Search code examples
iphonefontsfilesystemsfreetype2

Location of the fonts on the iPhone?

I'm using the FreeType2 library in an iPhone project, and I'm trying to simply load a TTF file from the system, if possible.

FT_Library  library;
FT_Face face;
int error;


error = FT_Init_FreeType( &library );

if ( error == 0 )
     printf("Initialized FreeType2\r\n");   /* Prints */

error = FT_New_Face(library, "/System/Library/Fonts/Helvetica.ttf", 0, &face);

if ( error ==  FT_Err_Cannot_Open_Resource )
    printf("Font not found\r\n");         /* Prints */

That error seems to be for file not found. Is /System/Library/Fonts not the location of the fonts? Or, do iPhone apps simply not have any read access at all to that directory.

Thanks!

Solution

  • To find the fonts installed on your device, load the font manifest (a plist):

    NSDictionary *cgFonts = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:@"/System/Library/Fonts/CGFontCache.plist"];

    Once you parse it, you'll find the entry for your font:

    Helvetica = "/System/Library/Fonts/Cache/Helvetica.ttf";