Fontmatrix Qt5 Fork

This is a fontmatrix fork focused on keeping the project buildable with Qt5 and extending it so it can work as a font collection viewer, not only as a viewer for fonts installed in the operating system.

This fork currently builds on Linux and already includes a folder-based collection mode.

Current status

• Builds with cmake and Qt5.
• Preserves the traditional system font browsing workflow.
• Can open a folder as a font collection.
• Can return to the full catalog with File > Show All Fonts.
• Has an explicit File > Close Collection action (shortcut Ctrl+W).
• Remembers the last opened collection.
• Can reload the current collection.
• Shows the full active collection path in the status bar.
• Stores recent collections in File > Recent Collections.
• Provides File > Quick Collections with one-click access to:
  • ~/.fonts (if present)
  • ~/.local/share/fonts (if present)
  • Auto-detected common folders such as album-fuentes/fuentes-extraidas, ~/Fonts, ~/fuentes, and similar.
• Visual indicators for collection mode:
  • Window title shows the active collection name.
  • Status-bar catalog label is styled with a highlighted color.
• Prevents old imported fonts outside the active folder from leaking into collection mode.
• Database layer exposes both AllFontNames() (global catalog) and VisibleFontNames() (collection-filtered subset).

Functional details and pending work are tracked in ROADMAP.md.

Required dependencies

These are the dependencies required for the base build that has already been verified in this fork on Debian/Ubuntu and derivatives:

For Debian 12

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y \
  build-essential \
  cmake \
  pkg-config \
  qtbase5-dev \
  qttools5-dev \
  qttools5-dev-tools \
  libqt5svg5-dev \
  libqt5webkit5-dev \
  libqt5sql5-sqlite \
  libfreetype6-dev \
  libfontconfig1-dev

For Debian 13

sudo apt install -y \
  build-essential \
  cmake \
  pkg-config \
  qtbase5-dev \
  qttools5-dev \
  qttools5-dev-tools \
  libqt5svg5-dev \
  qtwebengine5-dev \
  libqt5sql5-sqlite \
  libqt5webenginewidgets5 \
  libfreetype-dev \
  libfontconfig1-dev 2>&1 | tail -30

Notes:

• Qt5WebKitWidgets is required by the current codebase.
• libqt5sql5-sqlite is important because Fontmatrix uses an SQLite database internally.
• harfbuzz and hyphenate do not need to be installed separately for the verified base build, because they are already vendored in this tree.

Optional dependencies

These are not required for the verified base build, but the current CMakeLists.txt still contains optional support for them:

• PythonLibs if -DWANT_PYTHONQT=true is enabled
• ICU if -DWANT_ICU=true is enabled
• M17N if -DWANT_M17N=true is enabled
• PoDoFo if -DWANT_PODOFO=true is enabled

This fork does not currently document a recently verified build for those optional features, so they should only be enabled when specifically needed for development work.

Build

Minimum verified build:

cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build -j4

The binary is generated at:

build/src/fontmatrix

To install locally:

sudo cmake --install build

The current default install prefix is /usr/local.

Run

From the build tree:

./build/src/fontmatrix

Recommended workflow

1. Install dependencies.
2. Configure with cmake -S . -B build.
3. Build with cmake --build build -j4.
4. Test both the system-font workflow and the collection workflow manually.
5. Review ROADMAP.md before continuing new work.

Manual workflow that should be tested

Whenever collection mode is changed, at minimum test the following:

1. Open Fontmatrix showing system fonts.
2. Go to File > Open Font Collection....
3. Select a folder containing .ttf, .otf, or .pfb files.
4. Verify that only fonts from that folder are shown.
5. Verify that the window title and the status-bar catalog label show the active collection.
6. Verify that File > Close Collection (or Ctrl+W) returns to the global catalog.
7. Verify that File > Reload Current Collection still works.
8. Verify that File > Recent Collections reopens the folder correctly.
9. Verify that File > Show All Fonts returns to the global catalog.
10. Verify that File > Quick Collections shows available entries such as ~/.fonts or ~/.local/share/fonts when those folders exist.
11. Close and reopen the application and confirm that the last collection is restored.

Key files for continuing development

• CMakeLists.txt: top-level project configuration.
• src/CMakeLists.txt: sources, UI files, MOC setup, and executable linking.
• src/typotek.cpp and src/typotek.h: main window, menu actions, and overall collection-mode state.
• src/fmfontdb.cpp and src/fmfontdb.h: internal database and visible-font filtering.
• src/mainviewwidget.cpp and src/mainviewwidget.h: main view refresh and font selection behavior.
• ROADMAP.md: actual fork status and next steps.

Changes already introduced in this fork

The main changes made during this development stage are concentrated in:

• src/typotek.cpp
• src/typotek.h
• src/fmfontdb.cpp
• src/fmfontdb.h
• src/mainviewwidget.cpp
• src/mainviewwidget.h

In summary, this fork already implements support for:

• opening folders as collections,
• switching between collection mode and the global catalog,
• explicitly closing a collection via File > Close Collection (Ctrl+W),
• remembering the last collection,
• reloading collections,
• showing the active path in the status bar,
• handling recent collections via File > Recent Collections,
• one-click opening of common folders via File > Quick Collections (including ~/.fonts, ~/.local/share/fonts, and auto-detected user font folders),
• visual collection-mode indicators (window title and highlighted status-bar label),
• correctly restricting the visible subset of fonts,
• and exposing both global (AllFontNames()) and collection-filtered (VisibleFontNames()) APIs in the database layer.

Important caveats

• The project still carries many build warnings inherited from the historical codebase and from old Qt APIs.
• A successful build does not mean that every legacy feature has already been fully reviewed under the new collection mode.
• If filters, family views, export features, or font reload behavior are changed, check carefully that they do not accidentally fall back to the global catalog when they should use the visible subset.
• The repository still contains legacy files such as README and INSTALL from the original project. This README.md documents the practical current state of this fork.

Suggested next improvements

The following priority items are still pending at the time of writing:

• allow opening several collections at once and switching between them,
• add a dialog or banner explaining that the current filter is folder-based,
• add an option to open a collection non-recursively,
• add an option to open only certain formats (.ttf, .otf, .pfb) within a collection,
• review secondary operations that may still depend on the global catalog (font reload, font-book export),
• document more complete manual test procedures,
• and, if the project matures further, introduce automated tests.