Re: Refreshing the ATS Server

FROM : Alex Raftis
DATE : Wed Jan 29 08:52:36 2003


On Tuesday, January 28, 2003, at 04:52 PM, The Amazing Llama wrote:

> As a quick work around (that might not work), did you try removing the
> font, then adding another font (possibly one that's already there,
> like Geneva), to force a re-read? This might be a pain, but it might
> be worth it if you don't need an automated system, or don't need to do
> it a lot.


Well, the solution seems to be more admin related than developer
related, but the answer may concern both groups, so I'll post my
findings to both.

It seems that yes, you need to remove the font, let the server refresh,
and then re-add the font. Just editing the font won't help, unless,
apparently, you editing the font through the ATS SDK.

However, the problem I was encountering is apparently ralated to using
"cp" and "rm" to move and copy my fonts. The problem seems that neither
of these commands cause my ~/Library/Fonts' directory to have it's
modification time updated, at least not in such a way that the
ATSServer notices. The solution here seems to be to explicitly "touch"
the directory after doing a "cp" or "rm". Once I did this, the fonts
started to disappear from the font menus and (ftxinstalledfonts), like
I would expect.

So, when changing the properties in a font, like I described in my
first e-mail, the solution seems to be:

1. Move the font to a safe location.
2. Touch the font directory.
3. Launch TextEdit and verify that the font has been deleted. This
seems necessary, since TextEdit pings the ATSServer which causes it to
update. You can probably use other apps as well, but TextEdit is light
weight, so it's my choice.
4. Quit TextEdit
5. Edit your font
6. Move the font back into your font directory.
7. Touch your font directory.
8. Launch TextEdit again and hopefully see your changes in the font
panel.

This is a bit cumbersome, so unless you're a die hard command line user
like me, you'll probably want to find a third party package that does
updates through the ATS SDK, and thus causes the fonts to be updated as
the changes are made.

Alex Raftis
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