[Cuis] Fixed-Width Font

[Dan Norton]

On 20 Jul 2015 at 19:33, Juan Vuletich wrote:

> 
> Hi Dan,
> 
> On 7/19/2015 10:13 PM, Dan Norton wrote:
>     On 19 Jul 2015 at 10:31, Juan Vuletich wrote:
> 
>     > On 7/18/2015 3:37 PM, Dan Norton wrote:
>     > > On 11 Jul 2015 at 13:40, Juan Vuletich wrote:
>     > >
>     > >> Hi Folks,
>     > >>
>     > >> It is not too hard to build new StrikeFonts. You need to
> build,
>     > by
>     > >> hand,
>     > >> files like the ones in here:
>     > >>
>     >
> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/13285702/BitmapDejaVuAllSizes.zi
>     > >> p
>     > >> and learn a bit about stuff like #installDejaVu2 . Maybe it
> was
>     > with
>     > >> this method and the files in this zip that built the
> existing
>     > >> instances
>     > >> of StrikeFont. Not sure.
>     > >>
>     > > That's intrigueing but I can't reproduce it. Maybe the .bmp
> but
>     > where did you get the .txt?
>     > >
>     > >   - Dan
>     >
>     > I wrote them with a text editor. Check #installDejaVu2 and
> really
>     > try to
>     > understand how StrikeFonts work and how they are built with
> this
>     > method.
>     > Maybe you'll become enlightened.
>     >
> 
>     A StrikeFont consists of a characterToGlyphMap, xTable, glyphs,
> name, and several 
>     scalars. StrikeFont class methods create fonts by processing
> file pairs assumed to be in the 
>     "AAFonts" subdirectory. For example:
> 
>     DejaVu Sans Oblique 14.bmp
>     DejaVu Sans Oblique 14.txt
> 
>     Is one such pair providing the italic (oblique) style for
> 14-point size. There is a pair for every 
>     font size and style: base, bold, italic, and bold italic.
> Therefore a font such as "DejaVu Sans" 
>     which is available in the size interval 5 to 24 requires 160
> files. The file names are stylized 
>     and encoded in the StrikeFont class methods.
> 
>     Glyphs come from the .bmp file. The .txt file is a string of
> numbers; the first three specify 
>     pointSize, ascent, and descent. The rest of the numbers in the
> .txt file are used to form the 
>     xTable, which is the index into the glyphs for a character. The
> characterToGlyphMap is an 
>     array of 256 entries which map a character's ascii value to the
> xTable and thence to the 
>     glyphs.
> 
>     The bold, italic, and bold italic styles are stashed as
> derivatives of the base and not 
>     selectable from the current menus.
> 
>     StrikeFont is a subclass of AbstractFont, which has class
> variables AvailableFonts and 
>     DefaultFont.
> 
>     If it can't find a file, StrikeFont will loop.
> 
> Great! You got it all.
> 
>     In regard to creating the .bmp and .txt files, you say, " I
> wrote them with a text editor." 
>     Please tell me which text editor you used. None of mine do
> that.
> 
> The bmp files can be created with screen capture program, after
> entering suitable text in it. Maybe 
> you need to stitch several pieces together, etc. WRT the txt files,
> well, the editor didn't do it for 
> me. I wrote them. I _typed_ them. Maybe I used some (long lost) code
> to look for white columns 
> separating glyphs, but I'm not really sure. #xTallyPixelValue:orNot:
> and friends are great for this 
> kind of stuff.
> 
> In any case, it will be easier for you, as you want a monospaced
> font. Printing something like (32 
> to: 255) collect: [ :ascii | ascii-32 * 9 ] into the file might be
> enough.
> 
> You have all the pieces at hand. it just requires a bit of
> patience.
> 

Encouraged by this, I have tried cobbling a fixed-width StrikeFont from Courier New which 
comes with Windows7. At this point, if some kind of fixed-width smudges would appear then 
it would be progress. Here's where I am:

The immediate problem is an error: 'Unsupported format. Try 
"Graphics-Files-Additional.pck.st".' which arises when ImageReadWriter 
class>>formFromStream: examines the .bmp file.

Higher in the context, Form class>>fromBinaryStream: has firstByte = 66 which I mention 
because of the way the .bmp file was made. Here is the process I used, from the bottom up:

ImageMagick freeware	 produces the glyphs but with something stubbornly prepended. The 
command line is:
	convert -font \windows\fonts\cour.ttf -pointsize 12 label:@characters.txt 
courier12.bmp

Using NotePad, save characters.txt with encoding: UTF-8.

Paste the character string onto a NotePad

Copy the character string.

In a Cuis workspace print:
	str := String new writeStream.
	(32 to: 255) do: [ :n | str nextPut: n asCharacter]
	str contents.

Code package and files allegedly for courier strike fonts are attached if you're 
interested.

 - Dan
 
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