FreeType, curiously, doesn't seem to recognize the existence of OS X - the package still warns that they 'do not support Macs'. I substituted OS X's native 'config.guess' and 'config.sub', and the configure process finishes smoothly now. However, make starts to fail when it looks for what appear to be a ton of X11-related files and definitions.
News & Updates
FreeType 2.10.4
This is an emergency release, fixing a severe vulnerability in embedded PNG bitmap handling (see here for more).
All users should update immediately.
FreeType 2.10.3
This is a maintenance release, having better support for TrueType glyphs with overlapping contours. See the list of changes for more details.
A warning for distribution maintainers: Version 2.10.3 and later may break the build of ghostscript, due to ghostscript's use of a withdrawn macro that wasn't intended for external usage. A fix is available here.
FreeType 2.10.2
Besides various maintenance fixes, this release comes with support of WOFF 2 fonts. More details are listed in the list of changes.
FreeType 2.10.1
A new maintenance release, fixing bytecode hinting of OpenType variation fonts and cmap processing of PCF fonts, among other things. Check the list of changes for more fixes.
FreeType 2.10.0
This release brings one notable feature, namely support for color-layered outline glyphs (for example, scalable emoji glyphs). Additionally, the API reference has been completely overhauled and modernized, as already announced.
As usual, many minor fixes and corrections have been applied also; a detailed list is given here.
Website Makeover
A revamped version of the FreeType website is available for preview here. It includes a complete interface redesign, and uses markdown as input which greatly improves maintainability. Comments are welcome.
FreeType 2.9.1
This is a maintenance release; most importantly fixing correct handling of Type 1 fonts with flex features, which was broken in version 2.9. An overview of the remaining changes is given here. All users should upgrade.
FreeType 2.9
FreeType version 2.9, the first release of a new ‘minor’ series, is now available for download. The main reason for starting a new series is Ewald Hew's GSoC contribution of making Adobe's CFF engine handle Type 1 fonts also, greatly improving the rendering quality of this ancient but still important font format.
If you are going to use variation fonts, please update to this version since it comes with some important fixes. More information on this and other changes can be found here.
FreeType 2.8.1
FreeType 2.8.1 has been released. This is mainly a maintenance release with one important change: By default, FreeType now offers high quality LCD-optimized output without resorting to ClearType techniques of resolution tripling and filtering. In this method, called Harmony, each color channel is generated separately after shifting the glyph outline, capitalizing on the fact that the color grids on LCD panels are shifted by a third of a pixel. This output is indistinguishable from ClearType with a light 3-tap filter.
See here for a extensive list of changes; noteworthy bug fixes are correct handling of B/W TrueType hinting and some OpenType variation font handling issues.
FreeType 2.8
FreeType 2.8 has been released. CFF2 support and OpenType variation font handling is now complete; the auto-hinter now understands 25 more scripts, for example N'Ko and Tifinagh.
See here for a list of changes; noteworthy bug fixes are the handling of TrueType fonts: unhinted loading didn't work as expected, and the light auto-hinter used incorrect metrics.
GSoC
The FreeType project was accepted to be part of Google Summer of Code 2017! Here's a link to our ideas list – if you have another one, please write to our mailing list so that we can discuss your suggestions, eventually adding them to the list. And if you want to participate as a student, now is the time to discuss everything, again using the mailing list.
FreeType 2.7.1
FreeType 2.7.1 has been released. The most important news is preliminary support of Adobe's new CFF2 font format and variation fonts as specified in the new OpenType specification version 1.8. It also fixes the handling of raw CID fonts (which might be found in PDF files)
See here for a list of changes.
FreeType 2.7
We start a new ‘minor’ series, which finally allows us to activate a new default mode for bytecode hinting (see also the announcements below for version 2.6.4 and 2.6.5): Subpixel hinting, also known as ClearType hinting.
In case you are already using subpixel hinting (for example, by using the ‘Infinality patches’ as provided by some GNU/Linux or BSD distributions, or directly from bohoomil.com), be noted that the new mode might provide subtle differences; the code was simplified to make it much faster. If you are used to the old full-pixel hinting, you will see many rendering changes. If you really dislike them, you can disable them at compile time or using the new FREETYPE_PROPERTIES environment variable.
