Introducing: RoboToDo

Jack Jennings
Jack Jennings Posts: 151
edited March 2013 in Type Design Software
Hi all;

Today I'm happy to announce the first public release of RoboToDo.

RoboToDo builds basic task management functionality directly into RoboFont, allowing you to add To-Do items to individual glyphs, as well as to the font as a whole.

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When I'm working on drawing a new typeface, I work pretty frenetically. I usually notice things that I'd like to change on some glyphs over there, while I'm working on getting the curves right on some glyphs over here.

I've tried too many ways of keeping track of all of the things that I need to do, but none have felt right to me:
  • a dedicated task management software is powerful, but it's also another environment to manage;
  • a .txt file is better in the same directory can be checked in to source control, but the figuring out the syntax is hard;
  • written notes are handy, but I can't keep track of them when the drawing has moved onto the computer;
  • the .ufo file format specifies a note attribute for both the font and individual glyphs, but their interface isn't convenient (hidden away in RF, and non-existant in Glyphs[?])
RoboToDo takes the last approach—storing data in the font file itself—and provides a simple interface that abstracts away the plain-text storage. By keeping the notes with the font, you won't lose track of anything. Send the .ufo to a collaborator and your notes come along with it. Check your font into source control and all of your notes are still associated directly with the glyphs they correspond to.

Disclaimer: As this is the first release of RoboToDo, please consider this beta quality software, and is provided as-is. It is currently tested only on RF 1.4, but probably works in lower versions as well. I've done my best to iron out the bugs, but there may still be some lurking. If there are more experienced Python developers out there than I who would like to contribute, please submit a pull request.

GitHub repository: https://github.com/jackjennings/RoboToDo
Download .zip: https://github.com/jackjennings/RoboToDo/archive/master.zip

Also: Special thanks to Frederik Berlaen and Tal Leming for quick responses to my RoboFont and Vanilla inquiries

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