APPLICATION NOTE #191
 DEVELOPING POSTSCRIPT WIDTH TABLES
 Rev. 01




 The standard XyWrite printer files include font definitions and width 
tables for the internal fonts supported by PostScript printers. Adobe 
Systems, Inc. also manufactures and sells a variety of typefaces that 
can be downloaded to most PostScript printers, but these typefaces 
are not predefined in the XyWrite printer files. This application 
note describes the program MAKEPOST.PGM, which helps you develop the 
font definitions and width tables needed to use downloaded PostScript 
fonts with XyWrite III Plus.


 PREPARING TO USE MAKEPOST.PGM
 First, you must purchase and copy to your computer the Adobe 
typefaces you want to use. As supplied by Adobe Systems, each 
typeface has three components: a printer font, a screen font, and an 
Adobe Font Metric (AFM) file. XyWrite III Plus uses the printer font 
for printing; it does not use the screen font at all. MAKEPOST.PGM 
uses the AFM files to produce the necessary font definitions and 
width tables. To use MAKEPOST.PGM, copy all the font metric files 
(identified by the .AFM filename extension) for your typefaces to a 
subdirectory on your hard disk. After you have used MAKEPOST.PGM, you 
can delete the AFM files, if you wish.

 Next, you must install the XYQUEST-supplied files listed below:

 MAKEPOST.PGM  The program file
 PARA.TST      Test file
 GOAL.TST      Test file
 MAKEPOST.PRN  Basic printer file
 ADDPOST.PGM   An additional program used to update your current
               printer file after running MAKEPOST.PGM

 All five files should be copied to the directory that contains the 
AFM files.


 RUNNING MAKEPOST.PGM
 To run MAKEPOST.PGM, you must load XyWrite III Plus, version 3.54 or 
later. Once you are in XyWrite, change to the drive and subdirectory 
where you have stored the AFM files and the program files. For 
example:

    Type: F5c:<CR>
    Type: F5cd \postfont<CR>

 Make certain that there is no file open in the current window, and 
that there is at least one other empty window. Then issue the 
following command:

    Type: F5run makepost.pgm<CR>

 Result: The program starts to run. It verifies that the windows are 
set up properly; that all program files are present; and that there 
is at least one AFM file present. If all is well, the program 
presents a list of all AFM files in the subdirectory.

 You can use the cursor keys to move around this list until the cursor 
is positioned on an AFM file that corresponds to one of the typefaces 
you want to use. Press F9 to mark the AFM filename with an asterisk. 
If you mark one by mistake, move the cursor to that line and press F9 
again to "unmark" it. When you have finished marking the list, press 
F1 to move to the next step. (You can leave the program at any time 
by pressing Esc.)

 After you press F1, the program doublechecks the filenames. If all is 
well, the program starts extracting font information from the first 
one you checked. This process takes from 1ª5 minutes for each file, 
depending on the speed of your computer. Most of this work is hidden 
from view, but a message will appear occasionally telling you how far 
the program has progressed.

 Note #1 Program Limit. MAKEPOST.PGM can process up to eight AFM 
files. If you mark more than eight, the program will ignore any past 
the first eight.


 PROGRAM OPERATION
 The next two sections, "Developing Width Information" and 
"Constructing Test Files," briefly describe how the program works. 
This information may be of interest to you, but is not necessary for 
running the program. However, it is important that you read the 
sections "Testing the Results" and "Updating Your Regular Printer 
File" and follow the instructions outlined there.

 Developing Width Information
 The AFM files contain a lot of information about each character in 
the font. The only two pieces that XyWrite cares about are the Adobe 
description of the character and the character width. XyWrite takes 
that data and stores it in a temporary file. It then changes the 
description to the ASCII character XyWrite uses to represent it. 
Next, it sorts the list in order of character width, converts the 
Adobe widths to XyWrite widths, and places all characters with the 
same width on a line together, constructing a XyWrite width table. It 
also writes a font definition, using standard PostScript coding and 
XyWrite conventions. This process is repeated for each AFM file you 
selected.