A description of the remaining changes can be found here, as usual.
FreeType 2.6.5
This release is almost identical to the previous version, with two differences.
- It compiles again on Mac OS X, and
- it reverts the activation of subpixel hinting by default; it will be enabled by default in the forthcoming 2.7.x series. Main reason for reverting this feature is the principle of least surprise: a sudden change in appearance of all fonts (even if the rendering improves for almost all recent fonts) should not be expected in a new micro version of a series.
FreeType 2.6.4
FreeType 2.6.4 has been released. The most important change is a new bytecode hinting mode for TrueType fonts that finally activates subpixel hinting (a.k.a. ClearType hinting) by default.
The new release also brings support for the following new scripts in the auto-hinter: Armenian, Cherokee, Ethiopic, Georgian, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Malayalam, Sinhala, and Tamil.
See here for a detailed list of changes.
FreeType 2.6.3
FreeType 2.6.3 has been released. It brings support for four new Asian scripts in the auto-hinter (Khmer, Myanmar, Kannada, and Bengali), together with other, minor improvements and bug fixes.
See here for a detailed list of changes.
More on the 2.6.2 release for users and developers
FreeType 2.6.2 ships with three interesting details for users and developers of rendering libraries that deal with text. Read more.
FreeType 2.6.2
FreeType 2.6.2 has been released. This is a minor release that mainly provides better handling of malformed fonts. All users should upgrade.
A new feature is stem darkening support for the auto-hinter. Note, however, that it is off by default, since most graphic systems don't provide correct linear alpha blending with gamma correction, which is crucial for a good appearance. For the same reason, stem darkening for the CFF engine is now off by default, too.
See here for a more detailed list of changes.
FreeType 2.6.1
FreeType 2.6.1 has been released. This is a minor release that corrects problems with CFF metrics, and that provides better handling of malformed fonts. Two notably new features are auto-hinting support for the Lao script and a simple interface for accessing named instances in GX TrueType variation fonts.
See here for a list of changes.
Freetype Osx
FreeType 2.6
FreeType 2.6 has been released. This is a new major release that provides a better (and simpler) thread-safety model. Among other new features we now have auto-hinting support for Arabic and Thai, together with much improved handling of Apple's GX TrueType variation font format.
See here for a list of changes.
Roadmap
Besides user support and fixing bugs, your money will help me implement the following issues.
- Setting up a test framework for FreeType. This is a huge, long-term undertaking that will ensure both stability and reliability of the library. The idea is to collect test cases (mainly broken fonts) that cover as much source code as possible. Another idea to investigate is the development of scripts that can generate both valid and invalid input data to systematically increase the coverage of executed library code, including the unlikely cases. Finally, images of valid, well-rendered input fonts could be collected: As soon as a change to the rendering image gets applied, a comparison run with those images should detect rendering regressions.
- Further improvements to the auto-hinter. Right now, the module for Indic support is a dummy, and support for the family of Arabic scripts is completely missing. [FreeType 2.9 comes with auto-hinting support for almost all scripts where hinting makes sense.] Both investigation and research is necessary to find out how much auto-hinting is possible and useful, and whether other, completely different scripts can be supported at all.
- Right now, rendering Type 1 and CID-keyed fonts is the weakest part of FreeType. However, we now have a brand-new module for handling CFF. Given that CFF is very similar to Type 1, it should be not too difficult to use and/or extend the CFF code so that Type 1 fonts can be handled, too. [This was a GSoC project in 2017, and the resulting code has been merged into FreeType 2.9.]
- Explore whether it makes sense to merge FreeType with (parts of) the HarfBuzz library. Since version 2.5.3, FreeType already links to HarfBuzz to use its abilities for scanning OpenType layout features, and more integration might be sensible for both libraries.
- More improvements to this website. Last year I’ve redesigned the FreeType website. However, a large bunch of documents are still using the old design, and some of them are also no longer up to date. [As with version 2.6.0, the FreeType Tutorial has been updated.]
