Font Organizer 0.0.1.4 Beta

F

filthy-mcnasty

Posted by it's author, Al Jones, in alt.binaries.fonts on Sunday 12th
March. Size zipped 74,123 bytes, plus documentation file of 83,456 bytes
included in the same post

The present version handles TrueType (TTF), OpenType (OTF) and
PostScript Type 1 (AFM/INF/PFB/PFM) font files. Later versions will
handle raster .FON files too. Operations are presently limited to
copy/move. It has the ability to sort fonts by foundry, designer, alpha,
family or a combination of these according to the user's preferences

It comes with 2 TXTFiles, one each for foundries and designers. These
are tab-delimited files which can be modified/extended by the user.
However, while the program is still in development, Al would prefer that
users modify the start link for the application with it's /l (for log)
switch - ie "FontOrg.EXE /l" (no quotes). This will produce a file named
Unknown.LOG, containing as much identification as can be extracted from
otherwise unidentifiable fontfiles - Those posted to a folder named
_unknown\unknown. The logfile should be posted to Al in
alt.binaries.fonts, and gradually the information contained therein will
be incorporated in the 2 TXTFiles

Installation is of the good old-fashioned variety. Copy it to a folder
of choice, make a link. That's it. Easy to get rid of too, though you'll
not be doing that

At present there is no helpfile, but basic instructions are in the
accompanying documentation file

To run Font Organiser you will need to have the Microsoft DotNet version
2.0 runtimes installed. Many new applications require these, so there is
a good chance many of you will already have them. Otherwise they are
easily found on the Microsoft recommended downloads pages. Presently one
as yet unresolved, but entirely harmless, issue remains regarding
FontOrg's use of DotNet. It is flagged by ZoneAlarm's firewall. It makes
no attempt to access the external net, but rather "listens" passively to
the internal net, ie the local machine. ET most definitely does NOT
phone home, or collect data of any kind. This anomoly is currently being
tackled by Al

As a beta tester I have experienced no problems with FontOrg. Even in
the earliest incarnations the few errors that occurred were trapped
without even necessitating closure of the program

To satisfy yourselves of it's capabilities you would probably initially
prefer to try it on copies of your font files, and to restrict it to
copy operations rather than moves. I have tested it on tens of thousands
of files without losing or damaging any. It will NOT mismatch your
PostScript font sets. In fact, as far as I know, it is unique in that it
maintains links between the AFM/INF and PFB/PFM pairs. I have too many
times had to manually clear up the orphans and other detritus left
behind by some other very expensive commercial utilities

The cons? It's NOT a font manager. Just a sorter. It won't necessarily
sort exactly to every individual's notions of perfection. I own up to
being one of those anal retentives who subsorts the sorts. Some of my
font folder trees are seven or eight levels deep. Get a life. One day.
It will however remove almost all of the drudgery from the job. And for
those who DO have a life, it'll probably suit you pretty well as it is

Any quibbles with the above are down to me. I've probably forgotten
something. Read the documentation. I'm biased. I was going to say that
for it's size it's the best sorter I've ever had the pleasure of using.
But we all know that size doesn't matter. So, I'm just going to have to
settle for saying it's the best

And don't forget that /l switch. Your feedback is valuable to Al and the
user-base alike, so post those Unknown.LOG files to alt.binaries.fonts,
and maybe a thankyou or three to Al
 
A

al jones

Do you have a link to this program?

Lennart, it's still Beta so I don't have it up anywhere as it's changing on
a weekly basis. The newest version is available on alt.binaries,fonts

What is there works well, if I do say so myself (I'm the author), but there
are a few things I want to add before I let it settle down as a dist.

//al
 
T

Thorsten Duhn

Hello,
Lennart, it's still Beta so I don't have it up anywhere as it's
changing on a weekly basis. The newest version is available on
alt.binaries,fonts

not everyone has access to binary newsgroups. I don't see, why you
don't publish a web page with always the latest version and a
history.

Regards,
Thorsten
 
C

Craig

al said:
Lennart, it's still Beta so I don't have it up anywhere as it's changing on
a weekly basis. The newest version is available on alt.binaries,fonts

What is there works well, if I do say so myself (I'm the author), but there
are a few things I want to add before I let it settle down as a dist.

//al

Al;

I've d/l'd it from the fonts group. Assuming I do spend some time w/it,
where would you like the feedback delivered?

tia,
-Craig
 
F

filthy-mcnasty

Using at least one appendage, the entity known in this space-time
Hello,


not everyone has access to binary newsgroups. I don't see, why you
don't publish a web page with always the latest version and a
history.

Regards,
Thorsten

As a generous concession by the administrator, Binary Font NewsGroups -
alt.binaries.fonts, alt.binaries.fonts.floods - are freely available to
all on news.stben.net. Non-subscribers are limited to those groups, with
a download limit of 50MB per day - rarely needed. Exceed the limit and
access is suspended for a week. Very fair

If it were not that this group, reasonably, would react unfavourably to
a binary post, I would post a copy here. Until Al is satisfied with his
baby it is more practical that it should continue to be posted in a
Font-Specific forum like abf

The latest version was posted on Sunday, 12th March
 
F

filthy-mcnasty

Using at least one appendage, the entity known in this space-time
Al;

I've d/l'd it from the fonts group. Assuming I do spend some time
w/it, where would you like the feedback delivered?

tia,
-Craig

Purely because of the time difference, I'll field this one for Al.
Please post any feedback or queries to alt.binaries.fonts. This remains,
for the time being, Font Organizer's main testbed and home. Al will
catch them there. In fact, it would be best if any correspondence at all
be posted to abf. See my earlier message re use of news.stben.net for
those who don't otherwise have access to that group

I'll not pre-empt Al any further on the subject unless requested. It is
his baby, and I don't aim to irk a Texan

My last words here are: Try FontOrg - You'll not regret it
 
A

al jones

Al;

I've d/l'd it from the fonts group. Assuming I do spend some time w/it,
where would you like the feedback delivered?

tia,
-Craig

Craig,
Thanks for taking a look, if you un-munge my emil on this message (It's
almost obvious) you can always send me email there, alternatively my second
home is - as Filthy said - on alt.binaries.fonts. Failing either of those,
you can leave a note in this thread and I'll catch it.

If Filthy keeps this up, I guess I'm going to have to grant him a bigger
share of the profits, up it to say 30% or so. ((For the brain dead, I'm
joking - 30% of a free program is still a big zippo.....))

If you happen to end up with a seemingly large percentage of your fonts in
_unknown\_unknown (no known foundry / no known designer) I'd very much
appreciate it if you'd execute it with a /l (that's a lower case ell), that
will produce a file 'unknown.log' in the source directory which is an
extract of the copyright portion of each file. That allows me to build my
list of known designers / foundries.

Enjoy, and I appreciate any feedback //al
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top