SCP cannot be styled in various apps (e.g. Sublime Text, VSCode) on macOS 11 (Big Sur)

[thekeith]

For some reason, Source Code Pro is now incompatible with some apps on Big Sur such as Sublime Text 3. Removing and reinstalling the font did not help. Also raising this to the Sublime HQ team too.

[frankrolf]

Hi @thekeith, would you mind providing some more detail here?

• what does “now incompatible” mean? The fonts no longer work after installing 10.15?
• “some apps” – which apps?
• have you tried OTF versions?
• are you using the latest static release? https://github.com/adobe-fonts/source-code-pro/releases/tag/2.030R-ro%2F1.050R-it
• are you perhaps accidentally using Variable Fonts, which may not yet be supported by Sublime Text?
• “Also raising this to the Sublime HQ team too” – where?

[UnderpantsGnome]

@frankrolf I don't know if they are referring to the same issue, but on Big Sur, using VS Code, the font doesn't render any color other than black, so syntax highlight no longer works, I just checked it with the latest release of the TTF fonts.

[balupton]

Issue is also reported on vscode microsoft/vscode#100840 as well as chromium https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1100502

Hasklig also has the same issue.

[balupton]

Perhaps #244 is the same issue, just detected earlier somewhere else.

[Soulike]

Same problem on Chrome 86

[monadbobo]

Issue is also reported on vscode microsoft/vscode#100840 as well as chromium https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1100502

Hasklig also has the same issue.

I had the same problem.

[frankrolf]

#244 is not related, since this is just a CSS issue – I just tested the site (fixed yesterday) and it works fine.
However, I think it is the same problem as #217, where Firefox would have this problem even in OSs prior to Big Sur.

Explanation: Source Code Pro contains an experimental SVG table with colored glyphs in them:

Apparently, the presence of this table confuses environments into thinking “Hey – this font is already colored! I should not touch it.” Pre-macOS 11 this only happened in Firefox, now it does in more applications; I am unsure where the bug lies though (stock apps don’t seem to have a problem with coloring the font).
The root cause however is the presence of the SVG table.

---

To test this hypothesis, I made a small test in Sublime:

Other font (Input Mono)

Source Code Pro (2.030)

Source Code Pro (SVG table removed)

@pauldhunt is currently working on SCP and can decide whether keeping the SVG table is worth the tradeoff.

FWIW I did test with OTF files, the file format does not seem to matter much in this bug. I will update the issue title accordingly.

[zavan]

@frankrolf @pauldhunt now with the final version of Big Sur released this problem potentially affects many more people. Have you made a decision on keeping the table and breaking compatibility vs removing it?

Since it was described as a "experimental" feature (and the fact that it breaks compatibility with other stable software), in my view it shouldn't make into what end users receive. One option would be to make two separate releases, one with the table, another without, or a making a "canary" release channel with experimental features while keeping them out of the regular one, like Google Chrome does.

[pauldhunt]

I’m planning on getting a patch out ASAP that removes the SVG table in hopes that will remedy this behavior. If you’d like to test some beta fonts, please contact me. Thanks.

[wbond]

We are tracking this for Sublime Text at sublimehq/sublime_text#3747. I've outlined what I believe to be the correct changes if you are using Core Text. I have not made the changes to our font rendering stack yet.

[pauldhunt]

I’ve pushed out a new build of the fonts with SVG table removed to remedy this bug. Please update your fonts and let me know if this resolves the issue for you. Thanks.
📦 https://github.com/adobe-fonts/source-code-pro/releases/latest

[jakedahn]

For what it's worth, I can confirm that the latest release you linked above fixes VSCode! I had to restart VSCode after reinstalling the font, but everything seems to be working for me -- thank you! 🥳

[manngo]

I had the same problem with Atom and Firefox, which led me to conclude that it was the font and not the software.

Thanks @thekeith for reporting this, and @pauldhunt for fixing it.