FreeType 2.5.3
FreeType 2.5.3 has been released. All users should upgrade due to fixed vulnerability in the CFF driver (CVE-2014-2240).
Its main new feature is much enhanced support of auto-hinting SFNT fonts (i.e., TrueType and CFF fonts) due to the use of the HarfBuzz library. A more detailed description of this and other changes can be found here.
FreeType 2.5.2
FreeType 2.5.2 has been released. It fixes a serious bug introduced in version 2.5.1; all users should upgrade.
Freetype Mac
A listing of the changes can be found here.
FreeType 2.5.1
FreeType 2.5.1 has been released, providing three major new features.
- Support for the WOFF font format, contributed by Behdad Esfahbod.
- The auto-hinter now supports Hebrew, together with improved support for Cyrillic and Greek.
- The directory layout of the (installed) FreeType header files has been simplified.
Among other changes I want to mention that FreeType's TrueType debugger (ttdebug) has been made more versatile. An exhaustive list of changes can be found here.
Pledgie Campaign Was Successful!
Thanks to a very generous donation by Pierre Arnaud from Epsitec, the pledgie campaign for FreeType has reached its goal. I want to say thank you again to all donors! Of course, noone stops you from further donating to the campaign :-)
After integration of Adobe's CFF module and Google's color emoji support, I will use the next months to work on the remaining issues that I've promised to implement. Stay tuned!
Freetype Library Mac Os X Download
FreeType 2.5
FreeType 2.5 has been released. A major new feature is support for color embedded bitmaps (eg. color emoji), contributed by Behdad Esfahbod on behalf of Google. Additionally, Adobe's CFF engine is now the default, which makes a good reason to change from the 2.4.x to the 2.5.x series.
On the technical side, the property API to access FreeType module parameters (FT_Property_Set and FT_Property_Get) is now declared as stable.
As usual, see this file for the complete release notes, which give more details. And we have again blog entries from Adobe and Google.
[Please download the 2.5.0.1 bundle of the FreeType library, which fixes a packaging error.]
The OS X frameworks provide the interfaces you need to write software for Mac. Some of these frameworks contain simple sets of interfaces while others contain multiple subframeworks. Where applicable, the tables in this appendix list the key prefixes used by the classes, methods, functions, types, or constants of the framework. You should avoid using any of the specified prefixes in your own symbol names.
System Frameworks
Table A-1 describes the frameworks located in the /System/Library/Frameworks directory and lists the first version of OS X in which each became available.
Name | First available | Prefixes | Description | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.3 |
| Umbrella framework for vector-optimized operations. See Accelerate Framework. | |||
| 10.8 |
| Provides access to user accounts stored in the Accounts database. See Accounts Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.2 |
| Provides access to the Address Book, which is a centralized database of user contact information. Apps that target OS X v10.11 or greater should use | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains Carbon interfaces for OpenGL. See AGL Reference. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains classes and methods for the Cocoa user-interface layer. In general, link to | |||
| 10.0 | N/A | Deprecated. Use | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains interfaces for creating AppleScript plug-ins. | |||
| 10.6 |
| Contains Objective-C extensions for creating AppleScript plug-ins. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Umbrella framework for several app-level services. See Application Services Framework. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains interfaces for getting audio stream data, routing audio signals through audio units, converting between audio formats, and playing back music. See Audio Toolbox Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains interfaces for defining Core Audio plug-ins. See Audio Unit Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.8 |
| Supports Audio Video Bridging (AVB) and implements the IEEE P1722.1 draft standard. | |||
| 10.4 |
| Umbrella framework for creating Automator plug-ins. See Automator Framework. | |||
| 10.7 |
| Provides interfaces for playing, recording, inspecting, and editing audiovisual media. See AVFoundation Audio Functions. | |||
| 10.9 |
| Provides API for media playback including user controls, chapter navigation, subtitles, and closed captioning. See AV Kit Framework Reference | |||
| 10.5 |
| Deprecated. Use Event Kit instead. See Event Kit. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Umbrella framework for Carbon-level services. See Carbon Framework. | |||
| 10.3 |
| Contains interfaces for network communication using HTTP, sockets, and Bonjour. See CFNetwork Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.10 |
