Release 5

NAME

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

SYNOPSIS

mkfontdir [directory-names]

DESCRIPTION

For each directory argument, mkfontdir reads all of the bitmapped 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 fonts.dir file is then used by the X server and the Font server to determine what fonts are available. 

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

Mkfontdir does not automatically recognize font files containing scalable fonts.  The stmkdirs(1) utility can be used in place of mkfontdir to generate fonts.dir files that include entries for Intellifont and Type 1 scalable fonts in addition to entries for bitmapped fonts. 

Mkfontdir offers another mechanism for “recognizing” scalable fonts:  a fonts.scale file can be constructed (the format is identical to that in fonts.dir) containing entries for scalable fonts.  Whenever mkfontdir is run on a directory, it copies entries from fonts.scale in that directory into the fonts.dir it constructs in that directory.  This is a useful mechanism for creating fonts.dir entries for types of scalable fonts that are not recognized by stmkdirs. 

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 simply two columns separated by white-space, the first column containing aliases and the second containing font-name patterns. 

When a font alias is used, the name it references is searched 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-aliasfixed

If the string "FILE_NAMES_ALIASES" stands alone on a line, each file-name in the directory (stripped of its 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), stmkdirs(1)

Hewlett-Packard Company  —  HP-UX 9.0 August 1992