Re: fontconfig configration file search path in static build on windows

[Tatsuro M. <tma...@ya...>]

----- Original Message -----

> From: sfeam 
> To: gnuplot-beta; Tatsuro MATSUOKA >
> Cc: 
> Date: 2016/2/16, Tue 13:09
> Subject: Re: fontconfig configration file search path in static build on windows
> 
> On Tuesday, 16 February 2016 12:52:38 PM Tatsuro MATSUOKA wrote:
>>  ----- Original Message -----
>> 
>>  > From: sfeam
>>  > To: gnuplot-beta; Tatsuro MATSUOKA 
>>  > Cc: 
>>  > Date: 2016/2/16, Tue 12:30
>>  > Subject: Re: fontconfig configration file search path in static build 
> on windows
>>  > 
>>  > On Tuesday, 16 February 2016 11:57:06 AM Tatsuro MATSUOKA wrote:
>>  >>  This is just information.
>>  >> 
>>  >>  >From an demand, I have built static linked gnuplot binary on 
> windows.
>>  >> 
>>  >>  However, fontconfig feature could not be used because 
>>  >>  fontconfig cannot find fontconfig configuration path
>>  >>  if fontconfig path is relative to ../etc/fonts from bin.
>>  >> 
>>  >>  This directory structure only effective using dll version 
> fontconfig.
>>  >> 
>>  >>  For static link on windows, fontconfig 2.11.1, fontconfig 
> application
>>  >>  search fonts directory where a exe file exist.
>>  >> 
>>  >>  See:
>>  >>  
> https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/fontconfig/2016-February/005676.html
>>  > 
>>  > Is there some reason you cannot set FONTCONFIG_PATH?
>>  > 
>>  > If this path is the same for multiple applications then they would
>>  > all benefit from the same "first" initialization of the font 
> cache.
>>  > 
>>  >     Ethan
>> 
>> 
>>  Unlike Unix, on windows there are many different applications which use 
> different version of fontconfig 
>>  or different setting or build of fontconfig.
> 
> I understand.  
> But this is the path to the font cache, not the path to the library executable.
> 
>>  So global seting PATH preferably is avoided if possible.
> 
> You really do want a shared path for system fonts.
> Otherwise all programs that use the fonts suffer from this same problem.
> Sharing a font cache will benefit all of the them.


TeX for windows (like MiKTeX) uses fontconfig. 
The font configuration for TeX for windows is different from that of the original fontconfig.
I would like to avoid unexpected conflict different setting of font configuration file. 

From this demand, windows version fontconfig may have feature to search font 
configuration path relatively if FONTCONFIG_PATH is not set from some version of fontconfig.
(The above is just my speculation.)
>>  In addition, if we use gnuplot in usb stick, FONTCONFIG_PATH is not set 
> easily.
> 
> Doesn't windows have some way of setting this once for the user,
> rather than many times for each program that runs?
> 
The USB stick can set on different computer but the drive name of USB is different 
if computer is different. Setting FONTCONFIG_PATH is not useful for portable use.

Tatsuro