Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    re .0
    
    Does it not work at all, or is there a particular feature that screws
    up? I've fooled with it, and it DOES work (even if it isn't very
    good). Maybe you have a bum copy?
    
    dov

    I've heard that there is a problem in editing some fonts.  I think
    it was the ones from Zuma.  It had something to do with the base
    line and descenders being in the wrong place and making things crash.
    
    

    The problems that I have with it:
    
    	1) It does not load all of the fonts when I ask to load a font.
    	   It doesn't even load half of them.
    	2) When I edit a ROM font, it leaves my machine in a screwy
    	   state when I exit.  Everytime, it selects topaz/9 and I can't
    	   get my machine to ever load topaz/8.  I have to reboot.
    	3) If I am selecting a menu item, and I double click by accident,
    	   the machine will freeze.  I have noticed this on a lot of
    	   V1.1 software.  My mouse has a flakey left button because
    	   I dropped a heavy transformer on it once.  So, when I am
    	   selecting menu items, sometimes the button state will change
    	   quickly.
    
    My Extras 1.2 disks came with Kickstart version 33.180. Workbench
    version 33.47.
    
    	--Mike

The instructions in the WB 1.3 manual for using the font editor are not very 
explicit. Could someone please tell me what is the significance of, and how does
one use: a) Kerning  and  b) Rendering (left-to-right/right-to-left).

Dave

Re: .4

>Could someone please tell me what is the significance of, and how does
>one use ... Rendering (left-to-right/right-to-left).

Rendering is a feature of Amiga fonts that I believe was never implemented.
Originally the Amiga was going to support fonts for languages that had to 
be written right to left (like Hebrew) as well as language that are written
left to right (like English).

When usint ProWrite to output a document in NLQ mode, it is necessary to use 
the Topaz 11 font so proper word wrapping, etc. occurs. 

Is there a way to enable proportional font spacing (available on some printers) 
from ProWrite, and is there, somewhere, an equivalent proportional font to use 
with ProWrite so that the WYSIWYG feature works out OK?

Dave

    No, unfortunately, ProWrite always assumes a mono-spaced font in NLQ
    mode.  I recently added an HP LaserJet III to my Amiga, and was very
    disappointed to find ProWrite unable to utilize its beautiful built-in
    fonts.  I called New Horizons about it.  The nice fellow I spoke with
    said they have an outside contractor working on an add-on module
    similar to their ProScript to handle this situation better.  But he
    couldn't say when (or IF) it might be available - "not soon".

    The best I was able to do with ProWrite was to use a proportional font
    on the screen that closely matches the printer.  Forget about right
    justification (it probably won't line up) and avoid tabs, indents,
    centering, etc. because PW assumes full width spaces when positioning
    the carriage.  Vertical spacing is also base on "normal" character 
    height, so you'll have to match that too, or suffer occasional spurious
    blank lines.

    I've got WordPerfect to take advantage of the LaserJet now...

If I can't output some sort of command sequence to my printer to put it in
proportional NLQ mode, the next best thing would be to lock the printer panel in
proportional NLQ mode at startup and then, using a similar proportional font on
screen, output in any draft or NLQ mode and let the printer take care of the
output format.  Does this seem a reasonable approach?

Dave

    re: .8
    That is essentially what I was doing.  The problem is that you can't
    tell ProWrite to *let* the printer take care of it.  ProWrite always
    tries to approximate the output formatting by adding whatever spaces
    *it* thinks are needed.

    With a typical dot matrix printer, where vertical height is not a
    variable, you may be able to produce reasonable output.  But horizontal
    spacing still gets messed up if you use any of PW's tab, indent or
    centering features.  You'll have to do those things manually with your
    own proportional spaces.

Does anyone have a font editor that will allow you to do the following:

1) Delete a point size

2) Change the name of the font

(Note: I am referring to the actual information within the .font file)


I'm also looking for a tool that will "clean up" the font directory:

1) Make the .font file reflect the actual point files that exist in the
	subdirectory

2) Make the font name the same as the filename

3) Report any internal "weirdness" in the font or it's sizes.


Thanks!

Keith

    
    .Re -1
    
    Kieth,
    
    Are you aware of the font editor (FED), and the FIXFONT program, both
    on your original workbench disk?  You can't do ALL of the things you
    asked from a single program but all of those things (except the last)
    are doable.
    
> Does anyone have a font editor that will allow you to do the following:
>
> 1) Delete a point size

    You can simply delete a point size by deleting a file.  For example,
    to delete times 24 you might say
    
         delete df0:fonts/times/24          <--  deletes the point size
         then run fixfont                   <--  fixes the .font file
    
> 2) Change the name of the font
>
> (Note: I am referring to the actual information within the .font file)
>
    -    run FED and load in the font you wish to rename
    -    write it back out using "save as" option
    -    delete the original if you no longer need it
    -    run FIXFONT (or reboot) to clean up.  I sometimes have trouble
         with FIXFONT after seleting an entire font type (ie. a phony
         "dh0: has a r/w error msg").  Re-boot works.
     