| Provides a conduit for moving data between your app and iCloud that can be used for all types of data. It also gives you control of when transfers occur. See CloudKit Quick Start or CloudKit Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Wrapper for including the Cocoa frameworks | |||
| 10.5 |
| Contains interfaces for managing identity information. See Collaboration Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.11 |
| Provides access to the Contacts store, which is a centralized database of user contact information. See Contacts Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains the hardware abstraction layer interface for manipulating audio. See Core Audio Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.10 |
| Contains the classes used for communicating with Bluetooth Low Energy devices. See Core Bluetooth Framework Reference | |||
| 10.4 |
| Contains Objective-C interfaces for audio unit custom views. See CoreAudioKit Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.4 |
| Contains interfaces for managing your app’s data model. See Core Data Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Provides fundamental software services, including abstractions for common data types, string utilities, collection utilities, plug-in support, resource management, preferences, and XML parsing. See Core Foundation Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains the Quartz interfaces for creating graphic content and rendering that content to the screen. See Core Graphics Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.4 |
| An image processing and analysis technology designed to provide near real-time processing for still and video images. See Core Image Programming Guide. | |||
| 10.6 |
| Provides interfaces for determining the geographical location of a computer. See Core Location Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.7 |
| Contains low-level interfaces for for managing and and playing audio-visual media in an app. See Core Media Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.7 |
| Contains interfaces of the Device Abstraction Layer (DAL) used for creating plug-ins that can access media hardware. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains utilities for implementing MIDI client programs. See Core MIDI Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Deprecated in OS X v10.6. Use | |||
| 10.0 |
| Umbrella framework for system-level services. See Core Services Framework. | |||
| 10.5 |
| Contains the interfaces for performing text layout and display. See Core Text Reference Collection. | |||
| 10.5 |
| Contains interfaces for managing video-based content. See Core Video Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.6 |
| Contains interfaces for managing wireless networks. See CoreWLAN Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.10 |
| Contains interface for using smart cards. See CryptoTokenKit Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Deprecated in OS X v10.6. Use | |||
| 10.2 |
| Contains interfaces for burning data to CDs and DVDs. See Disc Recording Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.2 |
| Contains the user interface layer for interacting with users during the burning of CDs and DVDs. See Disc Recording UI Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.4 |
| Contains interfaces for getting information related to local and remote volumes. See Disk Arbitration Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains the game sprocket component for drawing content to the screen. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains interfaces for communicating with digital video devices, such as video cameras. | |||
| 10.3 |
| Contains interfaces for embedding DVD playback features into your app. See DVD Playback Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.8 |
| Provides an interface for accessing a user’s calendar events and reminder items. See Event Kit Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains exception-handling classes for Cocoa apps. See Exception Handling Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.10 |
| Provides API for enhancing the Finder’s user interface by adding badges, shortcut menu items, and toolbar buttons. See Finder Sync Framework Reference | |||
| 10.2 |
| Contains interfaces for communicating with force feedback–enabled devices. See Force Feedback Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains the classes and methods for the Cocoa Foundation layer. If you are creating a Cocoa app, linking to the Cocoa framework is preferable. See Foundation Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.2 |
| Contains interfaces for communicating with FireWire-based audio devices. See FWAUserLib.h Reference. | |||
| 10.9 |
| A collection of classes for discovering and interacting with connected game controllers. See Game Controller Programming Guide | |||
| 10.8 |
| Provides APIs that allow your app to participate in Game Center. See Game Kit Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.8 |
| Provides functions and classes that reduce the effort required to create new shader-based apps or to port existing apps that rely on fixed-function vertex or fragment processing provided by earlier versions of OpenGL ES or OpenGL. See GLKit Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains interfaces for the OpenGL Utility Toolkit, which provides a platform-independent interface for managing windows. | |||
