NeoKolors.Tui.Fonts.Assets 2026.2.0-rc2.1

NeoKolors.Tui.Fonts.Assets

NeoKolors.Tui.Fonts.Assets contains the default font definitions and a packaging mechanism for the NeoKolors TUI framework. It provides pre-compiled, out-of-the-box fonts embedded directly into the compiled library and exposes an easy mechanism to load and register them.

Built-in Fonts

The package includes three default font designs:

1. Bytesized: A clean, compact pixel-art styled font ideal for dense information layouts.
2. Future: A modern, wide stylized font featuring high-tech and futuristic geometry.
3. Dummy: A fallback/skeleton font representation used primarily for testing, debugging, and baseline verification.

Architecture & Built-in Compilation

Instead of checking in large pre-compiled binary resources, this project structures fonts in human-readable XML format during development.

Font Directory Structure

Each font under the project directory (e.g., Bytesized/) consists of:

• manifest.nkfont: Links the config file and the map file.
• Config.xml: Configures variables like letter spacing, word spacing, ligatures, leading, baseline, and alignment markers.
• Map.xml: Maps character symbols/ligatures to specific .nkg glyph files.
• .nkg Files: Plain-text files containing ASCII art representations of character glyph layouts and their alignment points.

MSBuild Compilation Pipeline

On building the project, a custom MSBuild Target (CompileBuiltinFonts) executes:

1. It reflects into the compiled NeoKolors.Tui.Fonts.dll assembly to locate the custom compiler task.
2. It processes the raw XML definitions and .nkg glyph files inside Bytesized, Future, and Dummy.
3. It validates the configuration and generates compiled MessagePack binary files (Bytesized.nkf, Future.nkf, and Dummy.nkf).
4. These binary files are dynamically added as EmbeddedResource files inside the target assembly.

Usage

AssetsProvider

The AssetsProvider class provides runtime access to these embedded assets.

1. Automatic Font Registration

If the compiler constant NK_FONTS_ENABLE_AUTO_REGISTRATION is defined in your build configuration, AssetsProvider uses a C# [ModuleInitializer] to automatically register all three built-in fonts into the FontAtlas when the assembly is loaded.

2. Manual Registration

To manually load and register these fonts into the global FontAtlas:

using NeoKolors.Tui.Fonts.Assets;

// Registers "Bytesized", "Future", and "Dummy"
AssetsProvider.RegisterFonts();

3. Direct Font Access

You can retrieve the deserialized NKFont instances directly:

using NeoKolors.Tui.Fonts;
using NeoKolors.Tui.Fonts.Assets;

NKFont? futureFont = AssetsProvider.Future;
NKFont? bytesizedFont = AssetsProvider.Bytesized;

if (futureFont != null)
{
    // Ready for measurement or rendering
}