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Posted-By: auto-faq 2.4
Archive-name: fonts-faq/part5
Version: 1.4.1

Subject: Chapter 3 

    MS-Dos Information

Subject: 3.1. MS-DOS font notes 

    The easiest way to get outline fonts under MS-DOS is with Microsoft
    Windows 3.x or OS/2 2.x.

    Microsoft Windows 3.0 with Adobe Type Manager (ATM) and OS/2 2.0
    support PostScript Type1 fonts.

    Microsoft Windows 3.1 supports TrueType fonts natively.

    Bitmap fonts are available in a variety of formats: most formats
    are designed with the printer in mind and not the display since
    (prior to graphical environments like Windows, GEM, and OS/2) the
    majority of work under MS-DOS was done with a character-based
    interface.

Subject: 3.2. Frequently requested fonts 

    Many fonts are available at various archives. The biggest font
    archive for MS-DOS format fonts is ftp.cica.indiana.edu. Note: you
    can use any Mac format Type1 font on your PC by converting it to PC
    format with the free/shareware as described below.

    The following fonts are in Type 1 format for MS-DOS. Some are also
    available in TrueType format.

    * Hebrew

      ShalomScript, ShalomOldStyle, ShalomStick

    * Japanese

      Shorai

    * Star Trek

      Crillee, TNG monitors

    * IBM OEM Line Drawing Characters

      Try Adobe PrestigeElite or Adobe LetterGothic. They have all the
      characters you want, but the `line draw' characters are unencoded
      --- you will need tools to reencode the outline font itself and
      make a new PFM metric files.

      Or try IBMExtended from Impramatur Systems in Cambridge, Mass. It
      already is encoded using IBM OEM encoding (some DOS code page).

      The IBM version of Courier distributed freely under the X11
      Consortium also contains the appropriate characters. Again, the
      font will have to be reencoded for Windows. Appropriate AFM files
      for this font can be obtained from:
      ibis.cs.umass.edu:/pub/norm/comp.fonts. The file is called
      IBM-Courier-PC8-SymbolSet-AFMs.zip.

      Lee Cambell suggests the following alternative:

      Line Drawing characters are also available on ftp sites as
      gc0651.exe which is a self-expanding archive. It is on cica (and
      mirrors thereof). From the text file that comes with it, it
      looked like it was distributed by Microsoft. I printed some text
      in the normal A-z range and it looked identical to the truetype
      Courier font distributed with Windows. Perhaps it is an upgrade
      to that font. I didn't try the linedraw glyphs, so I can't say
      how they look.

Subject: 3.3. Font Installation 

    If you have any information that you feel belongs in this section,
    it would be greatly appreciated.

    * Windows

       * Pat Farrell contributes the following description of font
         installation under Windows.

         Installing Fonts into Windows:

         This only covers Windows 3.1 with ATM. Font is a four-letter
         word in Windows versions prior to 3.1 due to the distinctions
         between screen fonts and printer fonts. The upgrade price of
         Windows 3.1 is justified by the integration of TrueType into
         the package and the inclusion of useful fonts for all
         printers.

         Commercial fonts usually have installation instructions with
         their manuals. The approach may differ from the method used
         for PD and shareware fonts.

         To install PD and shareware fonts in Windows 3.1:

        1. Copy the fonts onto a suitable scratch area (i.e. a floppy,
           or any temporary area of your hard disk.

        2. Execute ``Control Panel'' by double-clicking on the icon in
           the Windows Program Manager's ``main'' group.

        3. Double-click on the Fonts icon.

        4. Double-click on the ``Add'' button.

        5. Select the scratch directory holding the new fonts.

        6. A list of the fonts will be displayed. You can manually
           select the fonts you like, or you can use the ``Select All''
           button.

        7. Make sure the ``Copy Fonts to Windows Directory'' check-box
           is checked. This will copy the fonts from the scratch area
           to your Windows directory.

        8. Click on the ``Ok'' button.

    \_9@ Special notes for Windows applications:

         Word for Windows (W4W) stores font/printer information in its
         own initialization files. After you add new fonts, you have to
         tell W4W that the printer can use the new fonts. Do this by
         selecting "Printer Setup`` from the W4W main "File" menu item,
         click on the "Setup'' button, and then click on two ``Ok''
         buttons to back out of the setup mode.