| 10.7 |
| Contains interfaces for Generic Security Services Application Program Interface (GSSAPI). | |||
| 10.10 |
| Allows virtualization vendors to build virtualization solutions on top of OS X without needing to deploy third-party kernel extensions (KEXTs). See Hypervisor Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.3 |
| Contains low-level interfaces for communicating with digital devices such as scanners and cameras. See Carbon Framework. | |||
| 10.6 |
| Contains Objective-C interfaces for communicating with digital devices such as scanners and cameras. | |||
| 10.4 |
| Contains interfaces for importing and exporting image data. | |||
| 10.7 |
| Contains interfaces for building third-party plug-ins for Chat services. Umbrella framework for | |||
| 10.5 |
| Contains interfaces for developing new input methods, which are modules that handle text entry for complex languages. See Input Method Kit Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.4 |
| Contains interfaces for creating plug-ins that run during software installation sessions. See Installer JavaScript Reference. | |||
| 10.4 |
| Deprecated in OS X v10.9. Do not use. | |||
| 10.2 |
| Contains interfaces for communicating with Bluetooth devices. | |||
| 10.2 |
| Contains the user interface layer for interacting with users manipulating Bluetooth devices. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains the main interfaces for creating user-space device drivers and for interacting with kernel-resident drivers from user space. See IOKitLib.h Reference. | |||
| 10.6 |
| Contains low-level interfaces for sharing graphics surfaces between apps. See IOSurface Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.5 | N/A | Contains interfaces for embedding Java frames in Objective-C code. | |||
| 10.5 |
| Contains the library and resources for executing JavaScript code within an HTML page. (Prior to OS X v10.5, this framework was part of | |||
| 10.0 |
| Deprecated in OS X v10.7. Use Oracle Java instead. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains interfaces for using the Kerberos network authentication protocol. | |||
| 10.0 | numerous | Contains the interfaces for kernel-extension development, including Mach, BSD, | |||
| 10.5 |
| Contains interfaces for classifying text based on latent semantic information. See Latent Semantic Mapping Reference. | |||
| 10.0 | N/A | Do not use. | |||
| 10.10 |
| Contains API for requesting authentication from users using specified policies. See Local Authentication Framework Reference | |||
| 10.9 |
| Provides classes and protocols for embedding maps into the windows and views of your apps. Includes support for annotations, overlays, and reverse-geocoding lookups. See Map Kit Framework Reference | |||
| 10.9 |
| Provides API to access user preferences for captions that can accompany media, such as closed captioning. See Media Accessibility Framework Reference | |||
| 10.9 |
| Provides a read-only data model representing a user’s collections of images, audio, and video. See Media Library Framework Reference | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains Cocoa extensions for mail delivery. | |||
| 10.11 | MTL | Provides GPU-accelerated 3D graphics rendering and>
| 10.11 | MTK | Contains functions and classes that reduce the effort required to create a Metal application. See MetalKit Framework Reference and MetalKit Functions Reference. |
| 10.11 | MDL | Provides classes that support import, export, and editing of 3D model assets and related resources. See ModelIO Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.10 |
| Contains API for finding and communicating with services provided by nearby devices using infrastructure Wi-Fi networks, peer-to-peer Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth personal area networks. See Multipeer Connectivity Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.6 |
| Contains interfaces for working with network file systems. | |||
| 10.11 |
| Provides support for configuring and controlling Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnels. See Network Extension Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.10 |
| Contains the interfaces for creating and managing extensions in the Today view of the Notification Center. See Notification Center Framework Reference | |||
| 10.4 |
| Contains the interfaces for OpenAL, a cross-platform 3D audio delivery library. | |||
| 10.6 |
| Contains the interfaces for distributing general-purpose computational tasks across the available GPUs and CPUs of a computer. See OpenCL Programming Guide for Mac. | |||
| 10.6 |
| Contains Objective-C interfaces for managing Open Directory information. See Open Directory Programming Guide. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains the interfaces for OpenGL, which is a cross-platform 2D and 3D graphics rendering library. See OpenGL Programming Guide for Mac. | |||
| 10.4 |
