mf, mf-nowin, inimf, virmf - Metafont, a language for font and logo design

mf [options] [commands]

reads the program in the specified files and outputs font rasters (in gf format) and font metrics (in tfm format). The language is described in R The \^book .

Like , is normally used with a large body of precompiled macros, and font generation in particular requires the support of several macro files. This version of looks at its command line to see what name it was called under. Both inimf and virmf are symlinks to the mf executable. When called as R inimf (or when the -ini option is given) it can be used to precompile macros into a .base file. When called as virmf it will use the plain base. When called under any other name, will use that name as the name of the base to use. For example, when called as mf the mf base is used, which is identical to the plain base. Other bases than plain are rarely used.

The commands given on the command line to the program are passed to it as the first input line. (But it is often easier to type extended arguments as the first input line, since UNIX shells tend to gobble up or misinterpret 's favorite symbols, like semicolons, unless you quote them.) As described in R The \^book , that first line should begin with a filename, a \controlsequence, or a R &basename .

The normal usage is to say

mf  '\mode=<printengine>\^;\^ [\^mag=magstep(\^n\^)\^;\^]' input \^ font

to start processing R font.mf . The single quotes are the best way of keeping the Unix shell from misinterpreting the semicolons and from removing the \ character, which is needed here to keep from thinking that you want to produce a font called R mode . (Or you can just say mf and give the other stuff on the next line, without quotes.) Other control sequences, such as batchmode (for silent operation) can also appear. The name font will be the ``jobname'', and is used in forming output file names. If doesn't get a file name in the first line, the jobname is R mfput . The default extension, R .mf , can be overridden by specifying an extension explicitly.

A log of error messages goes into the file jobname\^.\^log. The output files are jobname\^.\^tfm and jobname\^.\^<\^number\^>gf, where <number> depends on the resolution and magnification of the font. The mode in this example is shown generically as <printengine>, a symbolic term for which the name of an actual device or, most commonly, the name localfont (see below) must be substituted. If the mode is not specified or is not valid for your site, will default to proof mode which produces large character images for use in font design and refinement. Proof mode can be recognized by the suffix .2602gf after the jobname. Examples of proof mode output can be found in Computer Modern Typefaces (Volume E of R Computers and Typesetting ). The system of magsteps is identical to the system used by , with values generally in the range 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0. A listing of gf numbers for 118-dpi, 240-dpi and 300-dpi fonts is shown below. tab(:); c c c c l l l l. MAGSTEP:118 dpi:240 dpi:300 dpi mag=magstep(0):118:240:300 mag=magstep(0.5):129:263:329 mag=magstep(1):142:288:360 mag=magstep(2):170:346:432 mag=magstep(3):204:415:518 mag=magstep(4):245:498:622 mag=magstep(5):294:597:746

Magnification can also be specified not as a magstep but as an arbitrary value, such as 1.315, to create special character sizes.

Before font production can begin, it is necessary to set up the appropriate base files. The minimum set of components for font production for a given print-engine is the plain.mf macro file and the local mode_def file. The macros in plain.mf can be studied in an appendix to the R \^book ; they were developed by Donald E. Knuth, and this file should never be altered except when it is officially upgraded. Each mode_def specification helps adapt fonts to a particular print-engine. There is a regular discussion of R mode_def s in R TUGboat , the journal of the Users Group. The local ones in use on this computer should be in R modes.mf .

The e response to 's error-recovery mode invokes the system default editor at the erroneous line of the source file. There is an environment variable, MFEDIT, that overrides the default editor. It should contain a string with "%s" indicating where the filename goes and "%d" indicating where the decimal linenumber (if any) goes. For example, an MFEDIT string for the vi editor can be set with the csh command

A convenient file in the library is R null.mf , containing nothing. When mf can't find the file it thinks you want to input, it keeps asking you for another file name; responding `null' gets you out of the loop if you don't want to input anything.

can use most modern displays, so you can see its output without printing. Chapter 23 of The \^book describes what you can do. This implementation of uses environment variables to determine which display device you want to use. First it looks for a variable MFTERM, and then for TERM. If it can't find either, you get no online output. Otherwise, the value of the variable determines the device to use: R hp2627 , sun (for old SunView), R tek , uniterm (for an Atari ST Tek 4014 emulator), xterm (for either X10 or X11). Some of these devices may not be supported in all executables; the choice is made at compilation time.

On some systems, there are two binaries, mf and R mf-nowin . On those systems the mf binary supports graphics, while the mf-nowin binary does not. The mf-nowin binary is used by scripts like mktexpk where graphics support is a nuisance rather than something helpful.

This version of understands the following command line options.

I -base  base

-file-line-error

-no-file-line-error

-file-line-error-style

-halt-on-error

-help

-ini

I -interaction  mode

I -jobname  name

I -kpathsea-debug  bitmask

I -maketex  fmt

I -no-maketex  fmt

I -output-directory  directory

-parse-first-line

-no-parse-first-line

I -progname  name

-recorder

I -translate-file  tcxname

-version

See the Kpathsearch library documentation (the `Path specifications' node) for the details of how the environment variables are use when searching. The kpsewhich utility can be used to query the values of the variables.

If the environment variable TEXMFOUTPUT is set, attempts to put its output files in it, if they cannot be put in the current directory. Again, see tex(1).

MFINPUTS

MFEDIT

MFTERM

A number of utility programs are available. The following is a partial list of available utilities and their purpose. Consult your local guru for details.

gftopk

gftodvi

gftype

pktype

mft

mf.pool

*.base

$TEXMFMAIN/metafont/base/plain.mf

$TEXMFMAIN/metafont/misc/modes.mf

This manual page is not meant to be exhaustive. The complete documentation for this version of can be found in the info manual R Web2C: A TeX implementation .

On January 4, 1986 the ``final'' bug in was discovered and removed. If an error still lurks in the code, Donald E. Knuth promises to pay a finder's fee which doubles every year to the first person who finds it. Happy hunting.

Donald E. Knuth, The \^book (Volume C of R Computers and Typesetting ), Addison-Wesley, 1986, ISBN 0-201-13445-4.
Donald E. Knuth, :\^ The Program (Volume D of R Computers and Typesetting ), Addison-Wesley, 1986, ISBN 0-201-13438-1.
Donald E. Knuth, Computer Modern Typefaces (Volume E of R Computers and Typesetting ), Addison-Wesley, 1986, ISBN 0-201-13446-2.
TUGboat (the journal of the Users Group).

Warning: ``Type design can be hazardous to your other interests. Once you get hooked, you will develop intense feelings about letterforms; the medium will intrude on the messages that you read. And you will perpetually be thinking of improvements to the fonts that you see everywhere, especially those of your own design.''

gftopk(1), gftodvi(1), gftype(1), mft(1), pltotf(1), tftopl(1).

was designed by Donald E. Knuth, who implemented it using his system for Pascal programs. It was originally ported to Unix by Paul Richards at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This page was mostly written by Pierre MacKay.