    \_9@ Note concerning Windows 3.1 upgrade:

         There are two upgrade packages available from Microsoft for
         Win3.1. There is the standard version which contains TrueType
         support, and about six font families (Times New Roman, Arial,
         Courier, Symbols, Wingdings, etc.). It costs something like $
         50 (US). The second version contains a number of TrueType
         fonts that includes equivalents for the 35 standard Postscript
         fonts. This adds an additional $ 50, which is a pretty good
         value. However, if you plan on buying Microsoft's PowerPoint,
         it includes the same additional fonts/typefaces. So you can
         save money by not buying the fonts twice.

    \_9@ More about Windows

         * [ Q: ] Why are don't the TrueType fonts that come with
           Microsoft products (Word-for-Windows, PowerPoint, Windows
           3.1 TrueType Font Pack, etc.) display and print properly on
           my system?

         * [ A: ] The font matching algorithm in Win3.1 is fairly
           simplistic. If you install lots of TrueType fonts, the
           algorithm can get confused. In this case, ``lots'' is more
           than 50 or so.

       * According to Luann Vodder who supports Microsoft Word on
         CompuServ:

         ``There is a procedure which Windows must go through when an
         application requests a font. Each font contains a list of
         attributes such as Family, FaceName, Height, Width,
         Orientation, Weight, Pitch, etc. When an application requests
         a font, it fills out a logical font for Windows containing the
         necessary attributes, then starts going through a font mapping
         algorithm to determine which of the installed fonts most
         closely matches the requested (logical) font. Penalties are
         applied against fonts whose attributes do not match the
         logical font, until the fonts with the fewest penalties are
         determined. If there is a ``tie'', Windows may need to rely on
         the order of the fonts in the WIN.INI file to determine the
         ``winner''.

         If the fonts you want are in your WIN.INI file, and show up in
         Windows' Control Panel, then try moving them higher in your
         WIN.INI file with a file edittor such as SYSEDIT.''

       * Kesh Govinder <govinder@ph.und.ac.za> suggested the following
         warning:

         CAUTION: While many Windows 3.1 users would like to have many
         TrueType fonts at their disposal (and they are many available
         in the PD) a word of caution. A large number (>50) TT fonts
         will slow down your windows startup time. This occurs as every
         installed font is listed in the win.ini file, and Windows has
         to go through the entire file before starting up. While this
         may not affect most users, it will especially affect users of
         CorelDraw!, so be warned.

    * Other Programs

      It is an unfortunate fact that almost all MS-DOS programs do
      things differently. Your best bet is to read the manual that
      comes with the program you want to use.

Subject: 3.4. What exactly are the encodings of the DOS `code pages'? 

    DOS uses `code pages' for `IBM OEM' encoding of fonts. There are
    six code pages supplied with DOS 5.0:

           437 (English)
           850 (Multilingual - Latin I)
           852 (Slavic - Latin II)
           860 (Portugal)
           863 (Canadian French)
           865 (Nordic)

    (The character code range 0 - 127 is the same in all code pages).

    The problem is that MS idea of how to define what a code page is,
    is to show a low resolution print out of the glyphs! Which is fine
    for the letters of the alphabet, numerals and the obvious
    punctuation marks, but worthless for accents (is it `cedilla' or
    `ogonek'? is it `caron' or `breve'?) and many other characters. For
    example, 249 is a small dot, while 250 is a slightly larger dot. Is
    one of these supposed to be `bullet' (which already occurs at 7)?
    Or is one of them maybe supposed to be `middot' or `dotcentered'?
    Is 228 supposed to be `Sigma' or `summation'. Is 225 supposed to be
    `beta' or `germandbls'? Etc etc

    And what is the character that looks like `Pt' in code position
    158?

    Anyway, surely there is a table somewhere that defines precisely
    what these encodings are supposed to be. That is, a table that
    gives for each code number the name and/or a description of the
    character.

Subject: 3.5. Font utilities 

    * PS2PK

      PS2PK allows you to convert PostScript Type1 fonts into bitmap
      fonts. The bitmap files produced are in TeX PK format.

    * PKtoSFP

      PKtoSFP allows you to convert TeX PK fonts into HP LaserJet
      softfonts.

    * PFBDir/PFBInfo

      PFBDir and PFBInfo format and display the ``headers'' in a binary
      Type1 font.

