fontconfig: add option to use system directories #23288

johningve · 2024-03-27T09:44:52Z

The fontconfig package currently tries to load fonts from some directory within the conan package directory. This results in the following error when this directory is not present:

Fontconfig error: Cannot load default config file: No such file: (null)

This commit adds an option system_dirs to use system directories instead.

Fixes #5782

Specify library name and version: fontconfig/2.13.93+

I've read the contributing guidelines.
I've used a recent Conan client version close to the currently deployed.
I've tried at least one configuration locally with the conan-center hook activated.

The fontconfig package currently tries to load fonts from some directory within the conan package directory. This results in the following error when this directory is not present: ``` Fontconfig error: Cannot load default config file: No such file: (null) ``` This commit adds an option `system_dirs` to use system directories instead. Fixes conan-io#5782

valgur

This fixes what seems like an important oversight. Thanks!

Should use project_options instead, though.

valgur · 2024-03-27T09:53:58Z

recipes/fontconfig/meson/conanfile.py

+        if self.settings.os in ("Linux", "FreeBSD") and self.options.get_safe("system_dirs", False):
+            self._replace_configuration_string(build_script, "CONFIGDIR", "fc_configdir", "'/etc/fonts/conf.d'")
+            self._replace_configuration_string(build_script, "FC_CACHEDIR", "fc_cachedir", "'/var/cache/fontconfig'")
+            self._replace_configuration_string(build_script, "FC_TEMPLATEDIR", "fc_templatedir", "'/usr/share/fontconfig/conf.avail'")
+            self._replace_configuration_string(build_script, "FONTCONFIG_PATH", "fc_baseconfigdir", "'/etc/fonts'")


You should be able to accomplish the same without patching simply via project_options in generate(), I think:

tc.project_options["fc_configdir"] = "/etc/fonts/conf.d" tc.project_options["fc_cachedir"] = "/var/cache/fontconfig" tc.project_options["fc_templatedir"] = "/usr/share/fontconfig/conf.avail" tc.project_options["fc_baseconfigdir"] = "/etc/fonts"

Also, you should probably override xml-dir as well? https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/fontconfig/fontconfig/-/blob/main/meson_options.txt?ref_type=heads#L32-45

I thought I had tried that previously, but you are right, it works on Conan 2.

Unfortunately, on Conan 1, Meson attempts to install something to /usr and fails. Looks like it is due to missing this change: conan-io/conan#15706

valgur · 2024-03-27T09:57:10Z

Could setting either of these options get the best of both worlds without introducing a recipe option, maybe?
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/fontconfig/fontconfig/-/blob/main/meson_options.txt?ref_type=heads#L25-29

johningve · 2024-03-27T10:52:55Z

Incidentally I noticed that the paths get different defaults on Conan 2 compared to Conan 1 (that is, when system_dirs=False). The Paths on Conan 2 are almost correct for a Linux system. Though the Template and XML directory paths are wrong.

Conan 2:

  Defaults
    Hinting                    : slight
    Font directories           : /usr/share/fonts, /usr/local/share/fonts
    Additional font directories:

  Paths
    Cache directory            : /var/cache/fontconfig
    Template directory         : /share/fontconfig/conf.avail
    Base config directory      : /etc/fonts
    Config directory           : /etc/fonts/conf.d
    XML directory              : /share/xml/fontconfig

Conan 1:

  Defaults
    Hinting                    : slight
    Font directories           : /usr/share/fonts, /usr/local/share/fonts
    Additional font directories:

  Paths
    Cache directory            : /home/johnio/.conan/data/fontconfig/2.14.2/_/_/package/91934fc8bcc809a17bd34af66d8491f41cb49e99/var/cache/fontconfig
    Template directory         : /home/johnio/.conan/data/fontconfig/2.14.2/_/_/package/91934fc8bcc809a17bd34af66d8491f41cb49e99/share/fontconfig/conf.avail
    Base config directory      : /home/johnio/.conan/data/fontconfig/2.14.2/_/_/package/91934fc8bcc809a17bd34af66d8491f41cb49e99/etc/fonts
    Config directory           : /home/johnio/.conan/data/fontconfig/2.14.2/_/_/package/91934fc8bcc809a17bd34af66d8491f41cb49e99/etc/fonts/conf.d
    XML directory              : /home/johnio/.conan/data/fontconfig/2.14.2/_/_/package/91934fc8bcc809a17bd34af66d8491f41cb49e99/share/xml/fontconfig

johningve · 2024-03-27T11:13:31Z

Could setting either of these options get the best of both worlds without introducing a recipe option, maybe? https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/fontconfig/fontconfig/-/blob/main/meson_options.txt?ref_type=heads#L25-29

Looks like those options are used to specify the location of fonts, not the config/cache directories.