 Constructing Test Files
 After all the selected AFM files have been processed, the program 
continues by constructing a special test printer file, naming it 
after the AFM file but assigning a PRN extension (see Note #2). It 
uses MAKEPOST.PRN as a basis, and adds the font definitions and width 
tables developed from the AFM files. It also modifies the File Begin 
(FB<) statement in the printer file to include the proper PostScript 
coding for the new fonts.

 Finally, it prepares two test files for printing: GOAL and PARA, 
using the .TST files as templates. These files can help you confirm 
that the widths in the test printer file are correct before you add 
them to your regular printer file.


 TESTING THE RESULTS
 The width tables that MAKEPOST.PGM creates might need a bit of 
fine-tuning. This is because the program must round widths up or down 
as it computes them, and sometimes the human eye is a better judge 
than a mathematical formula. Therefore, we recommend that you follow 
this procedure to doublecheck MAKEPOST.PGM's work:

 1. Load the test printer file. MAKEPOST automatically names the
    test printer file after the first AFM font you selected; this
    name is displayed at the end of the program.

 2. Make sure the PostScript printer is on-line and ready to print
    from XyWrite.

 3. Print GOAL and (optionally) PARA. GOAL will be quite
    lengthy--several pages for each font. PARA is somewhat shorter.

 4. Examine GOAL for places where the right margin is out of
    alignment. If you find any, make one of the following
    adjustments:

    If the line is too short, decrease the width of that character
    in the test printer file by one or two units and print the
    file (or section) again.

    If the line is too long, increase the width of that character
    in the test printer file by one or two units and print the
    file (or section) again.

    After modifying the widths, make sure you store and reload the
    printer file before printing again.

 5. If the widths are still not right, repeat steps 3 and 4 until
    they are.

 6. Use the optional test file, PARA, to confirm that the
    typefaces justify properly.


 UPDATING YOUR REGULAR PRINTER FILE
 The test printer file made by MAKEPOST.PGM includes only the new 
fonts you specified and a few other basic fonts. You will probably 
want to integrate the new material for the new fonts into the 
PostScript printer file you have been using until now (see Notes #3 
and #4). To help you do that, XYQUEST provides another small utility, 
ADDPOST.PGM.

 To use ADDPOST.PGM:

 1. Call the test printer file to window 1. For instance:

    Type: F5window 1<CR>
    Type: F5call benguiat.prn<CR>

 2. Call your regular printer file to window 2. For instance:

    Type: F5window 2<CR>
    Type: F5call 3post35n.prn<CR>

 3. Change back to window 1:

    Type: F5window 1<CR>

 4. Run the program:

    Type: F5run addpost.pgm<CR>

 Result: ADDPOST.PGM confirms that the files are properly positioned. 
It copies the new width tables and font definitions from the test 
file to the regular file. It also modifies the File Begin statement 
to include the new fonts.

 Note #2 Duplicate Filenames. If MAKEPOST.PGM encounters a filename 
that already exists, it uses the name XX.PRN for the new file and 
displays a message recommending that you rename it to something more 
appropriate.

 Note #3 Printer File Versions. The program ADDPOST.PGM is designed to 
work with the following standard printer files:

    3POST13.PRN
    3POST29.PRN
    3POST35C.PRN
    3POST35N.PRN
    3POST43.PRN

 If you are using a different PostScript printer file (e.g., 
3POSTPLS.PRN), you may encounter justification problems with upper 
ASCII characters.

 Note #4 File Begin Statement. If you have significantly changed the 
File Begin statement in your regular printer file, use ADDPOST.PGM 
with caution. Double check the results before storing the modified 
printer file. ADDPOST.PGM is designed to work with File Begin 
statements that contain the same basic elements of font encoding that 
standard PostScript printer files contain.

 Note #4 Text Fonts Only. MAKEPOST.PGM works only on Adobe 
English-language text fonts.


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