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MF(1)									 MF(1)

NAME
       mf, inimf, mf-nowin - Metafont, a language for font and logo design

SYNOPSIS
       mf [options] [commands]

DESCRIPTION
       Metafont	 reads	the  program  in  the specified files and outputs 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  sev‐
       eral  macro  files.  This version of Metafont looks at its command line
       to see what name it was called under.  Both inimf and  virmf  are  sym‐
       links  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 misinterpret Metafont's favorite symbols, like semicolons,
       unless you quote them.)	As described in The Metafontbook,  that	 first
       line should begin with a filename, a \controlsequence, 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.	 Exam‐
       ples  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 arbi‐
       trary value, such as 1.315, to create special character sizes.

       Before font production can begin, it is necessary to set up the	appro‐
       priate  base  files.  The minimum set of components 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 officially 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	 with‐
       out  printing.	Chapter	 23 of The Metafontbook describes what you can
       do.  This implementation of  Metafont  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 variable determines the
       device to use: hp2627, sun (for old  SunView),  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.

       On  some systems, there are two Metafont binaries, mf and mf-nowin.  On
       those systems the mf  binary  supports  graphics,  while	 the  mf-nowin
       binary  does  not.  The mf-nowin binary is used by scripts like mktexpk
       where graphics support is a nuisance rather than something helpful.

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
	      Print error messages in the form file:line:error which is	 simi‐
	      lar to the way many compilers format them.

       -no-file-line-error
	      Disable printing error messages in the file:line:error style.

       -file-line-error-style
	      This is the old name of the -file-line-error option.

       -halt-on-error
	      Exit with an error code when an error is encountered during pro‐
	      cessing.

       -help  Print help message and exit.

       -ini   Be inimf, for dumping bases; this is implicitly true if the pro‐
	      gram is called as inimf.

       -interaction mode
	      Sets  the	 interaction  mode.  The mode can be one of batchmode,
	      nonstopmode, scrollmode,	and  errorstopmode.   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.

       -output-directory directory
	      Write  output  files  in directory instead of the current direc‐
	      tory.  Look up input files in directory  first,  the  along  the
	      normal search path.

       -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.

       -no-parse-first-line
	      Disable parsing of the first line of the main input file.

       -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  specifications'
       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 direc‐
       tory.  Again, see tex(1).

       MFINPUTS
	      Search path for input and opening 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 neither 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  purpose.	  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

NOTES
       This manual page is not meant to be exhaustive.	The complete  documen‐
       tation  for  this  version  of Metafont can be found in the info manual
       Web2C: A TeX implementation.

BUGS
       On January 4, 1986 the ``final'' bug in	Metafont  was  discovered  and
       removed.	 If an error still lurks in the code, Donald E. Knuth promises
       to pay a finder's fee which doubles every year to the first person  who
       finds it.  Happy hunting.

SUGGESTED READING
       Donald  E.  Knuth, The Metafontbook (Volume C of Computers and Typeset‐
       ting), Addison-Wesley, 1986, ISBN 0-201-13445-4.
       Donald E. Knuth, Metafont: The Program (Volume D of Computers and Type‐
       setting), 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
       everywhere, especially those of your own design.''

SEE ALSO
       gftopk(1), gftodvi(1), gftype(1), mft(1), pltotf(1), tftopl(1).

AUTHORS
       Metafont was designed by Donald E. Knuth, who implemented it using  his
       Web  system  for	 Pascal programs.  It was originally ported to Unix by
       Paul Richards at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.	  This
       page was mostly written by Pierre MacKay.

Web2C 2017			 16 June 2015				 MF(1)
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