Subject: 3.6. Converting Macintosh Type1 fonts to MS-DOS format 

    Converting Macintosh Type1 fonts into PC Type1 fonts can be done
    using purely free/shareware tools. I've outlined the procedure
    below. Make sure you read the ``readme'' files that accompany many
    fonts. Some font authors specifically deny permission to do
    cross-platform conversions.

3.6.1. The tools you need 

    XBIN: xbin23.zip in /pub/msdos/mac on oak.oakland.edu (or other
    mirrors)

    UNSIT: unsit30.zip in /pub/msdos/mac on oak.oakland.edu

    UNCPT: ext-pc.zip in /pub/pc/win3/util on ftp.cica.indiana.edu

    REFONT: refont14.zip in /pub/norm/mac-font-tools on
    ibis.cs.umass.edu

    BMAP2AFM: bm2af01.zip in /pub/norm/mac-font-tools on
    ibis.cs.umass.edu

    XBIN converts Mac ``BinHex''ed files back into binary format.
    BinHex is the Mac equivalent of UUencoding, it translates files
    into ascii characters so that mailers can send them around without
    difficulty. It also aids in cross platform copying too, I'm sure.
    BinHexed files generally have filenames of the form
    ``xxx.yyy.HQX''.

    UNSIT explodes ``Stuffit'' archives. Stuffit archives generally
    have filenames of the form ``xxx.SIT''. UNSIT will ask if you want
    to seperate resource and data forks. Yes, you do. There has been
    some confusion about whether or not you want headers. I'm inclined
    to conclude that it can be made to work either way. Personally, I
    say no.

    UNCPT explodes ``Compactor'' archives. The ext-pc implementation is
    called ``extract'' and does not require windows (even thought it's
    in the windows section on cica). Compactor archives generally have
    filenames of the form ``xxx.CPT''.

    REFONT converts Mac type1 fonts into PC type1 fonts. It also
    converts Mac TrueType fonts to PC TrueType format. And vice-versa.

    BMAP2AFM constructs AFM files from the metric information contained
    in Mac screen fonts (.bmap files). The screen font files do not
    have any standard name (although they frequently have the extension
    .bmap). The screen fonts have file type ``FFIL'' which, in
    combination with some common sense, is usually sufficient to
    identify them.

    I've listed the tools that I've used and the sites that are
    reasonable for me to retrieve them from. It's probably a good idea
    to check with archie for closer sites if you're not in North
    America. These tools run under MS-DOS. XBIN and UNSIT can also be
    run under Unix.

3.6.2. How to do it 

    Collect the Mac fonts from the archive or BBS of your choice. Most
    of these files will be in BinHexed format. As a running example,
    I'm going to use the imaginary font ``Plugh.cpt.hqx''. When I
    download this font to my PC, I would use the name ``PLUGH.CPX''.
    The actual name you use is immaterial.

    Run XBIN on PLUGH.CPX. This will produce PLUGH.DAT, PLUGH.INF, and
    PLUGH.RSR. The data fork of the Mac file (the .DAT file) is the
    only one of interest to us, you can delete the others.

    If the original file had been ``Plugh.sit.hqx'', we would be using
    the UNSIT program. Since I chose a .cpt file for this example, I'm
    going to run UNCPT.

    Run UNCPT on PLUGH.DAT. You want to extract the AFM file (if
    present), the documentation or readme file (if present), and the
    Type1 outline file. The AFM and README files will be in the data
    fork of the archive file. The Type1 outline will be in the resource
    fork. The AFM and README files have Mac ``TEXT" type. The Type1
    outline file has "LWFN'' type. I'm not trying to describe this part
    in a step-by-step fashion. Use the docs for UNCPT and UNSIT as a
    guide. If you got this far you probably won't have much difficulty.
    If you do, drop me a line and I'll try to help.

    If the font does not contain an AFM file, extract the screen font.
    Screen fonts frequently have the extension .bmap and are ``FFIL''
    type files. Use Bmap2AFM to construct an AFM from the screen font.
    If the archive _does_ contain an AFM file, it's safe to bet that
    the author's AFM will be better than the one created by Bmap2AFM.

    Finally, run REFONT on the Type1 outline that you extracted above.
    The result should be an appropriate PC type1 outline. REFONT will
    create a PFM file for you from the AFM file, if you desire.

    Remember to register your shareware...

3.6.3. Other comments 

    vkautto@snakemail.hut.FI makes the following observations:

    * UNCPT is easier to use than UNSIT

    * UNCPT has to be run twice. I usually do it like this

      extract *.cpt -f

      extract *.cpt -f -r

    * When using ``unsit30'' you probably want the outline file with
      the MacHeader and the others without it. I think that REFONT
      requires it but I am not sure.

    * REFONT works usually ok. You want a PFA (ASCII) file which is
      directly usable on NeXT (you may need to convert carriage-returns
      to newlines but I am not sure if it is necessary).

      The biggest problem is with the .afm files that are completely
      missing or generated by the tools that don't do their job
      properly.

    * BMAP2AFM requires some extra files (ie. other than bmap2afm.exe)
      to work properly.

Subject: 3.7. Converting PC Type1 and TrueType fonts to Macintosh format 

    Refont (version 1.4) can convert (in both directions) between PC
    and Mac formats of Type1 and TrueType fonts. Note: it _cannot_
    convert _between_ formats, only architectures. The procedure
    described above outlines how to convert a Mac archive into PC
    format so that you can get at the data. Presumably, the process can
    be reversed so that you can get at the data on the Mac side as
    well. Unfortunately, I don't have a Mac so I can't describe the
    process in detail.

Subject: 3.8. Converting PC Type1 fonts into TeX PK bitmap fonts 

    The release of PS2PK by Piet Tutelaers <rcpt@urc.tue.nl> is a
    godsend to those of us without PostScript printers. PS2PK converts
    PC/Unix format Type 1 fonts into TeX PK files. Used in conjunction
    with the AFM2TFM utility for creating TeX metric files, this allows
    almost anyone to use Type 1 PostScript fonts. PS2PK is distributed
    under the GNU License and has been made to run under MS-DOS with
    DJGPP's free GNU C compiler. The PC version requires a 386 or more
    powerful processor. Check with Archie for a source near you.

    Note: if TeX PK files are not directly usable for you, there seems
    to be a fair possibility that LaserJet softfonts would be useful.
    If so, check below for instructions on converting TeX PK files to
    LaserJet softfonts.

Subject: 3.9. Converting TeX PK bitmaps into HP LaserJet softfonts (and 
    vice-versa)

    There is some possibility that someone will yell 'conflict of
    interest' here, but I don't think so. I wrote the following
    utilities:

    PKtoSFP: convert TeX PK files to LaserJet (bitmapped) softfonts

    SFPtoPK: convert LaserJet (bitmapped) softfonts to TeX PK files

    But they are completely free, so I don't gain anything by
    ``advertising'' them here. These are MS-DOS platform solutions
    only. If you know of other solutions, I would be happy to list
    them.

Subject: 3.10. TrueType to HP LaserJet bitmap softfonts (HACK!) 

    If you have the tools, the following suggestion does work, but it
    isn't easy and it hasn't been automated. To be honest, I haven't
    really tested it.

    If you are using Windows 3.1, get a LaserJet printer driver (you
    don't need the printer, just the driver). Using the LaserJet
    driver, direct output to a file and print a simple file containing
    all the letters you want in the softfont in the font that you are
    converting. When the print job has completed, the output file will
    contain, among other things, a LaserJet softfont of the TrueType
    font you selected. If you know the LaserJet format, you can grab it
    out of there.

    I didn't say it was easy ;-)

    This method will not work with ATM [ ed: as of 7/92 ] because ATM
    does not construct a softfont; it downloads the whole page as
    graphics.

    Here is an overview of the LaserJet bitmap softfont format. It
    should help you get started. If you have any questions, ask norm
    <walsh@cs.umass.edu>. If anyone wants to write better
    instructions... ;-)

    Many details are omitted from this description. They are thoroughly
    discussed in the HP Technical Reference for each model of laser
    printer. I recommend purchasing the Tech Ref. If you have
    additional questions and do not plan to purchase the Tech Ref (or
    do not wish to wait for its arrival), you can ask norm
    <walsh@cs.umass.edu>.

    An HP LaserJet softfont can occur almost anywhere in the output
    stream destined for the printer. In particular, it does _not_ have
    to be wholly contiguous within the output file. In fact, fonts can
    be ``intermixed" at will. The following "pieces'' make up a font:

    A begin font descriptor command (followed by the descriptor) and a
    series of begin character descriptor commands (followed by their
    associated data). When a new character descriptor is encountered,
    it is added to the current font (which may change between
    descriptors).