> I'm also looking for a tool that will "clean up" the font directory:
>
> 1) Make the .font file reflect the actual point files that exist in the
>	subdirectory

     FIXFONT or reboot does this
    
> 2) Make the font name the same as the filename

     The "save as" from FED does this
    
> 3) Report any internal "weirdness" in the font or it's sizes.

     I don't know of anything that guarantees this.  I know for certain
     that "weirdness" slips by both FED and FIXFONT.
    
    
    Frank
    

    
>    Are you aware of the font editor (FED), and the FIXFONT program, both
>    on your original workbench disk?  You can't do ALL of the things you
>    asked from a single program but all of those things (except the last)
>    are doable.
    
    I had forgot about FixFont -- I'm checking into it now.
    
    
>    You can simply delete a point size by deleting a file.  For example,
>    to delete times 24 you might say
>    
>         delete df0:fonts/times/24          <--  deletes the point size
>         then run fixfont                   <--  fixes the .font file
    
    FixFont was what I was missing. Deleting the file alone wasn't a
    complete solution, as some programs would report a bad point size.
    
>    -    run FED and load in the font you wish to rename
>    -    write it back out using "save as" option
>    -    delete the original if you no longer need it
>    -    run FIXFONT (or reboot) to clean up.  I sometimes have trouble
>         with FIXFONT after seleting an entire font type (ie. a phony
>         "dh0: has a r/w error msg").  Re-boot works.
    
    Sounds like it might be easier to just rename the files and then
    run fixfont. I'll check it out.
    
    
   Thanks Frank - Sound like I have what I need.
    
    Keith

    
    re -1
    Kieth,
    
    I may be wrong but I don't  you can simply rename the font and
    run fixfont.   It may work but the name of the font is also contained
    in the .font file and I don't know if fixfont modifies it.  I'd be
    interrested to know how it works out for you.
    
    Good luck
    Frank
    
    
    

    
>    I may be wrong but I don't  you can simply rename the font and
>    run fixfont.   It may work but the name of the font is also contained
>    in the .font file and I don't know if fixfont modifies it.  I'd be
>    interrested to know how it works out for you.
 
	I was aware of that, hence why I was asking about correction programs.

	I tried changing fonts by file rename and copy, then running fixfont to
	see what it did about it.
        It seems to have worked perfectly. The .font file was changed to reflect
	the new font name and point sizes, so skipping all that "enter the
	font editor" stuff worked fine.

	Now I can really clean up my fonts, and to dup some fonts to give them
	the same names as the LN03 fonts so that my PPAGE postscript files
	will need less editing.

Thanks!

Keith

    
    

    re -1. I get the impression that it is not as easy as you imply. When I
    do a file in PPage,and then save it to postscript the font name is
    inserted like you say "Times-Roman" for example. Now if I go out and
    change the font name in the Postscript file the new font is used but 
    the metrics will be off. I was under the impression that if you used
    a bitmap font that you could not print it in postscript. Would you
    expand on what you are actually doing?
    						bill

 >    re -1. I get the impression that it is not as easy as you imply. When I
 >   do a file in PPage,and then save it to postscript the font name is
 >   inserted like you say "Times-Roman" for example. Now if I go out and
 >   change the font name in the Postscript file the new font is used but 
 >   the metrics will be off.

In an attempt to get my screen to more visually represent what the output
will look like on an LN03, I limit myself to the font set supported by the
LN03 (or in some cases, fonts that VISUALLY represent a font in the LN03).
You're right, it's not perfect. I use to edit the font names in the postscript
file a lot because either the font name wasn't the same as the LN03, or
the variation of it (italic, bold, narrow) wasn't. This produces a "setfont"
error when trying to print it. By creating fonts and sizes that, at least,
closer resemble the names and image of the LN03 fonts I can reduce or
eliminate my need to edit the postscript file. But, as you say, it doesn't
mean the metrics will be exact,

 >   I was under the impression that if you used
 >   a bitmap font that you could not print it in postscript. Would you
 >   expand on what you are actually doing?

Well, the poscript file is referencing the font by name. If the name is the
name of a font in the LN03, it uses it. If it isn't, you either have to
download it (and live with jaggies or whatever) or get an error. I have
no knowledge about a downloading to the LN03. PPAGE doesn't seem to do it.

Does anyone have a better success story, or is this pretty much the limitations
I have to deal with?

Keith