Hi,

please consider this:

\starttext \math{flow_1} \stoptext

When compiled with MkIV, space between "f" and "l" is quite big and doesn't look very good. Is it a bug?

Spacing between letters when treated as individual variables is always a bit fishy. In this case the math mode suppresses the fl ligature, which seems to be present in the font, whence the spacing is off. Something like \starttext \math{{\it flow}_1} \stoptext will help ConTeXt treat it as text and improve the spacing (and in this case make use of the fl ligature). Define \def\flow{\text{\it flow}} if you just want to say \starttext \math{\flow_1} \stoptext Severin