Locating font files

[Marcus Better <marcus@better.se>]

My application needs to locate font files for Type 1 fonts on the
system. Specifically, given a name which the user chooses, say "Courier"
or "Helvetica", the app needs to find a suitable pfb _and_ afm files for
these fonts. How do I do this?

Can I do this with either defoma or fontconfig?

I believe fontconfig doesn't provide the location of the afm file, only
the pfb. Without the font metrics the application cannot use the font.
Is there a solution to this problem?

Thanks,

Marcus