Signed-off-by: Uilian Ries <uilianries@gmail.com>

uilianries

@johningve Thank you for your suggestion of fixing that case. I would not go for adding a new option only change an environment variable, it's too much. Conan offers mechanisms to do it without touching the recipe. Please, read #5782 (comment) and check if fits your case.

I see a fragility here as you are hardcoding system paths that we can not guarantee. Conan only knows its own cache, outside of that is risky. Still, in case that option is not enough, we could add a Conan configuration to handle those variables, they fit better because are not part of the package ID.

conan-center-bot · 2024-06-05T12:48:34Z

Conan v1 pipeline ✔️

All green in build 3 (3c07a89676a2b768c5eaf831ffa8b8e70fdd8875):

fontconfig/2.15.0:
All packages built successfully! (All logs)
fontconfig/2.14.2:
All packages built successfully! (All logs)
fontconfig/2.13.93:
All packages built successfully! (All logs)

Conan v2 pipeline ✔️

Note: Conan v2 builds are now mandatory. Please read our discussion about it.

All green in build 3 (3c07a89676a2b768c5eaf831ffa8b8e70fdd8875):

fontconfig/2.15.0:
All packages built successfully! (All logs)
fontconfig/2.14.2:
All packages built successfully! (All logs)
fontconfig/2.13.93:
All packages built successfully! (All logs)

johningve · 2024-06-05T13:20:45Z

@johningve Thank you for your suggestion of fixing that case. I would not go for adding a new option only change an environment variable, it's too much. Conan offers mechanisms to do it without touching the recipe. Please, read #5782 (comment) and check if fits your case.

It is not about changing an environment variable, that is a workaround to this issue. What this is about is changing the location where fontconfig will look for fonts by default. I want to be able to include fontconfig in my application and have it work without the user having to worry about environment variables.

I see a fragility here as you are hardcoding system paths that we can not guarantee. Conan only knows its own cache, outside of that is risky. Still, in case that option is not enough, we could add a Conan configuration to handle those variables, they fit better because are not part of the package ID.

I would say that at least on Linux, these paths are well known and relied upon. I get that Conan doesn't want to rely upon the outside too much, but the purpose of fontconfig is to enable applications to find and use the fonts available on the local system.

paulharris · 2024-06-10T13:02:10Z

I would ask, at which point would anyone want fontconfig to use the configuration within conan's cache?

uilianries · 2024-12-10T13:39:12Z

Hello again!

I’m following up on the discussion regarding the default system directories used by fontconfig. I’ve provided a more detailed explanation of how to parameterize the system folders in my comment here: #5782 (comment).

Thank you once again for your pull request and for proposing an alternative to address this limitation. However, the current implementation seems to introduce additional complexity to the Conan recipe. This includes modifying the package ID with a new recipe option, requiring several custom user configurations, and applying patches dynamically.

For these reasons, I’ll be closing this pull request, as I’m not inclined to accept the proposed changes. I encourage you to explore using Conan’s native configuration to extend the Meson configuration for this use case.

Please feel free to share your feedback or ask for help on how to use Conan configuration for your particular case.

Thank you for your understanding!

This was referenced Mar 27, 2024

[service] Potentially conflicting recipes #3571

Closed

fontconfig: Remove patch for freetype libtool version number #23010

Merged

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This was referenced Apr 8, 2024

fontconfig: bump deps #23416

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fontconfig: security, remove old unused versions, bump expat #23510

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conan-center-bot requested a review from uilianries June 5, 2024 11:41

Merge branch 'master' into fontconfig-add-system-dirs-option

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Signed-off-by: Uilian Ries <uilianries@gmail.com>

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conan-center-bot requested a review from AbrilRBS July 5, 2024 11:39

conan-center-bot requested a review from franramirez688 October 28, 2024 11:41

uilianries closed this Dec 10, 2024

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fontconfig: add option to use system directories #23288

fontconfig: add option to use system directories #23288

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fontconfig: add option to use system directories #23288

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