Manual Pages for UNIX Operating System command usage for man mkfontdir

User Commands                                        MKFONTDIR(1)



NAME
     mkfontdir - create an index of X font files in a directory

SYNOPSIS
     /usr/bin/mkfontdir [-n] [-x suffix]  [-r]  [-p  prefix]  [-e
     encoding-directory-name] ...  [--] [directory-name ... ]

DESCRIPTION
     For each directory argument, mkfontdir reads all of the font
     files  in  the  directory  searching  for  properties  named
     "FONT", or (failing that) the name of the file  stripped  of
     its  suffix.   These are converted to lower case and used as
     font names, and, along with the name of the font  file,  are
     written out to the file "fonts.dir" in the directory.  The X
     server and font server use "fonts.dir" to find font files.

     The kinds of font files read by mkfontdir depend  on  confi-
     guration  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.

     The first line of fonts.dir gives the number of fonts in the
     file.   The  remaining  lines list the fonts themselves, one
     per line, in two fields.  First is  the  name  of  the  font
     file, followed by a space and the name of the font.

SCALABLE FONTS
     Because scalable font files do not  usually  include  the  X
     font  name,  the  file "fonts.scale" can be used to name the
     scalable fonts in the directory.  The fonts listed in it are
     copied  to  fonts.dir  by  mkfontdir.  "fonts.scale" has the
     same format as the "fonts.dir" file, and can be created with
     the mkfontscale(1) program.

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 two white-space
     separated  columns,  the  first  containing  aliases and the
     second containing font-name patterns.  Lines beginning  with
     "!" are comment lines and are ignored.

     If neither the alias nor the value specifies the size fields
     of  the font name, this is a scalable alias.  A font name of
     any size that matches this alias will be mapped to the  same
     size of the font that the alias resolves to.

     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.



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User Commands                                        MKFONTDIR(1)



     To embed white space in either name, simply  enclose  it  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-alias            fixed

     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.

ENCODING FILES
     The option -e can be used to specify a directory with encod-
     ing  files.   Every  such  directory is scanned for encoding
     files,  the  list  of  which   is   then   written   to   an
     "encodings.dir"   file   in   every   font  directory.   The
     "encodings.dir" file is used by the server to find  encoding
     information.

     The "encodings.dir" file has the same format as "fonts.dir".
     It    maps    encoding    names   (strings   of   the   form
     CHARSET_REGISTRY-CHARSET_ENCODING ) to encoding file names.

OPTIONS
     The following options are supported:

     -e   Specify a directory containing encoding files.  The  -e
          option  may  be  specified  multiple times, and all the
          specified directories will be read.  The order  of  the
          entries  is  significant, as encodings found in earlier
          directories override  those  in  later  ones;  encoding
          files  in  the  same  directory  are  discriminated  by
          preferring compressed versions.

     -n   do not scan for fonts,  do  not  write  font  directory
          files.   This option is useful when generating encoding
          directories only.

     -p   Specify a prefix that is prepended to the encoding file
          path names when they are written to the "encodings.dir"
          file.  The prefix is prepended  as-is.   If  a  `/'  is
          required between the prefix and the path names, it must
          be supplied explicitly as part of the prefix.

     -r   Keep non-absolute encoding directories in  their  rela-
          tive  form  when writing the "encodings.dir" file.  The
          default is to convert relative encoding directories  to
          absolute  directories  by prepending the current direc-
          tory.  The positioning of this options is  significant,
          as this option only applies to subsequent -e options.

     -x suffix



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User Commands                                        MKFONTDIR(1)



          Ignore fonts files of type suffix.

     --   End options.

FILES
     fonts.dir      List of fonts in the directory and the  files
                    they  are  stored  in.  Created by mkfontdir.
                    Read by the X server  and  font  server  each
                    time the font path is set (see xset(1)).

     fonts.scale    List of  scalable  fonts  in  the  directory.
                    Contents   are   copied   to   fonts.dir   by
                    mkfontdir.      Can    be    created     with
                    mkfontscale(1).

     fonts.alias    List of font name aliases.   Read  by  the  X
                    server  and  font  server  each time the font
                    path is set (see xset(1)).

     encodings.dir  List of known encodings and  the  files  they
                    are  stored  in.  Created by mkfontdir.  Read
                    by the X server and font server each  time  a
                    font with an unknown charset is opened.

SEE ALSO
     X(5), Xserver(1), mkfontscale(1), xfs(1), xset(1)


ATTRIBUTES
     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:

     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Availability                | x11/font-utilities          |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Interface Stability         | Committed                   |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
















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