Aw: On the lack of a SQUARE TB glyph

Marius Spix via Unicode unicode at unicode.org
Thu Sep 26 07:40:28 CDT 2019


Unfortunately, the CJK Compatibility block is full, but U+321F in the Enclosed CJK Letters and Months seems to be free. I definitely see a usage for the proposed character.
 

Gesendet: Donnerstag, 26. September 2019 um 13:21 Uhr
Von: "Fred Brennan via Unicode" <unicode at unicode.org>
An: unicode at unicode.org
Betreff: On the lack of a SQUARE TB glyph
Greetings,

I can't help but notice that there is no "SQUARE TB" glyph.

We have SQUARE KB, GB and MB, starting at U+3385. But no SQUARE TB?

SQUARE GB is at U+3387, and U+3388 is...SQUARE CAL, ㎈, so no space was even
left for it—not very future-proof!

The purposes of these glyphs is, as you know, for CJK. Perhaps terabytes were
not as common when these glyphs were approved, but they are common now.

There is a clear demand for a SQUARE TB. In the font SMotoya Sinkai W55 W3,
which is ©2008 株式会社 モトヤ, the glyph is unencoded and accessed via the
Discretionary Ligatures (`dlig`) OpenType feature. It has name `T_B.dlig`.
This same scheme is used in many other Motoya fonts, and presumably other CJK
fonts. In some other fonts, the `hwid` feature can be used to get a similar
effect.

SQUARE TB is likewise seen often on packaging as terabyte hard drives are now
common, as is the concept of a terabyte in operating systems.

Recently new glyphs were added for the new era name, so I don't think it's a
problem to add SQUARE TB. While we're at it, may as well add SQUARE PB. To be
future-proof (hopefully for the next hundred years!), perhaps we ought to also
add SQUARE EB, SQUARE ZB and SQUARE YB! But even if only SQUARE TB gets in
it's worth it, I need it.

Best,
Fred Brennan



 



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