Scripts for importing fonts into SQLite database with Mapbox GL-supported glyphs

In this project, the scripts are developed for importing fonts (TTF and OTF) into SQLite database in Mapbox GL-supported format. The scripts are developed targeting support for OSM Scout Server. The fonts are imported as a group of fonts that is merged into a single font stack. The resulting merged font stack gets the glyphs from the provided list of fonts by picking the glyph from the first font that has it. As a result, the fonts that are distributed as a set of fonts can be merged and easily used in Mapbox GL styles.

Requirements

As a requirement, font import requires build_pbf_glyphs. Install it with

cargo install build_pbf_glyphs

Prepare PBF reader

The fonts are imported using fontimport.py script. The script requires Protocol Buffers Python representation of the PBFs used by Mapbox GL to define the font stacks. To generate Python code, run

(cd proto && protoc --python_out=. glyphs.proto)

Getting fonts and import

At present, scripts are written for fetching Open Sans and Noto fonts. To fetch and unpack fonts, run getfonts.sh. To import these fonts into SQLite, run import.sh.