Why does MainType need to "ignore" deleted fonts?
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 10:37 pm
I've long been puzzled by the terminology used when fonts are removed from MainType. As I understand it, when fonts are added to MainType some font metadata is added to the MainType database and the fonts themselves are copied into the MainType "vault". When a user deletes a font in the MainType interface they get the option of:
1. Deleting the font file on disc but keeping the font in MainType (I can't think of why a user would want to do this or expect this to be the behaviour of a delete function, but anyway...)
2. Removing the font from MainType
3. Removing the font from MainType and deleting the font file on disc
These last two options say that MainType will "ignore" the font - the word "ignore" suggests that rather than actually removing the font from MainType the font remains in the MainType database/vault and is just not displayed in the MainType interface. As a test I deleted some fonts with Option 3 and checked the vault files before and after: no change to the size of the vault files. So it looks like the vault just gets bigger and bigger and more bloated and there's no way to properly delete fonts from it.
Some questions...
1. Are fonts removed from the vault and database when they are deleted using any of the delete options?
2. If not, why not? Why "ignore" removed fonts rather than delete them? If the user wants a font deleted then they want it deleted, simple as that. "Ignoring" it just makes the removal process more confusing, bloats the database/vault, and makes it more difficult to add removed fonts back at a later date. Can anyone explain the thinking behind the way MainType handles the removal of fonts?
1. Deleting the font file on disc but keeping the font in MainType (I can't think of why a user would want to do this or expect this to be the behaviour of a delete function, but anyway...)
2. Removing the font from MainType
3. Removing the font from MainType and deleting the font file on disc
These last two options say that MainType will "ignore" the font - the word "ignore" suggests that rather than actually removing the font from MainType the font remains in the MainType database/vault and is just not displayed in the MainType interface. As a test I deleted some fonts with Option 3 and checked the vault files before and after: no change to the size of the vault files. So it looks like the vault just gets bigger and bigger and more bloated and there's no way to properly delete fonts from it.
Some questions...
1. Are fonts removed from the vault and database when they are deleted using any of the delete options?
2. If not, why not? Why "ignore" removed fonts rather than delete them? If the user wants a font deleted then they want it deleted, simple as that. "Ignoring" it just makes the removal process more confusing, bloats the database/vault, and makes it more difficult to add removed fonts back at a later date. Can anyone explain the thinking behind the way MainType handles the removal of fonts?