Font Locations and Installation
Installing fonts is easy. You need only copy or move font files to any of the standard font directories of the Mac OS X file system listed in Table 1-1. The directories are arranged so that resources local to the user's computer are segregated from those on the network. On a computer, system resources are segregated from those under the control of the user or system administrator.
Fonts, applications, documents, and other resources can be installed in one of several file system domains. A domain is an area of the file system segregated from other parts of the file system. A domain has structural elements identical to other domains. For example each of the domains listed in Table 1-1 has a /Library/Fonts/ directory.
Changes to the font directories are registered automatically with the operating system when an application launches or a user logs in to the account or computer on which the changes occurred. The ATS server, which maintains the font database, resolves duplicate fonts based on the order of precedence defined for the standard domains. The standard domains described in Table 1-1 are listed in the table from the highest to lowest priority.
Domain | Directory | Comment |
|---|---|---|
User |
| The User domain is specific to the user who is logged into the system and is associated with the user's home directory, which can either be on the startup volume or on the network. The user has complete control over the contents of this domain. |
Local |
| The Local domain is for fonts shared among all users of a particular computer and not required by the operating system to run. Users with system administrator privileges can add, remove, and modify items in this domain, which is also the recommended location for fonts that are shared among applications. |
Network |
| The Network domain is for fonts shared among all users of a local area network. The contents of this domain are typically located on network file servers and are under the control of a network administrator. |
System |
| The System domain contains the default fonts required by the operating system to run and should not be altered. |
Classic |
| The Classic domain contains the default fonts required by the Classic environment to run and should not be altered. |
Note: In Mac OS X version 10.2 and later, you can install directories of fonts within the Fonts directory. Using nested directories provides more flexibility for you to install and organize fonts.
The domain in which a font is placed defines the accessibility for that font. For example, if a user installs a custom font in the user domain, the font is accessible only to that user. If an administrator installs the same font in the network domain, the font is accessible to everyone on the network.
The ownership and permissions model of the file system is fundamentally different in Mac OS X than from previous releases of the operating system. This difference affects how you install and use fonts. For each file and directory in the file system there are three categories of users (owner, group, and other). For each type of user there are three specific permissions that affect access to the file or directory (read, write, and execute). When you install a font, check that the permissions of the files associated with the font are set to enable read access for the appropriate categories of users for the domain.
You can programmatically activate fonts from any directory, including the application library directory and bundle, and from an application resource fork.
Last updated: 2007-12-11
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