| Contains Objective-C interfaces for managing and executing OSA-compliant scripts from Cocoa apps. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains interfaces for interacting with smart card devices. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains interfaces for implementing custom modules for the System Preferences app. See Preference Panes Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.5 |
| Contains interfaces for subscribing to RSS and Atom feeds. See Publication Subscription Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.4 |
| Deprecated in OS X v10.9. Use | |||
| 10.4 |
| Umbrella framework for Quartz services. See Quartz Framework. | |||
| 10.4 |
| Contains the interfaces for Core Image, Core Animation, and Core Video. See Quartz Core Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.5 |
| Contains interfaces for generating thumbnail previews of documents. See Quick Look Framework Reference for Mac. | |||
| 10.0 | N/A | Deprecated in OS X v10.9. Use | |||
| 10.5 | N/A | Contains interfaces for the Ruby scripting language. | |||
| 10.8 |
| Provides a high-level, Objective-C API to efficiently load, manipulate, and render 3D scenes in an app. See SceneKit Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.0 | N/A | Contains interfaces for writing screen savers. See Screen Saver Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Deprecated. Use | |||
| 10.5 |
| Contains interfaces for running scripts from Objective-C code. See Scripting Bridge Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains interfaces for system-level user authentication and authorization. See Security Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.3 |
| Contains Cocoa interfaces for authorizing users. See Security Foundation Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.3 |
| Contains the user interface layer for authorizing users in Cocoa apps. See Security Interface Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.6 |
| Contains interfaces for loading, unloading and managing | |||
| 10.8 |
| Provides an API for sending requests to supported social networking services that can perform operations on behalf of users. See Social Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.9 |
| Provides API for animating arbitrary textured images, or sprites. It includes sound playback, a physics engine, and a rendering loop. See SpriteKit Programming Guide | |||
| 10.7 |
| Supports requesting payment from a user to purchase additional functionality or content from the Mac App Store. See Store Kit Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.4 |
| Deprecated in OS X v10.7. Use | |||
| 10.0 | N/A | Do not use. | |||
| 10.0 |
| Contains interfaces for accessing network configuration and reachability information. See System Configuration Framework Reference. | |||
| 10.3 |
| Contains interfaces for accessing the system’s Tcl interpreter from an app. | |||
| 10.4 |
| Contains interfaces for accessing the system’s Tk toolbox from an app. | |||
| 10.2 |
| Contains interfaces for accessing TWAIN-compliant image-scanning hardware. | |||
| 10.0 | N/A | Deprecated. Use | |||
| 10.7 |
| Deprecated in OS X v10.11. Use | |||
| 10.8 |
| Comprises the 64-bit replacement for the QuickTime Image Compression Manager. | |||
| 10.2 |
| Umbrella framework for rendering HTML content. See WebKit Framework. | |||
| 10.4 |
| Deprecated in OS X v10.8. Contains interfaces for connecting to and managing computing cluster software. |
OS X contains several umbrella frameworks for major areas of functionality. Umbrella frameworks group several related frameworks into a larger framework that can be included in your project. When writing software, link your project against the umbrella framework; do not try to link directly to any of its subframeworks. The following sections describe the contents of the umbrella frameworks in OS X.
Accelerate Framework
Table A-2 lists the subframeworks of the Accelerate framework (Accelerate.framework). If you are developing apps for earlier versions of OS X, vecLib.framework is available as a standalone framework.
Subframework | Description |
|---|---|
| Contains vector-optimized interfaces for performing math, big-number, and DSP calculations, among others. |
| Contains vector-optimized interfaces for manipulating image data. |
Application Services Framework
Table A-3 lists the subframeworks of the Application Services framework (ApplicationServices.framework) that are not links to top level frameworks. These frameworks provide C-based interfaces and are intended primarily for Carbon apps, although other programs can use them. The listed frameworks are available in all versions of OS X unless otherwise noted.
Subframework | Description |
|---|---|
| Deprecated in OS X v10.8. Use |
| Contains interfaces for color matching using ColorSync. |
| Contains interfaces for accessibility, Internet Config, the pasteboard, the Process Manager, and the Translation Manager. Available in OS X v10.2 and later. |
| Contains the Language Analysis Manager interfaces. |
| Contains the Core Printing Manager interfaces. |
| Contains the QuickDraw interfaces. |
| Contains the Speech Manager interfaces. |
Automator Framework
Table A-4 lists the subframeworks of the Automator framework (Automator.framework).
