[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: Policy: font paths.



Federico Di Gregorio wrote:
> 
> Seem like we're online tonight (at least is night for me...)
> 
> [snip snap, read past mails...]
> 
> > >What about a sigle place like /usr/share/...? And leave in X11R6 only
> > >the real X fonts?
> > >
> > Not unless you would like to rehash the teTeX database, and reset the variables
> > which the kpathsea library uses for fonts searching as well.  That would
> > increase the complexity of any such program by an order of magnitude, I think.
> 
> Right.
> 
> I think a fontmanager will have to do that:
> 
> o	find the fonts on the system and build a map
> o	help the user install/remove fonts
> o	create/change the conf.scripts/files needed by some
> 	programs to recognize the fonts (X/gs/tex/etc...)

I investigated such things some time ago, but didn't created the tool.
However I can tell you which files such tool should manage:

1/ X uses FontPath in XF86Config to locate its fonts.  You have to register a
  new font in fonts.scale file within directory that contains the scalable
  font, then run mkfontdir.
2/ ghostscript uses a Fontmap file in each font directory, however  I have to
  set GS_LIB to point other than the standard ghostscript font dir.  IMO this
  could be fixed in GS init files.
3/ To be able to use PS fonts in latex you have to supply more than a
  conffile.  You have to process it through fontinst. Then it builds a large
  set of files.  I processed baskerville font from freefont package (3 shapes:
  normal, bold and italic) through fontinst and it created about 70 files
  including .vf, .tfm, .fd, ...  It fiils more than 100~kb on my disk and took
  a long time to build.  I believe you cannot create these files at
  installation time.  You should either provide a separate package for tetex
  fonts, or use future dpkg functionality not to install some parts of a
  package.
  Another point to highlight: each PS font for latex have to be registered in
  psfonts.map to be able to view it under xdvi & include in PS file created by
  dvips.

> If nobody esle is ineterested i will give it a try next week,
> but doesn't expect something useable soon (I am packaging some
> other stuff, tkstep replacement for tk at now).
> 
> If somebody is interested or has some nice idea, please give me
> input. Thanx. Ciao.

I would want to see such registering facility but don't have time to make it.
I hope these notes could help you.

Bye.

-- 
 Eric Delaunay                 | "La guerre justifie l'existence des militaires.
 delaunay@lix.polytechnique.fr | En les supprimant." Henri Jeanson (1900-1970)


--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
debian-devel-request@lists.debian.org . Trouble? 
e-mail to templin@bucknell.edu .


Reply to: