NAME

convertfont, dumpfont − convert font into a different format

SYNOPSIS

convertfont [ −a| −b| −v| −vf| −x ] [ −c comment ] [ −d dirname ] [ −f n ] [ −n fontname ] [ −o filename ] [ −S ] [ −s n ] [ −t ] [ −tv ] [ −ta ] filenames

DESCRIPTION

convertfont reads in the set of named font files and dumps them out again according to the specified options, effectively converting the files from one font format to another.  convertfont is typically used to generate fonts for use with the X11/NeWS window system. 

There are six types of font files that convertfont can read: Sun standard vfont format, Adobe ASCII bitmap format, Adobe ASCII metric format, X11/NeWS font format, X11 BDF font format, and CMU (Andrew) format.  The format of the input font is determined automatically by inspecting the file.  It can write fonts out in one of four formats: Adobe ASCII, X11/NeWS, X11 BDF, and vfont.  The default output format is X11/NeWS. 

OPTIONS

−aSelects Adobe ASCII output format.  This is the format that you should use when transporting fonts from one machine architecture to another.  The output file extension will be .afb or .afm. 

−bSelects X11/NeWS output format (the default).  The output file extension will be .fb.  If the input file is an Adobe ASCII metrics file, the extension will be .fm. 

−vSelects vfont output format.  The output file extension will be .vft. 

−vfSelects vfont output format.  The output file extension will be .vft.  Forces the characters to be fixed width. 

−c commentSets the comment field of the font.  The Adobe ASCII and X11/NeWS font formats support an internal comment that accompanies the font.  This is usually used to contain copyright or history information.  It is normally propagated automatically. 

−d dirnameSpecifies the directory into which the font files will be written.  If the FONTDIR environment variable is set, it is used as the default value.  Otherwise, if the OPENWINHOME environment variable is set, $OPENWINHOME/fonts is used as the default value.  Otherwise ‘.’ is used. 

−f nSets the maximum length of an output filename (excluding extension) to n.  When writing X11/NeWS format files, X11/NeWS normally constructs the output filename from the name of the font and its scaling factors.  Some systems cannot cope with long file names, so this option can be used to squeeze the name heuristically.  The default value is 32. 

−MGenerate a matrix encoded X11/NeWS font.  This may be useful for large fonts, such as a Kanji font. 

−n nameForces the output font name to be name.  It is important to not confuse the name of the font with the name of the file that contains it.  Some font formats (Adobe ASCII and X11/NeWS) contain the name of the font internally.  So, given a 10-point Times-Roman font, its font name will be Times-Roman, but its file name might be TmsR10.fb. 

−o filenameForces the output font filename to be filename.  This should be unnecessary for most fonts. 

−SAttempts to determine the size information of fonts by inspecting the bitmaps and applying some heuristics.  This is useful when reading vfonts (particularly those intended for printers like the Versatec) that are missing or have incorrect size information. 

−s nSets the point size of the font to n.  Overrides any internal size specification. 

−tPrints a short description of the fonts on standard output; a reformatted font file is not dumped. 

−tvPrints a more verbose description of the fonts on standard output; a reformatted font file is not dumped. 

−taPrints a long description of the fonts on standard output; a reformatted font file is not dumped. 

−xSelects Adobe/MIT X11 BDF 2.1 output format.  This is the format that you should use when transporting fonts between X11 servers. The output file extension will be .bdf. 

SEE ALSO

bldfamily(1), convertfont(1), ldf(1), makeafb(1), mkiconfont(1), xfd(1), xlsfonts(1), vfont(5)

DIAGNOSTICS

Bad flag: -C Unknown command line option

Couldn’t write ... Error writing font file

f: not a valid font. Unknown input file format

Solbourne Computer, Inc.  —  27 February 1991