Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!att!linac!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!apple!jdevoto
From: jdevoto@Apple.COM (Jeanne A. E. DeVoto)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hypercard
Subject: Re: FONTs in stack: what's bad?
Summary: Oh, what a tangled web we weave....
Message-ID: <46927@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 28 Nov 90 23:09:24 GMT
References: <1990Nov28.180031.677@sics.se>
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA
Lines: 102

In article <1990Nov28.180031.677@sics.se> ollef@sics.se (Olle Furberg) writes:
>There has been some postings concerning FONT-resources in stacks:
> In <18615@unix.SRI.COM> mxmora@unix.SRI.COM (Matt Mora) writes:
> >Apple recommends that you don't include fonts in any documents. And since
> >a stack is just a document Apple recommends not putting them into a stack 
> >either. 
>
> In <37407@nigel.ee.udel.edu> johnston@oscar.ccm.udel.edu writes:
> >Does anyone have any thoughts on the _appropriateness_ of including
> >fonts with a stack?  Not in the stack, that's taboo, apparently.
>
> But I can't understand this. I thought it was an accepted way to assure that
>the user has the resources he needs. In the Apple publication "Technical
>Introduction to the Macintosh Family" (ISBN 0-201-17765-X) on page 74 you
>could read:
>
>   "The resource manager usually searches the files in the reverse
>    order that they were opened..."
>   [i.e. beginning with the document file]
>   "Understanding of this search order makes it easy to share resources
>    among applications and also to override a system resource with
>    a custom resource."
>
>And in another Apple publication, "HyperCard Stack Design Guidelines" (ISBN
>0-201-51784-1) on page 87:
>   "If you need to use a nonstandard font for text fields, you should
>    either install it into your stack itself, or include it as a separate
>    font resource and instruct the users to install it into their System
>    with the Font/DA Mover utility."
>
>  If HC 2.0 can't deal with resources in the stack I'll think of it as a
>rather nasty bug. Besides FONT and FOND resources I also want to put KCHRs
>into my stacks, I hope this will be supported in future versions of HC.

Well, this is kind of a complicated issue. Here's what I know about it, for
whatever it's worth (with the added bonus of a brief Opinionated Rant):

 - Apple technical notes warn strongly against putting fonts anywhere
   except the system file. Fonts in applications may cause problems for
   Apple's print spooler, and fonts in documents are said to be a
   potential cause for heap corruption. (Note that this *only* applies
   to fonts, not other resource types such as icons.)

 - Many applications (for instance, terminal emulators) have fonts in
   the application.

 - Many stacks (including some distributed by Apple) include special-purpose
   fonts in their resource forks.

 - I have never heard of a problem arising from fonts in a stack.

 - However, there are rumors that System 7.0 will break some such stacks.

 - The "official line" from DTS is that you should distribute a suitcase
   and instructions to your users to install custom fonts into their System
   file.

 - Many users either don't know how to use Font/DA Mover or will be unwilling
   to go to the inconvenience of installing a font just to view your stack.

 - Some fonts that may be included in stacks are not appropriate for
   systemwide installation: for instance, I have a password font that
   consists of nothing but bullets, and I don't think most people will
   want it showing up in WriteNow.

 - Furthermore, since Apple's screen fonts for the standard LaserWriter
   faces (Times, Avant Garde, etc.) are different from the Adobe versions,
   and Apple does not distribute variants (italic, bold, etc), a stack
   may be designed with a version of a font other than the version already
   in the user's system. In this case, it's not a good idea to ask the user
   to replace the font with your version, since it will result in formatting
   changes to documents the user's made with that font.

 - When David Szetela (head of developer services) was a forum guest on
   CI$ a couple of months ago, this subject came up. Several HyperCard
   developers stated strongly that they wanted to be able to install fonts
   directly into their stacks without fear of compatibility problems coming
   up in the future. He listened to the comments and said he'd look into
   the technical issues involved.

 - As far as I can tell, HyperCard 2.0 behaves no differently with respect
   to fonts in a stack than 1.x did.

My feeling is that if there is a bug in the Font Manager that causes
heap corruption when fonts are found outside the System file then System
Software should be chartered to take the time to fix that bug. If there
are other technical issues around the installation of fonts in the resource
chain, those issues should be resolved. It makes sense to install custom
fonts in a stack; it localizes the fonts to the context in which they're
used, it's transparent to the user, it doesn't require "deinstallation"
of the font if the user gets rid of the stack. It makes a stack a simple
self-contained module, instead of a cumbersome set of files requiring
special installation procedures. It makes sense, it's in keeping with the
way the resource chain is used, and if system software needs fixing in order
to allow the trouble-free use of this Macintosh feature, it should be fixed.
-- 
========= jeanne a. e. devoto ========================================
 jdevoto@apple.com     |  You may not distribute this article under a
 jdevoto@well.sf.ca.us |  compilation copyright without my permission.
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 Apple Computer and I are not authorized      |        CI$: 72411,165
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