MF(1)
NAME
mf, inimf, virmf - Metafont, a language for font and logo
design
SYNOPSIS
mf [ first line ]
inimf [ first line ]
virmf [ first line ]
DESCRIPTION
Metafont reads the program in the specified files and out-
puts font rasters (in gf format) and font metrics (in tfm
format). The Metafont language is described in The
Metafontbook.
Like TeX, Metafont is normally used with a large body of
precompiled macros, and font generation in particular
requires the support of several macro files. The basic
program as compiled is called inimf; it can be used to
precompile macros into a .base file. The virmf variant is
used to reload the .base files quickly. Typically, virmf
has links to it by the names of the various base files.
For example, if you link virmf to foo and then execute the
program foo, you get the base file foo.base. You can load
a different base by saying, e.g., virmf &mybase.
As described in The Metafontbook, the command line (or
first input line) should otherwise begin with a file name
or a \controlsequence. The normal usage is to say
mf '\mode=<printengine>; [mag=magstep(n);]' input
font
to start processing 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 Metafont from thinking that you want
to produce a font called 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 Metafont doesn't get a file name in the first line, the
jobname is mfput. The default extension, .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 generi-
cally 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 speci-
fied or is not valid for your site, Metafont will default
to proof mode which produces large character images for
use in font design and refinement. Proof mode can be rec-
ognized by the suffix .2602gf after the jobname. Examples
of proof mode output can be found in Computer Modern Type-
faces (Volume E of Computers and Typesetting). The system
of magsteps is identical to the system used by TeX, 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.
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 compo-
nents 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
Metafontbook; they were developed by Donald E. Knuth, and
this file should never be altered except when it is offi-
cially upgraded. Each mode_def specification helps adapt
fonts to a particular print-engine. There is a regular
discussion of mode_defs in TUGboat, the journal of the TeX
Users Group. The local ones in use on this computer
should be in /usr/lib/texmf/texmf/metafont/modes.mf. With
only plain.mf and the modes file loaded it is possible to
create fonts of simple characters, such as those used for
the Metafont logo, and those used for the LaTeX line and
circle fonts, but the production of Computer Modern fonts
would be speeded by making a cmmf.base file (which
includes the macros in cmbase.mf as well as those in
plain.mf).
Several environment variables can be used to set up direc-
tory paths to search when Metafont opens a file for input.
For example, the csh command
setenv
MFINPUTS .:~me/mylib:/usr/lib/texmf/texmf/metafont
or the sh command sequence
MFINPUTS=.:~me/mylib:/usr/lib/texmf/texmf/metafont
export MFINPUTS
would cause all invocations of Metafont and its deriva-
tives to look for \input files first in the current direc-
tory, then in a hypothetical user's mylib, and finally in
the system library. Normally, the user will place the
command sequence which sets up the MFINPUTS environment
variable in his or her .login or .profile file.
The e response to Metafont'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
setenv MFEDIT "/usr/ucb/vi +%d %s"
The ENVIRONMENT section below lists the relevant environ-
ment variables, and their defaults.
A convenient file in the library is 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.
ONLINE GRAPHICS OUTPUT
Metafont can use most modern displays, so you can see its
output without printing. Chapter 23 of The Metafontbook
describes what you can do. This implementation of Meta-
font 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 vari-
able determines the device to use: hp2627, sun (for Sun-
View), 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 Metafont executables; the choice
is made at compilation time.
ENVIRONMENT
The default values for all environment variables are set
at the time of compilation in the file kpathsea/paths.h.
See the Kpathsearch library documentation (the `Path spec-
ifications' node) for the details of the searching.
If the environment variable TEXMFOUTPUT is set, Metafont
attempts to put its output files in it, if they cannot be
put in the current directory. Again, see tex(1).
MFINPUTS Search path for input and openin files.
Default:
.:!!/usr/lib/texmf/texmf/meta-
font//:!!/usr/lib/texmf/texmf/fonts/source//:/var/tmp/tex-
fonts/source//
MFBASES Search path for base files. Default:
.:!!/usr/lib/texmf/texmf/web2c
MFPOOL Search path for Metafont internal strings.
(Used by inimf only.) Default:
.:!!/usr/lib/texmf/texmf/web2c
MFEDIT Command template for switching to editor.
Default: vi +%d %s
MFTERM Determines the online graphics display. If
MFTERM is not set, and DISPLAY is set, the
Metafont window support for X is used.
(DISPLAY must be set to a valid X server
specification, as usual.) If neither
MFTERM nor DISPLAY is set, TERM is used to
guess the window support to use.
MAKETEXMF Analogous to TeX's MAKETEXTEX, q.v.
USE_MAKETEXMF Analogous.
FONT UTILITIES
A number of utility programs are available. The following
is a partial list of available utilities and their pur-
pose. Consult your local Metafont guru for details.
gftopk Takes a gf file and produces a more tightly
packed pk font file.
gftodvi Produces proof sheets for fonts.
gftype Displays the contents of a gf file in mnemonics
and/or images.
pktype Mnemonically displays the contents of a pk file.
mft Formats a source file as shown in Computer Modern
Typefaces.
FILES
/usr/lib/texmf/texmf/web2c/mf.pool
Encoded text of Metafont's messages.
/usr/lib/texmf/texmf/web2c/*.base
Predigested Metafont base files.
/usr/lib/texmf/texmf/metafont/base/plain.mf
The standard base.
/usr/lib/texmf/texmf/metafont/misc/modes.mf
The file of mode_defs for your
site's various printers
SUGGESTED READING
Donald E. Knuth, The Metafontbook (Volume C of Computers
and Typesetting), Addison-Wesley, 1986, ISBN
0-201-13445-4.
Donald E. Knuth, Metafont: The Program (Volume D of Com-
puters and Typesetting), Addison-Wesley, 1986, ISBN
0-201-13438-1.
Donald E. Knuth, Computer Modern Typefaces (Volume E of
Computers and Typesetting), Addison-Wesley, 1986, ISBN
0-201-13446-2.
TUGboat (the journal of the TeX Users Group).
COMMENTS
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 every-
where, especially those of your own design.''
SEE ALSO
gftopk(1) gftodvi(1) gftype(1) mft(1) pltotf(1)
tftopl(1).
BUGS
On January 4, 1986 the ``final'' bug in Metafont was dis-
covered and removed. If an error still lurks in the code,
Donald E. Knuth promises to pay a finder's fee which dou-
bles every year to the first person who finds it. Happy
hunting.
AUTHORS
Metafont was designed by Donald E. Knuth, who implemented
it using his Web system for Pascal programs. It was orig-
inally ported to Unix by Paul Richards at the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This page was mostly
written by Pierre MacKay.