On Fri, 9 Jan 2009, Behdad Esfahbod wrote: > Robert Kerr wrote: >> On Wed, 7 Jan 2009, Behdad Esfahbod wrote: >> >>> Hi Robert, >>> >>> I agree with Ed that you should highly consider using pangocairo >>> (pangoft2 >>> would do it too, but is not developed anymore). Now, you probably >>> will see >>> some resistance as this will introduce a few new dependencies. But >>> that's >>> really the only way to bring full internationalization to your toolkit. >> >> Well, since Pango/cairo are already linked in, perhaps the dependency >> issue won't be horrible. > > Ah, makes a lot of sense then. It may be a bit more work though. > > >>> If you still decide to use fontconfig directly, I always reply to >>> messages >>> that are to the point. True, there is no good guide to read. But if >>> you ask >>> smart questions (like, "I have a family name, how do I find the best >>> font file >>> to use?"), you get smart answers. If you ask stupid questions ("how >>> do I use >>> fontconfig?"), you probably don't get any answers. >>> >> >> I can understand your position, but this still points out a >> problem--i.e. how does a new developer learn enough to ask smart >> questions? For example, your suggested "smart question" is something >> that I wouldn't be able to even think about for awhile. So really, the >> question that I was trying to ask was "How do I get started?" and is the >> question that there really isn't anything available to find an answer fore. > > Interesting. > >> That being said, I'm incredibly grateful to everyone on the list who's >> been so helpful--I was full of trepidation that I'd be either ignored, >> or flamed into a pile of cinders, but you all have been very helpful. > > Well, we're no weirdos, just your typical free software developers. From my > experience over the past couple of years, most of the requests that go > unanswered are typically asking for 1) more documentation, or 2) help porting > ABC to embedded platform XYZ. The former goes unanswered because what's out > there is all there is available, and the latter goes unanswered because no one > on the list has any idea what the XYZ platform is or what issues the requester > is facing. > > > Cheers, > behdad > Certainly makes sense. Although, I know that I have LOADS of free time to just sit around and play, so I can't see why it should be different for anyone else! I mean, don't we all have scads of extra time to write up tutorials and examples? Oh, wait, sorry--that's my other life, in bizzaro-world. thanks -bob > >> Thanks again >> >> -bob >> >> >>> Cheers, >>> behdad >>> >>> Robert Kerr wrote: >>>> Ed, >>>> Thanks for the response. I appreciate your input. >>>> >>>> So, my situation is that I'm rather new to the team, and was given this >>>> assignment by someone else, and it was suggested that I look into >>>> putting >>>> fontconfig into the project. If pango et al already handle what we >>>> need, >>>> then that drastically reduces the issues I have to deal with. It >>>> would be >>>> a case of the person giving me the assignment not having any >>>> experience in >>>> font issues, and not knowing what route to take for this. >>>> >>>> I'll certainly look more into what pango/cairo provide, in the hopes >>>> that >>>> it'll prove a better avenue of exploration. >>>> >>>> Thanks again! >>>> >>>> -bob >>>> >>>> >>>> On Wed, 7 Jan 2009, Ed Trager wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi, Robert, >>>>> >>>>> I don't understand *why* you would want to integrate fontconfig into >>>>> VTK. I assume that VTK only really needs access to high-level string >>>>> layout functionality, such as that provided by the Pango, Pango+Cairo, >>>>> or Pango+FreeType2 libraries. So why don't you just go one of those >>>>> routes and let Pango/FreeType deal with fontconfig under the hood >>>>> somewhere? >>>>> >>>>> - Ed Trager >>>>> >>>>> On Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 11:16 AM, Robert Kerr <rakerr@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >>>>>> Hi all, >>>>>> >>>>>> First, let me introduce myself. My name is Bob Kerr, and I'm >>>>>> investigating the possibility of involving fontconfig into VTK. It >>>>>> seems >>>>>> like this would be a good match, and there's some good excitement >>>>>> on the >>>>>> vtk side for this. >>>>>> >>>>>> Now, I've got fontconfig 2.6.0 installed, and it seems that >>>>>> everything is >>>>>> working correctly, as far as I can tell. But, there doesn't seem >>>>>> to be >>>>>> any way to get from where I am to where I want to go. I firmly >>>>>> believe >>>>>> that fontconfig is useful, and viable, and valuable, but I can't >>>>>> find any >>>>>> type of documentation or tutorial or guide as to how to put fontconfig >>>>>> into my application. There's the developers' guide, which is just >>>>>> a list >>>>>> of functions and a brief description. There's the users' guide, which >>>>>> describe how to add fonts to fontconfig and then use an application >>>>>> that >>>>>> uses fontconfig. There's some slides that Keith has posted (from >>>>>> years >>>>>> ago) about the reasons for fontconfig. But there's nothing out >>>>>> there that >>>>>> tells me how to integrate it. >>>>>> >>>>>> After some lengthy searching, I've found a few items that make me >>>>>> somewhat >>>>>> concerned--requests for help from other people in my position, >>>>>> which have >>>>>> gone unanswered, both to this list and in other forums. I took the >>>>>> initiative to email one of those requestors, and they responded >>>>>> that they >>>>>> had received no help from the fontconfig community, and had decided >>>>>> that >>>>>> fontconfig wasn't important for their application, since it looked >>>>>> to be >>>>>> too high of a cost to try to integrate it, since there was no help >>>>>> available. >>>>>> >>>>>> So, in a perhaps futile gesture, I'm asking once again if there is >>>>>> some >>>>>> sort of Newbie Guide to Integrating fontconfig into an >>>>>> Application. Or, >>>>>> failing that, is there an application that uses fontconfig and is >>>>>> well-structured, such that I can learn from it? Or, failing that, is >>>>>> there anyone in the fontconfig community that is willing to mentor >>>>>> someone? >>>>>> >>>>>> I realize that this is something that isn't fun to do--the >>>>>> mentoring of >>>>>> new people, but if the goal of fontconfig is to provide a standard >>>>>> interface and mechanism for handling fonts across a wide variety of >>>>>> platforms and applications, then it behooves the community to >>>>>> provide some >>>>>> way to get more people using it, rather than just ignoring requests >>>>>> for >>>>>> guidance. >>>>>> >>>>>> Thanks in advance for any answers you might be able to provide. >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> -bob >>>>>> >>>>>> Bad Performance Evaluations: "This employee is depriving a village >>>>>> somewhere of an idiot." >>>>>> ********************************************************************** >>>>>> * Robert Kerr, Member of the Cubit Mesh Generation Team * >>>>>> * and the Titan Informatics Toolkit Development Team * >>>>>> * rakerr@xxxxxxxxxx | PO Box 5800, MS 0376 * >>>>>> * Phone: (505) 844-8606 | Sandia National Labs * >>>>>> * Fax: (505) 284-0140 | Albuquerque, NM 87185-0376 * >>>>>> ********************************************************************** >>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> Fontconfig mailing list >>>>>> Fontconfig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >>>>>> http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/fontconfig >>>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>> >>> >> > > -- -bob That's as secure as taping a $100 to the floor of a football stadium bathroom for safekeeping. ********************************************************************** * Robert Kerr, Member of the Cubit Mesh Generation Team * * and the Titan Informatics Toolkit Development Team * * rakerr@xxxxxxxxxx | PO Box 5800, MS 0376 * * Phone: (505) 844-8606 | Sandia National Labs * * Fax: (505) 284-0140 | Albuquerque, NM 87185-0376 * ********************************************************************** _______________________________________________ Fontconfig mailing list Fontconfig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/fontconfig