MF(1)MF(1)NAME
mf, mfw, inimf, virmf - Metafont, a language for font and
logo design
SYNOPSISmf [options] [commands]
DESCRIPTION
This manual page is not meant to be exhaustive. The com-
plete documentation for this version of TeX can be found
in the info file or manual Web2C: A TeX implementation.
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 Meta-
fontbook.
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. This version
of Metafont 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 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, Metafont
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 Metafont
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 misin-
terpret Metafont's favorite symbols, like semicolons,
unless you quote them.) As described in The Metafontbook,
that first line should begin with a filename, a \con-
trolsequence, or a &basename.
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
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, Metafont 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 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.
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 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 modes.mf.
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 "vi +%d %s"
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 old
SunView), tek, uniterm (for an Atari ST Tek 4014 emula-
tor), 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.
On some systems, there are two Metafont binaries, mf and
mfw. On those systems the mfw binary supports graphics,
while the mf binary does not.
OPTIONS
This version of Metafont understands the following command
line options.
--base base
Use base as the name of the base to be used,
instead of the name by which Metafont was called or
a %& line.
--file-line-error-style
Print error messages in the form file:line:error
which is similar to the way many compilers format
them.
--help Print help message and exit.
--ini Be inimf, for dumping bases; this is implicitly
true if the program is called as inimf.
--interaction mode
Sets the interaction mode. The mode can be one of
batchmode, nonstopmode, scrollmode, and errorstop-
mode. The meaning of these modes is the same as
that of the corresponding commands.
--jobname name
Use name for the job name, instead of deriving it
from the name of the input file.
--kpathsea-debug bitmask
Sets path searching debugging flags according to
the bitmask. See the Kpathsea manual for details.
--maketex fmt
Enable mktexfmt, where fmt must be mf.
--no-maketex fmt
Disable mktexfmt, where fmt must be mf.
--parse-first-line
If the first line of the main input file begins
with %& parse it to look for a dump name or a
--translate-file option.
--progname name
Pretend to be program name. This affects both the
format used and the search paths.
--recorder
Enable the filename recorder. This leaves a trace
of the files opened for input and output in a file
with extension .fls.
--translate-file tcxname
Use the tcxname translation table.
--version
Print version information and exit.
ENVIRONMENT
See the Kpathsearch library documentation (the `Path spec-
ifications' 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, 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.
MFEDIT Command template for switching to editor.
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 nei-
ther MFTERM nor DISPLAY is set, TERM is used to
guess the window support to use.
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
mf.pool
Encoded text of Metafont's messages.
*.base Predigested Metafont base files.
$TEXMFMAIN/metafont/base/plain.mf
The standard base.
$TEXMFMAIN/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 ALSOgftopk(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.
Web2C 7.4.5 10 November 2001 MF(1)
