Using the build script

Table of contents

• Table of contents
• Prerequisites
• Notices
• Build procedure
• Debugging FontForge with GDB
• A final word

Prerequisites

• A 32-bit Windows OS to build the 32-bit build, or a 64-bit OS, which can build both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Tested only on Windows 7 SP1.
• About 3.5GB of free space, 6GB if building both versions.

Notices

• The build system as of 14/06/14 has undergone a significant overhaul. See the README.txt at the root of the git repository for more information. Importantly, it is highly advised to use a fresh copy of MSYS2. However, after this change, your MSYS2 installation should be unaffected by future updates.

Build procedure

1. Grab a copy of the base MSYS2 installation. If you have a 64-bit computer, then the default download is fine. If you have a 32-bit computer, you must browse for the 32-bit base archive - see here.

   1. Installation using the installer: Run the installer, following the prompts. Ensure to install to a path that does not contain spaces - e.g. C:\msys64 is fine, but C:\Program Files\msys64 is not ok. The installer will initialise everything that it needs. Start the terminal (Note: See step 3 below which explains which shell can be launched).
   2. Otherwise - Installation from archive (manual method): Extract it to a path that does not contain spaces.
   3. Initialise MSYS2 - in the base folder, double click on either mingw32_shell.bat or mingw64_shell.bat - depending on if you wish to build the 32-bit or 64-bit version of FontForge.
      • Note that if you have a 32-bit computer, you cannot build the 64-bit version.
      • You may switch to build the alternative architecture by simply using the alternative shell, but note that you cannot build them simultaneously. If you switch the build architecture, the ReleasePackage folder will be reset. Everything else will remain in-tact.
   4. On first start, MSYS2 will initialise some files - you must close the terminal and open a new one to complete the process (it will prompt you to do so, so follow the instructions).

2. Now that MSYS2 is initialised, you should synchronise the package repository:

   ~~~~~~
   pacman -Syy
   ~~~~~~

3. The next step is optional, and may break things, but it keeps stuff up to date - update MSYS2:

   ~~~~~
   pacman -Suu
   ~~~~~

   If you see fork errors, close the terminal and run autorebase.bat (located in the root of the MSYS2 installation)

4. Now that's done, install git:

   ~~~~~~
   pacman -S git
   ~~~~~~

   (Say yes to the prompt)

5. Once installed, you can now clone the build script:

   ~~~~~~
   git clone https://github.com/jtanx/fontforgebuilds ff-build
   cd ff-build
   ~~~~~~

6. The next step is optional, but it makes MSYS2 a bit nicer to use. In particular, if you have Notepad++, then this step will set it as the default editor for git, and you can also call Notepad++ with the aliased command, npp. It will also make pressing Ctrl+Left/Right skip back/forwards one word (mimics cmd behaviour):

   ~~~~~~
   git checkout msys2-configs
   ./patch-msys2-config.sh
   git checkout master
   ~~~~~~

   You will have to restart your terminal for the changes to come into effect.

7. You must now download the prerequisite source and binary files:

   • potrace into original-archives/binaries/ - either potrace-1.14.win32.tar.gz or potrace-1.11.win64.tar.gz, depending on if you're dong 32 or 64 bit
   • VcXsrv minimal into original-archives/binaries - again, choose the one that matches your architecture.
   • Cairo into original-archives/sources - the build system currently uses cairo-1.15.6.tar.xz.
   • Pango into original-archives/sources - the build system currently uses pango-1.40.6.tar.xz
   • FreeType into original-archives/sources - the build system currently uses freetype-2.8.tar.bz2. This is only required to compile the TTF debugger in FontForge.

8. If all goes well and the stars align, you may now call:

   ~~~~~~
   ./ffbuild.sh
   ~~~~~~

   And FontForge (and its dependencies) should just compile, building you your very own copy of FontForge. Note that you will need an internet connection to run the script, as it automatically clones the source repositories of the required X11 libraries.

   • Note that the assembled package will be present in the ReleasePackage folder. You may launch FontForge either by clicking on run_fontforge.exe, or by fontforge.bat.

Debugging FontForge with GDB

You will need the appropriate version of gdb installed to debug fontforge:

32-bit: mingw-w64-i686-gdb
64-bit: mingw-w64-x86_64-gdb
install with, e.g.: pacman -S mingw-w64-i686-gdb

Note: Do not install the msys2 gdb, as this is the wrong one to use, e.g. do not do this:

!!! don't do this !!!
pacman -S gdb

Check: Which gdb are you using?

which gdb

It should either be /mingw32/bin/gdb or /mingw64/bin/gdb depending on if you are targeting 32 or 64-bit builds.

If you need more help with GDB itself, see [Getting a backtrace with GDB] for more details.

A tip for if you have built fontforge yourself: Copy the debugging symbols from the debugging-symbols/.debug folder to the bin folder in ReleasePackage, e.g.:

cd ReleasePackage/bin
cp -r ../../debugging-symbols/.debug .
gdb fontforge

Currently there is a (presumed) bug in the readline build on msys2, which means that interactive prompts inside of gdb fail. Thus, if you want to set a breakpoint before you run fontforge, you must execute the following line in the gdb prompt first:

set breakpoint pending on

Make sure that you have an X server running, e.g. Xming or VcXsrv. You can use the supplied version of VcXsrv:

• Go to ReleasePackage/bin/VcXsrv and make a shortcut to VcXsrv.exe
• Edit the shortcut (right-click, properties) and edit the target by appending -multiwindow to it, e.g. target: "C:\ffbuild\ReleasePackage\bin\VcXsrv\vcxsrv.exe" -multiwindow
• Double click on the shortcut

A final word

Note that this build process is subject to change as modifications are made.