Windows: Gimp loading fonts on each startup: possible workaround

[carmen]

(02-28-2018, 03:15 PM)Ofnuts Wrote: Gimp displays "Looking for data files / fonts (this may take a while)" on each startup

This is not the normal behavior. See https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=793918

Gimp should rebuild the font cache only when the fonts are added to/removed from the system.

A possible workaround:

• Navigate to C:\users\{your id}\AppData\local\fontconfig\cache
  
• There should be four files:
  • CACHEDIR.TAG
    
  • someverylongname (usually 1MB or more)
    
  • someverylongname.NEW (usually 1MB or more, slightly bigger that the one above if you added fonts)
    
  • someotherverylongname (small: 1K)
    
• rename someverylongname to someverylongname.OLD
  
• rename someverylongname.NEW to someverylongname
  
• restart Gimp which should no longer rebuild the font cache
  

If this works for you please confirm below.

Hello! After reading this thread, I seem to have a problem:
- on opening C:\users\{my id} I see a folder .cache, i.e., C:\users\{my id}\.cache, with a folder fontconfig:
C:\users\{my id}\.cache\fontconfig, containing 

• CACHEDIR.TAG
  
• someverylongname.cache-7 (some 1.25MB)
  

both dating from my Gimp2.10 installation;
- in C:\users\{my id}\AppData\local\fontconfig\cacheI have 41 elements:

• CACHEDIR.TAG, 2016
  
• someverylongname.cache-4 more than 1MB, 2016
  
• someverylongname.cache-6 4 items, ranging from more than 1MB to 11KB, all from 2017
  
• someverylongname.cache-7 21 items, ranging from more than 1MB (2) to 8KB,  from 2017 and 2018
  
• someverylongname.cache-6.NEW 659KB,  from 2017
  
• someverylongname.cache-7.NEW 13 items, 1 with more than 1MB (date of Gimp10 installation), the rest ranging from 681KB  to 8KB,  from 2017 and 2018
  
  

- Adding to the puzzle, I have running other two programs, also python-based, of which one, at least, uses  fontconfig--BUT NOT the same fonts, being restricted to Windows installed fonts, while Gimp uses as many additional ones, as by Preferences.


My question is: can I safely assume that everything in C:\users\{my id}\AppData\local\fontconfig\cache is Gimp-related and just take the most recent .cache-7and .cache-7.NEW for renaming? And, shouln´t all older items be deleted? No, I am not pressed for space, but having been so in the past, I became trash-conscious. Again, my old 2.8 took an unconscionably long time loading...
Thanks!