Doug Ewell wrote:

> What is the correct IBM GCGID value for U+03B8 GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA?
> Is it GT610000 or GT610002?


I have an internal document that shows
GT610000 Theta Small - (see GT610001, GT610002) U00003B8 GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA
GT610001 Theta Small (Open Form) - (resembles SA50) U00003D1 GREEK THETA SYMBOL
GT610002 Theta Small (Closed Form)
SA500000 Curly Theta Symbol - (resembles GT610001)

The last digit in the GCGID is 0 for the generic GCGID for which any glyph can be 
chosen. A non-zero digit selects a specific, registered glyph - quite similar to the 
Ideographic Variation Selectors.

Generally, the first four characters in the GCGID define the abstract character, and 
the other four (if present) specify appearance.

(No, I am not an expert in GCGIDs; I am looking this definition up in the Character 
Data Representation Architecture (CDRA) Reference. See 
http://www6.software.ibm.com/devcon/devcon/docs/cdrovr00.htm)


> The Unicode 1.1 lists (UNICHP6B.TXT and UNICHP6C.TXT) are inconsistent
> in this regard.  Some entries, even within the same file, show GT610000
> while others show GT610002.  The tables printed in Unicode 1.0 book are
> the same.


For both GT610000 and GT610002 the first internal document shows a glyph like the one 
for U+03b8 in the Unicode 3.0 book.
For GT610001 and SA500000 it shows a glyph like TUS 3.0 for U+03d1.


> IBM has a Web page containing many PDF charts of code pages, and they
> have the same problem: some show one GCGID for U+03B8, others show the
> other one.
> 
> I suppose this might have had something to do with confusion over U+03D1
> GREEK THETA SYMBOL, but that character (a glyph variant of U+03B8) has
> been in Unicode since 1.0.  Was there some dispute at that time over the
> preferred glyphs for U+03B8 and U+03D1?  I remember that they were
> swapped in Unicode at one point.  Was the inconsistency in GCGID a
> precursor to the decision to swap glyphs?


Well, these GCGIDs are just glyph variants, too.


> Any ideas?  (It's probably best not to ask why I am paying attention to
> GCGIDs in the first place.)


I hope this helps - best regards,
markus

-- 
Opinions expressed here may not reflect my company's positions unless otherwise noted.


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