Robofab Install on Mac 10.12.4

george_thompson
george_thompson Posts: 32
in Type Design Software
FL 5.1.5 build 5714 and OS 10.12.4: Robofab scripts won't work anymore despite reinstalling everything. There are different error messages either saying robofab.objects doesn't work or dialogs_fontlab_legacy2 can't be imported. Anyone have any idea?

Comments

  • Paul van der Laan
    Paul van der Laan Posts: 242
    Did you get the latest RoboFab revision from GitHub?

    You can also report problems there.
  • george_thompson
    george_thompson Posts: 32
    Yes, I upgraded everything and did the install for Robofab twice.
  • george_thompson
    george_thompson Posts: 32
    AppKit doesn't appear to be in the right location. Where does it go?
  • Paul van der Laan
    Paul van der Laan Posts: 242
    A full RoboFab installation consists usually of four components: RoboFab itself, FontTools, DialogKit and Vanilla. I’m not sure it requires AppKit.

    Here is a video by Ben Kiel explaining how to install those components.
  • Jens Kutilek
    Jens Kutilek Posts: 364
    edited June 2017
    AppKit is used for Vanilla UI elements. It is part of PyObjC and installed on macOS by default. If it is not in the right location, your system may have been seriously messed up.

    I have seen easy_install and homebrew mess up systems really bad. If this is the case, you probably need to clean out all the Python stuff on your system and start fresh.
  • george_thompson
    george_thompson Posts: 32
    Reinstalled Python twice now, took out errant AppKit things, followed Kiel's video (again), reinstalled FontTools, DialogKit, Vanilla, result is the same:

    Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "<string>", line 10, in <module>
    File "/Applications/FontThings/robofab-master/Lib/robofab/world.py", line 95, in <module>
        from robofab.objects.objectsFL import CurrentFont, CurrentGlyph, RFont, RGlyph, OpenFont, NewFont, AllFonts
      File "/Applications/FontThings/robofab-master/Lib/robofab/objects/objectsFL.py", line 6, in <module>
        from robofab.objects.objectsBase import BaseFont, BaseGlyph, BaseContour, BaseSegment,\
      File "/Applications/FontThings/robofab-master/Lib/robofab/objects/objectsBase.py", line 29, in <module>
        from fontTools.pens.areaPen import AreaPen
    ImportError: No module named areaPen

  • Ben Kiel
    Ben Kiel Posts: 34
    Seems like your problem has shifted: now the question is where did you install fontTools from? I've not tracked this of late, but it's very possible that fontTools has shifted where it is now putting AreaPen, hence the error.
  • Georg Seifert
    Georg Seifert Posts: 674
    One thing I would not do is installing my own Python. That messed up my setup quite a bit the last time I tried. 
  • Ben Kiel
    Ben Kiel Posts: 34
    Georg Seifert said:
    One thing I would not do is installing my own Python. That messed up my setup quite a bit the last time I tried. 
    This. Installing a new python on OS X is a road to heartache/burn. (Installing Python 3 excepted here, until that's a standard OS X install —forgive me if it now is...)
  • george_thompson
    george_thompson Posts: 32
    The fonttools-master install didn't remove the old .pth file so that seems to work. But now it hangs here:

    Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "<string>", line 36, in <module>
      File "/Applications/FontThings/robofab-master/Lib/robofab/interface/all/dialogs_default.py", line 33, in AskString
        raise NotImplementedError
    NotImplementedError


    Is it safe to uninstall Python since Time Machine won't let me restore an older version?

  • george_thompson
    george_thompson Posts: 32
    This is the code the above Traceback refers to:

    def AskString(message, value='', title='RoboFab'):
        raise NotImplementedError

    def AskYesNoCancel(message, title='RoboFab', default=0):
        raise NotImplementedError

  • Paul van der Laan
    Paul van der Laan Posts: 242
    On a positive note: your RoboFab installation finally appears to be installed correctly now. :)

    However, the built-in FL dialogs are causing problems. That could actually be related to what version (and build) of FontLab you are running.

    Personally I am using FL 5.1.5 (build 5680) and that one works on El Capitan.
  • george_thompson
    george_thompson Posts: 32
    edited June 2017
    Removed Python 2.7.12, installed 2.7.10. Reinstalled robofab, dialogkit, fonttools, and vanilla. Same results. Vanilla and fonttools required pip to install so I'm wondering if I should try that to install robofab?

    FL is 5.1.5, build 5714, on Sierra.
  • Paul van der Laan
    Paul van der Laan Posts: 242
    @george_thompson As I mentioned in my previous post – your installation of Python, RoboFab, Vanilla, DialogKit and FontTools appeared to be correct. :/

    I recommend to try different builds of FontLab (such as 5680) because that seems to be the problem now.
  • Jens Kutilek
    Jens Kutilek Posts: 364
    Build 5714 should work.

    Regarding your Python installations, try to remove the folder ‘Python.framework’ in /Library/Frameworks/, that should revert everything to using Apple’s preinstalled Python. But proceed at your own risk ...
  • george_thompson
    george_thompson Posts: 32
    Removing Frameworks didn't work, tried to reinstall Sierra and that failed several times. Error message is now that FL can't find robofab.world which makes no sense. Maybe something is trying to tell me to give up making fonts (ironic joke).
  • george_thompson
    george_thompson Posts: 32
    Regressed to Python 2.7.6, earlier Robofab (2013) and FL 5.1.2 via Time Machine which should put me back in a working environment. The error message:

    can't import dialogs_fontlab_legacy2
    Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "<string>", line 36, in <module>
      File "/Applications/RoboFab/RoboFab/Lib/robofab/interface/all/dialogs_default.py", line 33, in AskString
        raise NotImplementedError
    NotImplementedError

    Interestingly robofab installer puts robofab.pth in "Fremeworks/Python" but FL looks in "Lib/Python" for it.
  • george_thompson
    george_thompson Posts: 32
    Some scripts are evidently too old, and won't run in Sierra. 

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