Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 00:32:06 -0400
To: OpenInventor devel mailing list <info-inventor-dev@oss.sgi.com>
Cc: angbodhi@pacific.net.sg
Subject: freetype libFL wrapper
Message-ID: <20010730003206.H23031@nyongwa.montreal.qc.ca>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Disposition: inline
User-Agent: Mutt/1.3.18i
From: "Steve M. Robbins" <steven.robbins@videotron.ca>
Sender: owner-info-inventor-dev@oss.sgi.com
Precedence: bulk

Hi,

I'm compiling OpenInventor on linux, using "angbodhi"'s
libFL wrapper library included in the inventor sources.

If I run "ivview jackInTheBox.iv", absolutely nothing comes in the
window.  However, if I remove the "string [...]" lines from the
SoText2 node in the .iv file, it works.

Eventually, I discovered that it is the space character that causes
the problem.  With any SoText2 node, if the string is "abc", the text
displays OK.  If I change the text to "a b", then the inventor window
comes up blank.  [I'm using Utopia-Regular font, symlinked to
/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/UTRG____.pfa, a file that comes from xfree86
4.0.3.]

After some poking around, I discovered something odd about the libFL
wrapper.  If anyone can shed light on this, I'll be grateful.  In the
file flfreetype.c, function _flFTGetBitmap(), there is code that
creates a bitmap structure for outline fonts, something like:

  ...
  bbox_width  = BM_TRUNC(face->bbox.xMax - face->bbox.xMin);
  ...
    bit3->xmove     = width > 0 ? width : (bbox_width / 2.0);

which seems quite reasonable.  

For the space character, both the height and width are zero, so the
xmove field gets set to bbox_width/2.  For some reason, this value
turns out to be outrageously large: something over 600,000.

I changed the line to read

    bit3->xmove     = width > 0 ? width : 10;

and it "works" in that I can render SoText2 nodes with spaces in the
string.  Clearly this is not the right fix.  Help!

-Steve


-- 
by Rocket to the Moon,
by Airplane to the Rocket,
by Taxi to the Airport,
by Frontdoor to the Taxi,
by throwing back the blanket and laying down the legs ...
- They Might Be Giants