engines such as LibreOffice and Mozilla Firefox already include native Graphite support (via libgraphite2), enabling seamless rendering of complex typography.
Target Behavior: When a user selects a Graphite-enabled font, the editor should correctly process Graphite rules to adjust character shaping, kerning, line-height, and contextual positioning automatically.
Benefits
1. Improved Accessibility & Localization: Opens ONLYOffice to millions of speakers and writers of complex scripts (e.g., Urdu, Myanmar scripts, African languages using specialized SIL fonts).
2. Professional Typography: Ensures proper visual rendering for publishing, academic work, and official document creation in regions using non-Latin complex scripts.
3. Parity with Open Source Alternatives: Brings ONLYOffice to feature parity with LibreOffice and Firefox regarding international font engine standards.
Technical References
Graphite Official Site: https://graphite.sil.org/
Engine Library: libgraphite2 (C/C++ library for smart font processing)