EXTENSIBLE FONT FILE LOADING
Extensible font file loading systems and methods are provided. In embodiments, a font file is requested and a handle associated with a font-file stream is received, the font-file stream being associated with the requested font file. The font file is then loaded using the received font-file stream. Alternatively, the handle may be received from a font-file loader. Once loaded, the font file may be utilized to render the appropriate font, for instance, utilizing an appropriate presentation component (e.g., a monitor) associated with a computing device.
1 . One or more computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of loading a font file, the method comprising:
requesting the font file;
receiving a font-file stream, wherein the font-file stream is associated with the font file;
using a processor, loading the font file using the font-file stream; and
rendering at least a portion of the font file in association with a computing device.
2 . The media of claim 1 , wherein requesting a font file comprises:
communicating a font-file-loader identifier to a font-file-loader manager;
receiving a handle of a font-file loader associated with the font-file-loader identifier; and
requesting the font file from the font-file loader.
3 . The media of claim 1 , wherein requesting the font file comprises communicating a font-file key to a font cache.
4 . The media of claim 2 , wherein requesting the font file from the font-file loader comprises communicating a font-file key to the font-file loader.
5 . The media of claim 3 , wherein receiving a font-file stream comprises receiving the font data from the font cache.
6 . The media of claim 1 , wherein the font-file stream is associated with a font file stored on local storage.
7 . The media of claim 1 , wherein the font-file stream is associated with a font file stored on remote storage, wherein the remote storage is accessed by one of a plurality of remote-access protocols.
8 . The media of claim 7 , wherein the remote-access protocol is Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
9 . The media of claim 1 , wherein the font-file stream is associated with a font file embedded in an application.
10 . The media of claim 1 , wherein the font-file stream comprises an Application Programming Interface (API) for accessing the font file.
11 . The media of claim 1 , wherein loading the font file comprises:
requesting a segment of the font file from the font-file stream; and
receiving a reference to the segment of the font file.
12 . The media of claim 11 , wherein the reference to the segment of the font file comprises a reference to a memory-mapped segment of the file.
13 . A computer-implemented method of loading a font file, the method comprising:
receiving a handle to a font-file loader associated with the font file;
requesting the font file from the font-file loader using a first computer process, wherein the font file is associated with a font-file key;
receiving a font-file stream from the font-file loader, wherein the font-file stream is associated with the font file;
using a second computer process, requesting a segment of the font file using the font-file stream;
receiving a reference to the requested segment of the font file; and
rendering the segment of the font file in association with a computing device.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the font-file loader is associated with a font-file-loader identifier that uniquely identifies the font-file loader.
15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the font-file key uniquely identifies the font file.
16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the segment of the font file comprises a segment of the font file containing one or more characters.
17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the reference to the requested segment of the font file comprises a pointer to a memory-mapped segment of the font file.
18 . A font loader for loading font files, the font loader comprising:
a font-file-loader manager component configured to return a handle associated with a font-file loader based on a provided font-file-loader identifier;
one or more font-file loader components, each configured to return a font-file stream based on a provided font-file key; and
one or more font-file stream components, each configured to return at least one segment of a font file.
19 . The font loader of claim 18 , wherein the at least one segment of a font file is returned using references to memory-mapped segments of the font file.
20 . The font loader of claim 18 , wherein the font loader further comprises a font cache component configured to store a plurality of font data segments and each segment's associated font-file key, wherein the plurality of font data segments is capable of being accessed from the font cache component.