Forums Bug Reports [7.08] '<' symbol looks weird

I'm trying out the beta versions since 7.07. Today, when using 7.08, I noticed that using the font "Tahoma", the '<' symbol looks weird.



I'm using Windows 7 Ultimate x64.

EDIT: this seems to happen with other fonts too.

The < symbol looks fine under Tahoma for me (Win7/64 as well). Are you sure that's the font you're using?

Other fonts have special behaviour when it comes to displaying some characters, other characters might be font-linked. It's generally an issue with the font itself, not mIRC.

I did not have this problem when using older versions of mIRC (<= 6.35) - and I'm sure I'm using Tahoma. I also tried using '<' in version 7.07, same problem.

EDIT: It seems like the script I'm using, nbs-irc, is not that compatible with mIRC 7

Glad you got the cause figured out. Many scripts have to be updated at least somewhat for mIRC 7. Khaled did his best to keep compatibility, but Unicode is such a large beast that many scripts still require updating. If you can narrow it down to what part of the script is causing that, someone may be able to help you find a fix (or if the script is still being updated, you can ask them and they may already be working on a fix).

The source of the bug needs to be tracked down regardless. It's difficult for forum users to determine if the problem is with mIRC or with the font they're using.

The problem is visible using some (hardly all) third-party Unicode bitmap fonts and Unicode vector fonts (such as the font called Flash), in addition to Microsoft-provided fonts such as Lucida Console, Lucida Fax (Office 2010), Lucida Sans, Garamond Premier Pro (Office 2010), Giddyup Standard (Office 2010), Magneto (Office 2010), Minion Pro (Office 2010), MV Boli (Office 2010), Myriad Pro (Office 2010), and Wingdings (look very closely). I shouldn't need to keep listing off fonts which exhibit this problem.

It's reproducible on Windows XP SP3 using a fresh install of mIRC 7.1, with absolutely no scripts involved. So the OP claiming it had something to do with a script is not the case.

I absolutely acknowledge that there are some fonts which don't do this, but the inconsistency is absolutely bizarre. mIRC is the only Unicode program which has this issue.

Is it possible for Khaled to make an appearance and help us track this down? I have a feeling there may be some "unique" handling of certain characters within mIRC's text output model.

Back to 6.35 for me until this gets solved.

Do you have the full language pack installed in XP? Without it installed, there are some unicode issues that XP will experience.

I have not been able to reproduce this so far. I have tested mIRC under Windows XP SP3 with full language support installed and Windows 7, both fully patched. I have tested using a number of the fonts you have mentioned. The < and > characters always look correct. Can you describe a step by step method of reproducing this issue?

I'm not sure what "full language support" means with regards to XP. Are you referring to the East Asian Languages checkbox under "Regional and Language Options"? If so, this option causes GDI drawing errors and thus can't be used.

Regarding reproducing the problem: I'll spend some time working on this tonight, barring interruptions at work. It should be easily reproducible using VMware given the nature of the problem. I'll document all steps, from OS install to mIRC being run.

Okay, tracked it down.

The text appears correct until a Unicode string such as something in Kana (Japanese), Hangul (Korean), or similar appears in the window. The instant a string of that sort appears in the window, all the text in the window -- including old text -- immediately begins showing the problem documented in this thread.

The problem remains even if you close the channel window/exit the channel and rejoin. You literally have to restart the client to get it to go away (until someone spits out a Unicode string, rinse lather repeat).

&#50504;&#45397;&#55176; &#51452;&#47924;&#49512;&#50612;&#50836; was the string I was using to test.

I can put up some screenshots showing before and after if folks want. So again, this does appear to be an mIRC thing, and not a scripting thing or a "font thing". The OP probably just exited mIRC entirely, and it'll reappear for him the instant someone outputs something in Unicode.

Thanks for looking into it - I think I have been able to reproduce the issue (or at least one similar to it) - this should hopefully be fixed in the next version.

Awesome. As usual, thanks a ton Khaled!