    In the discussion that follows, the following notational
    conventions are followed:

    Key elements are surrounded by quotation marks. The quotation marks
    are not part of the element. Spaces within the element are for
    clarity only, they are not part of the element. All characters
    (except ESC and # , described below, areliteral and must be
    entered in the precise case shown).

    ESC means the escape character, ASCII character number 27 decimal.

    # means any decimal number. The meaning of the number is described
    in the commentary for that element.

    * What is a font descriptor?

      A font descriptor begins with a font descriptor command and is
      followed immediately by the data for the descriptor. Font
      descriptors define data global to the font. In general, more
      recent printers are less strict about these parameters than older
      printers.

    * What is the font descriptor command?

      ``ESC ) s # W''

      In this command, # is the number of bytes in the descriptor. The
      first element of the descriptor indicates how many of these bytes
      should be interpreted as the font descriptor (the remaining bytes
      are commentary only--to the printer, at least). This area is
      frequently used for copyright information, for example, although
      some systems insert kerning data into this area.

    * What is the font descriptor data?

      The data is:

    UI  Font descriptor size
    UB  Descriptor format
    UB  Font type
    UI  Reserved (should be 0)
    UI  Baseline distance
    UI  Cell width
    UI  Cell height
    UB  Orientation
     B  Spacing
    UI  Symbol set
    UI  Pitch
    UI  Height
    UI  xHeight
    SB  Width Type
    UB  Style
    SB  Stroke Weight
    UB  Typeface LSB
    UB  Typeface MSB
    UB  Serif Style
    SB  Underline distance
    UB  Underline height
    UI  Text Height
    UI  Text Width
    UB  Pitch Extended
    UB  Height Extended
    UI  Cap Height
    UI  Reserved (0)
    UI  Reserved (0)
    A16 Font name
    ??  Copyright, or any other information

    Where, UI=unsigned integer, SI=signed integer,
           UB=unsigned byte,    SB=signed byte,
           B=boolean,          A16=sixteen bytes of ASCII

      After the font name, ?? bytes of extra data may be inserted.
      These bytes pad the descriptor out to the length specified in the
      begin font descriptor command.

      Note: integers are always in big-endian order (MSB first).

    * What is a character descriptor?

      A character descriptor describes the character specific info and
      the layout of the bitmap. Newer printers can accept compressed
      character bitmaps.

    * What is a character descriptor command?

      ``ESC * c # E''

      The # is the length of the descriptor, in bytes.

    * What is the character descriptor data?

    UB  Format
     B  Continuation
    UB  Descriptor size
    UB  Class
    UB  Orientation
    SI  Left offset
    SI  Top offset
    UI  Character width
    UI  Character height
    SI  Delta X
    ??  Character (bitmap) data.

      Although older printers cannot accept characters that include
      continuations, newer printers can. If the ``continuation'' field
      is 1, the character bitmap data begins immediately after that
      byte and the remaining fields _are not_ present.

    * Ok, now I understand the data, what do I look for in the output
      stream?

      ESC * c # D
         defines the font number (remember the number).

      ESC ) s # W
         defines the font descriptor (as described above).

      ESC * c # E
         specifies the character code (the # , in this case). The next
         character descriptor maps to this position in the font.
         Characters do not have to appear in any particular order.

      ESC ( s # W
         defines the character descriptor (as described above).

      Remember, these can occur in any order. Experimentation with the
      particular driver you are using may help you restrict the number
      of different cases that you have to be prepared for.

    Please report your experiences using this method to norm (both to
    satisfy his own curiosity and to help improve the FAQ).

Subject: 3.11. MS-DOS Screen Fonts (EGA/VGA text-mode fonts) 

    Editors note: the following description was mercilessly stolen from
    comp.archives on 02SEP92. It was originally Yossi Gil's posting.

    FNTCOL14.ZIP contains more than 200 text mode fonts for EGA/VGA
    displays. It includes fonts in different sizes for Hebrew, Greek,
    Cyrillic, math symbols and various type styles including smallcaps
    and script.

    It is available at borg.poly.edu:/pub/reader/dos/fntcol14.zip