Subframework | Description |
|---|---|
| Contains private interfaces for managing Automator plug-ins. |
Carbon Framework
Table A-5 lists the subframeworks of the Carbon framework (Carbon.framework). The listed frameworks are available in all versions of OS X unless otherwise noted.
Subframework | Description |
|---|---|
| Deprecated in OS X v10.5. Use |
| Contains interfaces for displaying the Font window, Color window, and some network-related dialogs. |
| Contains interfaces for launching and searching Apple Help. |
| Deprecated in OS X v10.7. Use |
| Contains interfaces for rendering HTML content. The WebKit framework is the preferred framework for HTML rendering. See WebKit Framework. |
| Contains interfaces for capturing images from digital cameras. This framework works in conjunction with the Image Capture Devices framework ( |
| Contains interfaces for managing pen-based input. (Ink events are defined with the Carbon Event Manager.) |
| Contains interfaces for displaying file navigation dialogs. |
| Contains interfaces for writing scripting components and interacting with those components to manipulate and execute scripts. |
| Contains the Carbon Printing Manager interfaces for displaying printing dialogs and extensions. |
| Deprecated in OS X v10.9. Use |
| Contains the Speech Recognition Manager interfaces. |
Core Services Framework
Table A-6 lists the subframeworks of the Core Services framework (CoreServices.framework). These frameworks provide C-based interfaces and are intended primarily for Carbon apps, although other programs can use them. The listed frameworks are available in all versions of OS X unless otherwise noted.
Subframework | Description |
|---|---|
| Contains interfaces for creating and manipulating Apple events and making apps scriptable. |
| Contains interfaces for many legacy Carbon Managers. Most of the APIs in this framework are deprecated in OS X v10.8 (for more information, see Carbon Core Deprecations). |
| Provides dictionary lookup capabilities. |
| Provides a mechanism to notify clients about directories to re-scan to keep internal data structures up-to-date with the true state of the file system. |
| Contains interfaces for launching apps. |
| Contains interfaces for managing Spotlight metadata. |
| Contains interfaces for Open Transport and many hardware-related legacy Carbon managers. |
| Contains interfaces for the Search Kit. |
Quartz Framework
Table A-7 lists the subframeworks of the Quartz framework (Quartz.framework).
Subframework | Description |
|---|---|
| Contains Objective-C interfaces for finding, browsing, and displaying images. |
| Contains Objective-C interfaces for displaying and managing PDF content. |
| Contains Objective-C interfaces for playing Quartz Composer compositions in an app. |
| Contains Objective-C interfaces for managing and applying filter effects to a graphics context. |
| Contains Objective-C interfaces for creating and managing a Quick Look preview panel, which is a UI object that displays preview items. |
WebKit Framework
Table A-8 lists the subframeworks of the WebKit framework (WebKit.framework).
Subframework | Description |
|---|---|
| Contains the library and resources for rendering HTML content in an HTMLView control. |
Xcode Frameworks
Xcode and all of its supporting tools and libraries reside in a portable directory structure. This directory structure makes it possible to have multiple versions of Xcode installed on a single system or to have Xcode installed on a portable hard drive that you plug in to your computer when you need to do development. This portability means that the frameworks required by the developer tools are installed in the <Xcode>/Library/Frameworks directory, where <Xcode> is the path to the Xcode installation directory. Table A-9 lists the frameworks that are located in this directory.
Framework | First available | Prefixes | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xcode 5 |
| Interfaces for implementing unit tests in Objective-C. |
System Libraries
Some specialty libraries at the BSD level are not packaged as frameworks. Instead, OS X includes many dynamic libraries in the /usr/lib directory and its subdirectories. Dynamic shared libraries are identified by their .dylib extension. Header files for the libraries are located in the /usr/include directory.
Macos Freetype
OS X uses symbolic links to point to the most current version of most libraries. When linking to a dynamic shared library, use the symbolic link instead of a link to a specific version of the library. Library versions may change in future versions of OS X. If your software is linked to a specific version, that version might not always be available on the user’s system.
Freetype Library Mac Os X Downloads
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