UPDATE: Windows users, you now have a version too. More details on the new project page.
Mac OS X does some weird things sometimes. One of these is that some fonts are packaged in a format with a .dfont extension. This format allows multiple files to be contained within one dfont file, but doesn’t really make an awful lot of sense to me (why not just use a standard bundle?).
But anyway, there’s a BSD-licensed program called Fondu, designed to split these dfont files so you can get at the goodies inside. That’s all very well and good, but it’s a command line program, so not everyone will be comfortable using it.
As a sort of messing about with AppleScript project, I’ve put together an AppleScript based application that wraps around Fondu and allows you to pick a dfont file, pick a destination folder and it will do the rest.
Here’s a video of it in action. It’s simple enough not to need one, but if you want to see how it works before downloading…
Download now (120 KB)
Enjoy.
UPDATE: Please note that DfontSplitter is only tested on Mac OS X Leopard, 10.5. It should work on both Tiger (10.4) and Leopard (10.5), but is known not to work on Panther. Unfortunately I do not have the resources to fix it for Panther, as I only have an Intel Mac.
It looked all very promising. Just what I wanted. But the result was just a message that louded (in Dutch ‘Het woordenboek van het programma of de uitbreiding kan niet worden geopend omdat het niet scriptgeschikt is.’ The Sherlock tranlation is more or less: The dictionary of the program or the extension cannot be opened
because it’s not the script-suitable.
Activated in Scriptmaker it a panel shows this:
sh: line 1: /Applications/AppleScript/dFontSplitter.app/Contents/Resources/fondu: No such file or directory
And on the same moment Scriptmaker selects the last rule:
do shell script “cd \”" & posixDestFolder & “\”;\”" & posixFonduLocation & “\” \”" & posixDfontFile & “\”"
Maybe do you know what went wrong?
I hope this description will be a help.
This looks like an issue with the, admittedly rather hacky, detection of the current folder and therefore the location of the fondu script.
A few questions:
If those steps don’t throw something up, then please zip up your copy of the program in /Applications/AppleScript and email it to me and I’ll see if I can spot anything out of the ordinary.
I have a feeling this could be due to me failing to make the Universal Binary properly (as you’re on PPC, and I only have an Intel Mac, that’s the only place I can test).
Anyway, if you get back to me with these things, I’ll see where I can go from there to try and get it working for you.
When I open dfontsplitter.dmg it shows: The Applications alias, dFontSplitter (Info shows under name en extension dFontSplitter.app) and Readme. I put dFontSplitter in The Applications folder and changed nothing.
Cliccking on fondu file activates Terminal with this: Last login: Mon Apr 21 15:56:14 on ttyp2
/Applications/dFontSplitter.app/Contents/Resources/fondu; exit
Welcome to Darwin!
Computer-van-Cyriel-van-Doren:~ office1$ /Applications/dFontSplitter.app/Contents/Resources/fondu; exit
dyld: /Applications/dFontSplitter.app/Contents/Resources/fondu Undefined symbols:
/Applications/dFontSplitter.app/Contents/Resources/fondu undefined reference to ___stderrp expected to be defined in /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
Trace/BPT trap
logout
[Proces voltooid] (Means: proces accomplished)
My OSX version is 10.3.9
Here the system info:
Computermodel: Power Mac G4 (AGP-video)
Processortype: PowerPC G4 (2.9)
Aantal processors: 1
Processorsnelheid: 400 MHz
L2-cache (per processor): 1 MB
Geheugen: 704 MB
Bussnelheid: 100 MHz
Opstart-ROM-versie: 4.2.8f1
Serienummer: CK0123WVHSE
Thank you for your efforts.
By email you’ll receive the programs I found in my AppleScript map.
Thanks Peter! This is exactly what I needed. Easy.
@Cyriel van Doren
I’ve identified that dFontSplitter is incompatible with Panther, and I’ve emailed you about it.
Thanks for this. Just what I needed for sIFR.
I downloaded dfontsplitter, clicked the icon, was asked to select a file, which I did….then nothing happened….
@pamela - Which stage did it ask you for a file? The first time (when it asks you for the source file) or the destination folder?
If it’s the latter, DfontSplitter does its work automatically, and doesn’t provide notification that it has done.
Check the destination folder you specified in the last step for the TTF files.
If it’s not that, and nothing comes up at the first stage (asking you for the source file) let me know here or by email and I’ll try and work with you to track the issue down.
Awesome man! Thanks, It Helped a ton! Exactly what I needed!
Thanks, thanks, thanks!
This is an anwser to 40mins of searching in google for just this. Thank you heaps. Great job!
Kudos! Found via a quick Google, and worked as advertised without difficulty. The UI could be happier, but really, what’s to complain about? Thanks!
Excellent! Works perfectly! THANK YOU : )
Thank you thank you thank you! I am grateful for generous and savvy people like you. Keep up the good work!