Troubleshooting

What to check when the editor will not build, will not open a font, or does something unexpected.

StatusReference
StabilityBrowser limits are being worked through

It Will Not Build

If the build fails inside pathfinder_simd, you are on a nightly toolchain. The repository pins a stable one in rust-toolchain.toml. Remove any override and let the pin apply.

If the build fails in a dependency you did not change, install again. Every git dependency is pinned to a revision, so the graph is the same every time.

cargo install --git https://github.com/eliheuer/runebender-gpui

A Font Will Not Open

Runebender opens .designspace files, .ufo directories, and folders that hold them. It does not open compiled .ttf or .otf files.

A designspace that names a master file which is not there will not open. Check the filename of each source in the designspace.

A Glyph Will Not Interpolate

Interpolation needs matching outlines across masters: the same number of contours, the same number of points in each, in the same order, starting at the same point.

  1. Run Path → Correct Path Direction in each master.
  2. Use Path → Set Start Point so each contour starts in the same place.
  3. Run Path → Tidy Up Paths to remove zero-length segments, which differ between masters without being visible.
  4. Compare the point counts in the Masters section.

A Word Does Not Join

Cursive scripts find their joining forms by glyph name. A misnamed glyph looks to a shaping engine like a missing one.

Run Glyph → Check Joining. It reports which of the initial, medial, final, and isolated forms are present and whether the names follow the expected convention.

The Browser Build

These limits are in the browser build only. The native application is unaffected. Use it for real work.

Known browser limits
Text fieldsCannot take focus, except the glyph search box. Metrics fields and the Glyph panel fields do not accept typing.
MenusIn-window menu items do not activate. Use the keyboard commands.
PasteReading the clipboard is not implemented.
Script iconsShow as empty boxes. The bundled interface font has no Arabic or Hebrew.
ExportNot available. The browser cannot write to your disk.

The browser build also needs cross-origin isolation, because it uses shared memory. On runebender.org that is arranged by a service worker, since GitHub Pages cannot send the headers itself. A browser that blocks service workers will not load the editor.

Reporting a Problem

Open an issue on the repository.

A useful report says what you did, what happened, and what you expected. Name the file you had open and whether you were in the browser or the native application. If the editor wrote something wrong into a source, the diff from version control is the best evidence there is.