[Bug] Launch failure + Chinese rendering issue + Wrong config save path

[CodeCatMeow]

Description

There are three issues to report as follows. I guess these should be related to the incomplete Chinese support of the program.

Issue 1

For the portable version of Ferrite, after launching it for the first time, modifying certain configurations and then closing the software, Ferrite fails to launch when double-clicking the icon or selecting "Open" from the right-click context menu.
Deleting the configuration file allows the software to launch with default settings, but the same launch failure will recur if the problematic configurations are modified again. The expected behavior is that the software can be launched normally at all times, and this issue will not occur if the specific configurations are left unchanged.

Testing has verified that the following configuration modifications will trigger the above launch failure:

• Changing the option "Which CJK font to prioritize for regional glyph variants" to any option other than "Auto". Reverting this setting back to "Auto" will not cause the launch issue.
• Setting the Font to "Maple Mono NF CN" or "consolas".

Issue 2

On Chinese-language operating systems (when the software can be launched successfully), Chinese character rendering fails on startup, as shown in the following screenshots:

The Chinese rendering returns to normal after either changing the font once or modifying the option "Which CJK font to prioritize for regional glyph variants", as shown here:

However, the Chinese character rendering failure will reoccur on the next launch. The expected behavior is that there should be no Chinese rendering issues at all.

Issue 3

The portable version automatically saves configurations to the user directory by default. Configurations will only be saved to a portable directory if this directory is manually created in the same folder where ferrite.exe is located—this requirement is not documented in the README file.
For a portable version, the expected behavior is that the software automatically creates a configuration directory in the same folder as the binary file and saves all configurations there, instead of defaulting to the user directory.

Environment

• OS: Windows 11, Chinese-language
• Ferrite version: 0.2.6
• Rust version: no rust
• Installation method: pre-built binary

Steps to Reproduce

Detailed reproduction steps are already provided in the Description section. A concise summary of the steps for Issue 1 is listed below (the core steps for other issues are described in natural language in the Description):

1. Extract the package and launch ferrite.exe.
2. Open the settings and change the option "Which CJK font to prioritize for regional glyph variants" to any option other than "Auto".
3. Close the program.
4. Double-click ferrite.exe—the software cannot be launched.

others

All relevant information (including current erroneous behavior, expected correct behavior, and unlisted reproduction steps for other issues) has been provided in the Description section. Please let me know if any part of the description is unclear or incomplete, and I will supplement the information promptly.

[OlaProeis]

Hi @CodeCatMeow, thank you for the comprehensive bug report with clear reproduction steps!

Great news - all three issues you've reported are being addressed in the upcoming v0.2.6.1 patch release:

Issue 1 (CJK font crash): This is a known issue tracked in #63. The fix will defensively validate persisted CJK font settings on startup and fall back to "Auto" instead of crashing when a configured font can't be loaded.

Issue 2 (Chinese rendering on startup): This is related to Issue 1. The v0.2.6.1 fix also addresses the missing glyphs (tofu □) that appear in the settings UI and the initial rendering issues.

Issue 3 (Portable config path): You're correct that this wasn't documented. In v0.2.6.1, the portable ZIP will include the portable/ folder by default with a placeholder file, so configs will automatically save locally without any manual setup.

Thank you for taking the time to document these thoroughly - it helps confirm our fixes are on the right track!

0.2.6.1 is expected within a week, we are waiting for code signage.

[OlaProeis]

@CodeCatMeow, v0.2.6.1 is now live! All three issues you reported should be resolved:

1. CJK font crash - Fonts now fail gracefully instead of crashing. Invalid font configs get handled safely on startup.
2. Chinese rendering on startup - Related to the above. Lazy CJK font loading with system locale detection means the right font loads automatically for Chinese systems.
3. Portable config path - The portable ZIP now ships with the portable/ folder included, so configs save locally from the start.

Please give it a try and let me know if everything works on your end: https://github.com/OlaProeis/Ferrite/releases/tag/v0.2.6.1

[CodeCatMeow]

@OlaProeis, in v0.2.6.1, after changing "Which CJK font to prioritize for regional glyph variants" to any option other than "Auto"and restart the program, Chinese character rendering fails, even though it renders successfully when first start up. Other issues appear to have been resolved.

[OlaProeis]

@CodeCatMeow thanks for the follow-up.

we’ve tracked down the remaining problem.
What’s going on:
With “Which CJK font to prioritize” set to anything other than Auto, we don’t preload that font at startup (to save memory). We load it lazily when we see CJK in the currently active tab. On restart we only look at the active tab’s content, not the other restored tabs. So if the tab that’s active after restore doesn’t contain CJK (e.g. it’s empty or English), we never load the CJK font and Chinese in other tabs shows as tofu until you switch to a tab that has CJK or open a new file with CJK.

Planned fix:
When the user has an explicit CJK preference (non-Auto), we’ll preload that one preferred font at startup (same idea as the Auto + system-locale preload). That way restored documents render correctly no matter which tab is active. We’ll include this in the next release 0.2.7, added to roadmap