Finding out what characters a given font supports

Question

How do I extract the list of supported Unicode characters from a TrueType or embedded OpenType font on Linux?

Is there a tool or a library I can use to process a .tt

Answer 1

The fontconfig commands can output the glyph list as a compact list of ranges, eg:

$ fc-match --format='%{charset}\n' OpenSans
20-7e a0-17f 192 1a0-1a1 1af-1b0 1f0 1fa-1ff 218-21b 237 2bc 2c6-2c7 2c9
2d8-2dd 2f3 300-301 303 309 30f 323 384-38a 38c 38e-3a1 3a3-3ce 3d1-3d2 3d6
400-486 488-513 1e00-1e01 1e3e-1e3f 1e80-1e85 1ea0-1ef9 1f4d 2000-200b
2013-2015 2017-201e 2020-2022 2026 2030 2032-2033 2039-203a 203c 2044 2070
2074-2079 207f 20a3-20a4 20a7 20ab-20ac 2105 2113 2116 2120 2122 2126 212e
215b-215e 2202 2206 220f 2211-2212 221a 221e 222b 2248 2260 2264-2265 25ca
fb00-fb04 feff fffc-fffd

Use fc-query for a .ttf file and fc-match for an installed font name.

This likely doesn't involve installing any extra packages, and doesn't involve translating a bitmap.

Use fc-match --format='%{file}\n' to check whether the right font is being matched.