| name | kernsmith |
| description | KernSmith runtime font generation for Gum text. Triggers: BmFont, KernSmithFontCreator, StbTrueTypeRasterizer, DynamicFonts example, KernSmithPlugin. |
KernSmith
Runtime (in-memory) font rasterization library, wired into Gum's text rendering — not a general-purpose graphics library. See Examples/DynamicFonts.cs for the canonical usage pattern: BmFont.RegisterFont(name, ttfBytes) to register a font by name, then BmFont.GenerateFromSystem(...) to rasterize it, or let Gum trigger generation lazily via CustomSetPropertyOnRenderable.InMemoryFontCreator = new KernSmithFontCreator(GraphicsDevice, RasterizerBackend.StbTrueType).
Font resolution: "system" fonts don't exist in the browser
GenerateFromSystem(family, options) is the one API for resolving-by-family-name — it does not distinguish an OS-installed font from an in-memory one. In a normal .NET process it scans OS font directories/registry for family. In Blazor WASM there is no filesystem/registry to scan, so that path never finds anything — BmFont.RegisterFont(family, ttfBytes) is the only way to make a family resolvable, and registered fonts are checked before any OS scan. So in this repo (and any browser target), every font is effectively "uploaded," not "installed": a user's .ttf gets registered under a family name (see DynamicFonts.cs registering the bundled DroidSans.ttf before calling GenerateFromSystem("Droid Sans", ...)), and that same call would silently fail to find a real system font like "Arial" unless it happens to also be registered. Style variants (Bold/Italic) register separately per family+style.
KernSmith also ships a KernSmith.Fonts.Web package for fetching WOFF fonts from CDNs (Google/Bunny Fonts) as a WASM-friendly alternative to bundling .ttf bytes — not currently referenced by XnaFiddle's .csproj.
Landmine: rasterizer must be force-registered in WASM
Program.cs uses RuntimeHelpers.RunClassConstructor(typeof(StbTrueTypeRasterizer).TypeHandle) for KernSmith instead of the plain typeof(X) touch used for every other optional library (see the block above it). The StbTrueTypeRasterizer backend self-registers via a static constructor side effect, not by being referenced — a mere typeof touch loads the assembly but never runs the constructor, so the backend silently stays unregistered at runtime. If font generation fails only in the published/WASM build (not locally), check this line first.
StbTrueType is the only rasterizer backend usable in Blazor WASM — there's no native FreeType binary available there.
Plugin (export)
XnaFiddle.Core/Plugins/KernSmithPlugin.cs — package set is target-dependent: KernSmith.KniGum for KNI exports, KernSmith.MonoGameGum for MonoGame exports, plus KernSmith and KernSmith.Rasterizers.StbTrueType always. See the add-library skill for the general plugin/export checklist this follows.
Directory.Build.props splits versioning: core KernSmith/KernSmith.Rasterizers.StbTrueType track their own release version, while the Gum-integration packages (KniGum/MonoGameGum) track Gum's version instead — bumping one does not bump the other.
