This page describes various utility programs supplied
on the HDSware distribution to help you modify of manage your fonts.
Using HDS Font Utilities
There are a number of font utility programs available from HDS.
These utilities include a general hdsfc960 utility for font management
and other more specific programs. These programs are available in
executable form for many types of systems, or as source code for all
systems. The hdsfc960 font utilities are available with all HDSware
versions.
The HDS font utility programs create .snf files in HDS
ViewStation format from font files of any format. They read the font
data from a remote host server display (such as the system console)
using normal X protocols and reconstruct the .bdf file, then use their
own bdfto960 compiler to make the .snf font files. These font utility
programs can use either generic .bdf files or precompiled font files,
such as .dwf or .ps. They can also run on any kind of host architecture
and create properly formatted files.
HDS Font Utilities
HDS has prepared a set of font utility programs to make it
easier for HDS ViewStation users to compile and manage font files. These
programs are included on the HDSware tape, along with X11R4 fonts which
have been precompiled for use with the HDS ViewStation. This tape is
available from any HDS office.
There are several separate font utility programs:
hdsfc960 - The general program to make .snf files from any font
source file
bdfto960 - The
program to make HDS .snf files from .bdf files
hdsmkdir - The program to create a fonts.dir file for a font
directory
getbdf - The program to
create .bdf files from any font source
These utility programs are available in the HDSware
distribution in the directories ./hds-fx/utils. There is an /execs
directory with executable files for a number of host systems. There is
also a /src directory with source code and sample files for compiling
these utility programs for other hosts.
Making Special .snf Font Files
If you have special application fonts or your own custom fonts
(typically in .bdf format), you must use the bdfto960 compiler supplied
by HDS to compile them. If you have .bdf fonts the bdfto960 compiler is
specifically designed to create .snf fonts for the HDS ViewStation
architecture and can be used in all situations. You can also use the
bdftosnf compiler supplied with the MIT X distribution, but this does
not work correctly in all situations and may not produce workable .snf
font files (refer to the discussion below). If you don't have .bdf
files but only have .snf files, you can use the hdsfc960 compiler,
described on another page.
Font File
Formats
This page discusses font file formats and how they can
be modified or used.
Return to Section Heading Page
Return to the Home Page
If you need more information than is available here, you can reach
HDS via email at info@hds.com, or
call us at 1.800.HDS.1551 in the USA, or at +610.277.8300 from outside
the US. For questions or problems regarding the HDS WWW page, contact
webmaster@hds.com.
© 1996 by HDS Network Systems
Inc.