[Fontconfig] Fontconfig trouble with bitmap fonts

Gilles Boccon-Gibod bok at bok.net
Tue Jan 11 10:09:20 EST 2005


I've been struggling with this for a while now, and I I have not found a
good explanation for this problem:

some bitmap fonts (BDF and PCF) fail to work with fontconfig. That means
that they are not listed by fc-list (they do not appear in the cache even
after fc-cache has been run).

*some* bitmap fonts work, obviously, as my Fedora Core 3 distribution
comes prepackaged with some that I use (ex: LucidaTypewriter).
But I am having problems with fonts created by 'bdftopcf'.
Here is what I observe:

a) I have 3 fonts, each originaly converted from a windows .FON file using
fnt2bdf, then bdftopcf.

b) One of the three fonts (ProggyTiny) works. fc-cache sees it, and it
gets listed in font.cache-1

c) The second font (ProggySquare) gets listed by fc-cache/fc-list, but
when listed in any gnome-based font selection dialog (such as the
"preferences" dialog, or the font selection dialog for gnome-terminal), a
different font is displayed (not a bitmap font).

d) The third one (MonteCarlo) does not even get listed (when I run
fc-cache, it gets ignored and does not appear in fonts.cache-1). I know
that the file gets read, because 'strace' shows that the process open and
reads from the file.

e) I know the fonts "work", because I can display them with 'ftview', and
they show up with 'xfontsel', and I can use them in 'xterm' for instance.
they show up with 'xfontsel', and I can use them in 'xterm' for instance.
f) There is nothing special added to my fonts.conf or local.conf

HELP! this is driving me crazy! Does anyone know what may be causing this
(a fontconfig bug, a problem with the font file, something else?). I'm
attaching the three fonts in case someone wants to try.

Here's what's listed in fonts.cache-1 for ProggyTiny and ProggySquare:
Here's what's listed in fonts.cache-1 for ProggyTiny and ProggySquare:
"ProggySquare.pcf" 0
"ProggySquare-8:style=Regular:slant=0:weight=80:width=100:pixelsize=10.625:spacing=100:foundry=unknown:antialias=False:index=0:outline=False:scalable=False:dpi=96:charset=
|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!:lang=aa|ast|ay|bi|br|ch|da|de|en|es|eu|fj|fo|fur|fy|gd|gl|gv|ho|ia|id|ie|io|is|it|lb|mg|nb|nds|nl|nn|no|oc|om|pt|rm|sma|smj|so|sq|sv|sw|tn|ts|vo|wa|xh|yap|zu:fontversion=0:fontformat=PCF"
"ProggyTiny.pcf" 0
"ProggyTiny-8:style=Regular:slant=0:weight=80:width=100:pixelsize=10.625:spacing=100:foundry=unknown:antialias=False:index=0:outline=False:scalable=False:dpi=96:charset=
|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!:lang=aa|ast|ay|bi|br|ch|da|de|en|es|eu|fj|fo|fur|fy|gd|gl|gv|ho|ia|id|ie|io|is|it|lb|mg|nb|nds|nl|nn|no|oc|om|pt|rm|sma|smj|so|sq|sv|sw|tn|ts|vo|wa|xh|yap|zu:fontversion=0:fontformat=PCF"
|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!|>^1!:lang=aa|ast|ay|bi|br|ch|da|de|en|es|eu|fj|fo|fur|fy|gd|gl|gv|ho|ia|id|ie|io|is|it|lb|mg|nb|nds|nl|nn|no|oc|om|pt|rm|sma|smj|so|sq|sv|sw|tn|ts|vo|wa|xh|yap|zu:fontversion=0:fontformat=PCF"

Here's what I get with FC_DEBUG when I select ProggySquare:


FcConfigSubstitute donePattern 19 of 32
        antialias: FcFalse(s)
        charset: set(s)
        dpi: 96(f)(s)
        family: "ProggySquare"(s)
        file: "/usr/share/fonts/bitmap-fonts/ProggySquare.pcf"(s)
        fontformat: "PCF"(s)
        fontversion: 0(i)(s)
        foundry: "unknown"(s)
        index: 0(i)(s)
        lang:
aa|ast|ay|bi|br|ch|da|de|en|es|eu|fj|fo|fur|fy|gd|gl|gv|ho|ia|id|ie|io|is|it|lb|mg|nb|nds|nl|nn|no|oc|om|pt|rm|sma|smj|so|sq|sv|sw|tn|ts|vo|wa|xh|yap|zu(s)
        outline: FcFalse(s)
        pixelsize: 10.625(f)(s)
        scalable: FcFalse(s)
        size: 8(f)(s)
        slant: 0(i)(s)
        spacing: 100(i)(s)
        style: "Regular"(s)
        weight: 80(i)(s)
        width: 100(i)(s)





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