[magick-users] imagick_type_gen enhancement

[Anthony Thyssen]

On Tue, 6 Jan 2009 22:49:03 +0000 (UTC)
magick-users-bounces at imagemagick.org wrote:

| Hi Anthony, 
| 
| I found that the imagick_type_gen inconvenient for me to use because I 
| have been trying to add only several fonts into my system each day for 
| several days. So I made a small enhancement to it. 
| 
| I thought I could live with the limitation, but after several days doing 
| the same thing, I finally can't stand it. Because, each time, I have to 
| either wait until next day for locate db to be updated, or run the long 
| long updatedb just to add those several fonts -- most time it were just 
| only one or two fonts. 
| 
| Moreover, the script picks up many duplicated fonts that I don't want. 
| There is no way to remove duplicated or unwanted fonts. I have to 
| manually edit the generated file each time. Removing those tried fonts 
| that I don't like gave me the same pain as well.
| 
| In conclusion, the imagick_type_gen is
| 
| - good to add all fonts within the system to ImageMagick once, but
| - not convenient to add just several fonts
| - not convenient to add new fonts that is not in locate db yet
| - no way to remove duplicated or unwanted fonts
| - depends on the external command 'locate'.
| 
| My small enhancement is decoupling the generation of font list and font 
| registration. Now the fonts that imagick_type_gen needs to register is 
| read from stdin. So it has the convenient to add fonts system wide, or 
| only a picked sub set.
| 
| To dupe the old behavior (with a little enhancement in speed)
| 
|  slocate -ir '\.\(ttf\|pfb\|afm\)$' | imagick_type_gen
| 
| The only fonts that I care is what I put in a central location. In this 
| case, I don't need to way for locate db to be updated:
| 
|  find /path/to/my/fonts |   imagick_type_gen
| 
| The benefits for this is that I can group fonts in different categories 
| and only need to update the modified ones. Here is my type.xml (under 
| Debian):
| 
| $ tail -4 /usr/lib/ImageMagick-6.3.7/config/type.xml
| <typemap>
|    <include file="type-ghostscript.xml" />
|    <include file="type-win_en.xml" />
| </typemap>
| 
| Anthony, I have received tremendous helps from you, and now I consider it 
| is a chance to give back. If you want, I can send the patch to you, or 
| post it here... all up to you.
| 
This is a good enhancment, however can you change it to be a command line
option instead.

For example   
   imagick_type_gen -d /path/to/my/fonts > my_type.xml

Will create a type.xml for a specific directory rather than using locate.
this way it remains backward compatible with how it is currently used.

PS: At this time my ISP provider is for some reason striping the senders
original address from the IM maillist mail.  As such I can not send you
a direct copy of teh above mail.   I have been trying to get a copy of
the headers of a mailing list mail someone else has received so I can
compare, but with no success so far.

  Anthony Thyssen ( System Programmer )    <A.Thyssen at griffith.edu.au>
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
      The problem with a kludge is eventually you're going to have to
      go back and do it right.           -- Rick Cook, "Wizardry Cursed"
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Anthony's Home is his Castle     http://www.cit.gu.edu.au/~anthony/