Conference bulova::decw_jan-89_to_nov-90

I would like to get a grasp on fonts at DEC with respect to DECwindows.


1. Where can I get information about the format of a .bdf font file ?

2. What is the future of the .dwf file.  Is the a document that defines it's
   format ?  I have a customer who would like a copy of the format.

3. I am also in need of the format of a .snf file.

4. What is a .pcf file (VAX ULTRIX V3.1 UWS2.2)?  Why are we heading this way ?
   Is there a document defining the format ?

5. What is the next future for fonts ?   Where does MOTIF fit in ?


It seems that DEC is not really sure what they want to do with fonts considering
the amount of change we have seen in the last couple of years.

Thank you for your help
barry marson

    The FONT_ARCHITECTURE conference is now on HANNAH::
    
    							Ann B.

    
    BDF is described (if a little too briefly) in the Release Notes for the
    X Window System, Version 11, Release 3 from MIT.  It sneaks in in a 5
    page chapter (3 pages are figures).  It's simple-stupid and in ASCII
    and originally was Adobe's "ASF" file format.  You can get a copy of
    the XLFD document in the conference referenced by Ann in .2.  XLFD is
    an extension to the original BDF format to allow more information than
    BDF.
    
    I can't think of any reason ANYONE should want to know DEC's SNF
    format.  It's a vendor specific kind of thing, and the DCL verb
    FONT will get you a compiler to convert from BDF into the server
    natural format.
    

    Re .3: "I can't think of any reason ANYONE should want to know DEC's
    SNF format."
    
    To make a modified version of a font which DEC supplies only in
    SNF format and not in BDF format.

    
    Gee, that sounds an awful lot like a usage for which the fonts were not
    licensed.  Some fonts that we supply are owned outright by DEC, and
    some are licensed for use by DEC from real font foundries.  I would
    assume without any explicit statement to the contrary that modifying
    the fonts is a breach of the copyright and/or license to use agreement.
    If DEC had intended the fonts to be modified by the user, it would have
    supplied the revisable format.
    
    In any case, it would be a good idea to contact someone in the
    corporate font program office.  Like Jim Flowers or Steve Mikulski.
    
    

   At the risk of making people lafff.... are there any plans for X/DecWindows
   to automatically size fonts (pixel replicate)?  Similar to what UIS provided?

	Christopher

    
    Hmmm.  There's about 2 years worth of talking, arguing and bickering
    about this subject.  The net result is that all agree that a X11
    extension to do scaled, sheared and rotated (i.e. graphic) text
    should be developed, and that a client-side fallback should be provided
    as part of a library extension (so if the X11 extension isn't present,
    the client library can do it "the hard way").  I haven't heard of
    anyone with plans on implementing it...
    
    

    Display Postscript?

    Denis.

    Display PostScript is certainly the closest thing to what you want. 
    Send me mail for more info.   Sorry I can't just post the location of
    kits and stuff, but there are still royalty considerations to deal
    with.  There will be more info in a soon-to-be-mailed DECwindows
    newsletter from Paul Steeves.
    
    Burns
    

    Re .9:

    Speaking of Display Postscript, I spent a couple of hours playing with
    the Display Postscript stuff which comes with the latest field test
    release of UWS 2.2: this is ultra super HOT stuff, that's definetely
    going to change my life as an application writer! Considering that this
    is a V1 implementation, it's also amazingly fast (on a PMAX; it
    probably sucks on a VS 2000). Basically, the richness of the DECwindows
    development environment just increased by a factor of 2; and you get
    bezier curves and all those neat features. I'm enthousiastic! This is
    probably costing us dear money though, and I kind of understand the NEWS
    and NeXT religious followers.

    Psyched,
    Denis.

Now that I finally have a DS-3100 running UWS 2.2, are there any demo or example
programs around that use DPS?  I want to first of all verify that it's working
on my system, and second of all get some sample code to start modifying.

I did try that PostScript previewer, but that existed on 2.1 anyway, so it
doesn't prove anything.

Thanks.
-pd

    Take a look into /usr/examples/dps; take a real close look at the pyro
    demo, and how it's done: nice, very nice. Will give you zillions of
    ideas. 

    Denis.

    Does anyone know where to get more information on these DPS demos?  I
    tried to run psdraw, and got the following:
    
    Can't find layout info.  Most likely, the initialization files have
    not been installed in /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults.
    
    Is there a README for this?
    
    Thanks.
    -pd
    
    P.S. - Is there a notesfile for Display PostScript yet?

    If you read through your release notes for UWS V2.2 you'll
    find an entry in there somewhere which points out that you
    may have to run psdraw in debug mode for it to run correctly.
    It gives you the exact info you need to do this. I can't
    locate my copy of the notes, probably returned them to the
    writer so they could incorporate my comments.
    
    Dan

    Re/ .14:
    
    Are these release notes on-line somewhere?
    
    I'm on a disk-less workstation, and didn't actually get any software in
    my hands.
    
    Thanks.
    -pd

    Well, I found a copy of the UWS2.2 release notes, and followed the
    instructions there, and still couldn't run psdraw.  The message was
    the same as before (see .13), prefixed by:
    
    # 4 : /dev/null
    # 4 : <Closed>
    
    Any ideas?
    
    Thanks.
    -pd

    
    Re note 1502.1, question 5 
    
    > 5. What is the next future for fonts ?   Where does MOTIF fit
         in ? 
    > It seems that DEC is not really sure what they want to do with
    > fonts considering
    > the amount of change we have seen in the last couple of years.
    
  Anyone out there care to make comments on this. 
    
    pari ukcsc
    7 833 3856