MKFONTDIR(1)                    X11 R4.11MU05                   MKFONTDIR(1)


NAME
       mkfontdir - create fonts.dir file from directory of font files

SYNOPSIS
       mkfontdir [directory-names]

DESCRIPTION
       Mkfontdir For each directory argument, mkfontdir reads all of the
       font files in the directory searching for properties named "FONT", or
       (failing that) the name of the file stripped of its suffix.  These
       are used as font names, which are written out to the file "fonts.dir"
       in the directory along with the name of the font file.

       The kinds of font files read by mkfontdir depends on configuration
       parameters, but typically include PCF (suffix ".pcf"), SNF (suffix
       ".snf") and BDF (suffix ".bdf").  If a font exists in multiple
       formats, mkfontdir will first choose PCF, then SNF and finally BDF.

SCALABLE FONTS
       Because scalable font files do not usually include the X font name,
       the fonts.dir file in directories containing such fonts must be
       edited by hand to include the appropriate entries for those fonts.
       However, when mkfontdir is run, all of those additions will be lost,
       so be careful.

FONT NAME ALIASES
       The file "fonts.alias" which can be put in any directory of the font-
       path is used to map new names to existing fonts, and should be edited
       by hand.  The format is straight forward enough, two white-space
       separated columns, the first containing aliases and the second
       containing font-name patterns.

       When a font alias is used, the name it references is search for in
       the normal manner, looking through each font directory in turn.  This
       means that the aliases need not mention fonts in the same directory
       as the alias file.

       To embed white-space in either name, simply enclose them in double-
       quote marks, to embed double-quote marks (or any other character),
       precede them with back-slash:

       "magic-alias with spaces"     "\"font\name\" with quotes"
       regular-alias            fixed

       If the string "FILE_NAMES_ALIASES" stands alone on a line, each file-
       name in the directory (stripped of it's suffix) will be used as an
       alias for that font.

USAGE
       Both the X server and the Font Server look for "fonts.dir" and
       "fonts.alias" files in each directory in the font path each time it
       is set (see xset(1)).

SEE ALSO
       X(1), Xserver(1), fs(1), xset(1)


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