Most Claris applications present a font menu with the fonts names appearing in their own typeface. Using this feature, you don't have to remember a font's name - this WYSIWYG Font Menu allows you to select fonts you have installed based on what they look like.
To create this special menu, Claris applications will create a picture of the font name, as it would appear in its own 12-point typeface. This picture is usually stored in a file in the Claris folder inside your System folder. This file is called Claris Fonts, ClarisWorks Fonts (for ClarisWorks 4.0), or FM Pro Fonts (for FileMaker Pro 3.0), depending on the applications and the versions you have.
It's handy the next time you use the program, so the image doesn't have to be recreated every time. Problems can occur when fonts become corrupt or when there are font ID number conflicts. Claris applications will have trouble using corrupt fonts to build this WYSIWYG font list at launch, which means the application will crash at the splash screen. Programs that offer an unenhanced Font menu do not encounter this problem.
Error messages that you might see include "Application has unexpectedly quit with an error of type 1", or "type 11" (on the Power Macintosh computers) or the Claris application may just freeze and not generate an error message (in this case, the freeze is the error message).
Here are several things to try, with the pros and cons of each.
Lock the Claris Fonts file inside the System Folder.
Actually, the file could appear in the System Folder, Claris folder, Preferences folder, or application folder. Locking the file will prevent the product from attempting to build a new one. After you lock the Claris Fonts file, you should be able to launch the application.
Advantages: It's fast. It's reliable. It is easy. It's a temporary fix.
Disadvantages: The Font menu no longer appears in the native typeface. The bad font is still there and may cause problems later.
Restart from a Disk Tools disk, which would have a factory-condition font setup.
Advantages: It's fast. It's easy. It's completely reliable.
Disadvantages: This solution cures only the symptoms of troublesome fonts. After using the Disk Tools disk, you still have to troubleshoot to find the bad font.
Remove the offending font(s) and install fresh ones from the System disks.
Advantages: Most of the time, this is a reliable fix.
Disadvantages: It takes time to locate the offending font. You can test each individual font or try relaunching the application with smaller sets of fonts installed.
There's a great article in the Tech Info Library which deals with this subject, titled "Crashing/ Hanging when Launching Application." Although it was written specifically for FileMaker Pro, it is useful for troubleshooting problems like this.
Claris applications for Windows also create font menus in their native typeface. This article is titled "Understanding The CLARIS.FNT Font File."