% % LATEX $VER: EnglishDoc.ltx 1.3 (19.11.1993) % % DESCRIPTION: This LaTeX file contains the complete description and % documentation of the Amiga implementation of MetaFont 2.71 % for English speaking users. German translation available. % % DATE: 05.11.1993 (V1.0) % % AUTHOR: Andreas Scherer % Abt-Wolf-Straße 17 % 96215 Lichtenfels % Germany % % CHANGES: 06.11.1993: Description of all utilities (V1.1) % 07.11.1993: Corrections (V1.2) % 19.11.1993: Further corrections (V1.3) % % COPYRIGHT: (c) 1993 Andreas Scherer % % Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the % electronic form of this document provided that the copyright notice % and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. % % Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this % document under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the % entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a % permission notice identical to this one. \documentstyle{article} \language=0 % USenglish in my multilingual TeX configuration \newfont{\mc}{cmr9} % Medium caps \newfont{\smallcaps}{cmcsc10} % Caps-small-caps \newfont{\manual}{manfnt} % METAFONT in text \newfont{\bigmanual}{manfnt scaled \magstep3} % METAFONT in titles \newcommand{\MetaFont}{{\manual META}\-{\manual FONT}} \newcommand{\BigMetaFont}{{\bigmanual META}\-{\bigmanual FONT}} \newcommand{\GFtoDVI}{{\mc GF}to{\mc DVI}} \newcommand{\GFtoPK}{{\mc GF}to{\mc PK}} \newcommand{\GFtype}{{\mc GF}type} \newcommand{\MFT}{{\mc MFT}} \newcommand{\PKtoGF}{{\mc PK}to{\mc GF}} \newcommand{\PKtype}{{\mc PK}type} \newcommand{\PASCAL}{{\smallcaps Pas\-cal}} \newcommand{\IniMF}{Ini{\mc MF}} \newcommand{\VirMF}{Vir{\mc MF}} \newcommand{\CallMF}{Call{\mc MF}} \title{\BigMetaFont\ for the {\sl AMIGA}\\ \medskip Documentation of version 2.71\bigskip} \author{Andreas Scherer\\ Abt-Wolf-Stra{\ss}e 17\\ 96215 Lichtenfels\\ Germany\bigskip} \begin{document} \maketitle \begin{abstract} This document describes a new implementation of \MetaFont~2.71 for the Commodore Amiga. \MetaFont\ is the name of a computer font generation system invented by Prof.~Donald E. Knuth of Stanford University. It reads text files prepared with `programs' that specify the outline of characters in fonts of type, graphical symbols, or other elements for printing high quality documents. Typesetting systems like \TeX\ make use of the font metric information produced by \MetaFont\ and printer drivers or screen previewers make use of the pixel information as to where to put the `ink.' The usage of the associated programs is described to some detail, but no introduction to the \MetaFont\ language itself is given. Refer to the bibliography (section~\ref{bibliography} of this text) for detailed information about \MetaFont\ programming. \end{abstract} \vfill\noindent Copyright \copyright\ 1993 Andreas Scherer \bigskip\noindent Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the electronic form of this document provided that the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. \smallskip\noindent Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this document under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one. \newpage \tableofcontents \newpage \section{Copyright} The \MetaFont\ program and the associated utilities are copyright \copyright~1984 by Donald E. Knuth. All rights are reserved. The complete {\tt WEB} source code is published as~\cite{knuth.d}. This new implementation of \MetaFont~2.71 for the Commodore Amiga is declared to be {\mc FREEWARE}. All rights are reserved. You may use, copy, and distribute the package in complete archived or installed form and for a nominal fee for media and shipping only. Although considerable effort has been expended to make the \MetaFont\ program correct and reliable, no warranty is implied; the author and the implementor disclaim any obligation or liability for damages, including but not limited to special, indirect, or consequential damages arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of this software. This work has been a ``labor of love'' and both the author and the implementor hope that users enjoy it. Please send comments, suggestions, bug reports, etc., to Andreas Scherer, Abt-Wolf-Stra{\ss}e 17, 96215 Lichtenfels, Germany. A~``developer's kit'' containing the complete source code with all modifications and enhancements is available at this address. (See section~\ref{source} for details.) \bigskip \noindent\TeX\ is a trademark of the American Mathematical Society. \noindent\MetaFont\ is a trademark of Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. \noindent Commodore is a registered trademark of Commodore Electronics Limited. \noindent Amiga, Amiga{\mc DOS}, Amiga Kickstart, and Amiga Workbench are registered trademarks of Commodore-Amiga Incorporated. \noindent {\mc SAS} and {\mc SAS/C} are registered trademarks of {\mc SAS} Institute Incorporated. \section{System requirements} The minimum configuration tested with this implementation of \MetaFont\ was a Commodore Amiga~2000 running the standard 68000~Motorola processor and 2~{\mc MB} of Chip{\mc RAM} and 4~{\mc MB} of Fast{\mc RAM}, although a total of only 1.5~{\mc MB} of {\mc RAM} were actually used by the default configuration. Memory requirement may increase depending on the font to be created and the settings in the \MetaFont\ configuration. (See section~\ref{memory}.) The operating system was Kickstart~37.175 and Workbench~38.36. All programs included in this package are capable of running under version~1.3 of the operating system. Only the online display of \MetaFont\ requires version~2, because of the use of some advanced graphics routines, but this feature is protected when used with version~1.3. There are special versions of the \IniMF\ and \VirMF\ programs provided for advanced hardware configurations like the Amiga~3000 and Amiga~4000 or Amigas with accelerator boards. These two programs rely on features of the 68020~Motorola processor not present in the 68000~processor. They will run approximately twenty to thirty percent faster, but they will crash on non-accelerated Amigas! All other programs that come with this package are compiled for use on any standard Amiga configuration. \MetaFont\ is a large system intended for large tasks, so this is no greasy kids' stuff! The creation of {\tt cmr10} for the 300~dpi DeskJet printer driver of Pas\TeX\ can be as quick as 48~seconds on a 50~{\mc MH}z 68030 accelerator board with a coprocessor and sufficient 32~bit Fast{\mc RAM} but as slow as 10~minutes and 5~seconds on a standard 7~{\mc MH}z Amiga with slow 16~bit {\mc RAM}, although the programs are capable of running on both configurations. \section{Compatibility} This is \MetaFont~2.71 for the Commodore Amiga. It is fully compatible with the original implementation by Donald E. Knuth and has passed the {\mc TRAP} test as of January 25, 1992 gracefully. Only permissible differences as described in {\tt trapman.tex} were encountered. {\tt diff} files documenting the latest run of the {\mc TRAP} test will be made accessible by the implementor on request. (See section~\ref{source} for details.) Also included are \GFtoDVI\ version~3.0 (October, 1989), \GFtoPK\ version~2.3 (July, 1990), \GFtype\ version~3.0 (April, 1989), \MFT\ version~2 (October, 1989), \PKtoGF\ version~1.0 (January, 1988), and \PKtype\ version~2.3 (November, 1989). \section{Installation} \label{install} \subsection{Extracting the archive} This ``\MetaFont\ user's kit'' is a self-contained system; everything you need for the creation of beautiful fonts for \TeX\ is here. This subsection describes the various subdirectories and their contents. Normally this package should come in the form of an {\tt LHA} archive. It will contain a working installation of all programs and scripts, except that some environmental settings have to be installed by hand. Sorry, there is no `Installer' script, but installation is really very easy. First you have to extract the files by the command \begin{verbatim} > LHa x MetaFont[.lha] \end{verbatim} (You should have the {\tt LHa} program to do this. If you don't, look for Fish Library Disk~715 for the current version.\footnote{But don't send any money to Stefan Boberg, because you won't get what you want!}) A root directory {\tt MetaFont} will be created and will contain the complete archive in convenient subdirectories described below. You will need less than 3~{\mc MB} of free disk space to install the complete \MetaFont\ system. \begin{description} \item{{\tt MetaFont:bases}:} This directory is the home of the `base' files that \MetaFont\ reads at high speed at the beginning of a run. Here you will find the file {\tt plain.mf} (version~2.71) and some startup files for `plain' and `cm.' New base files should be created or copied herein. The environment variable {\tt MFBASES} should contain an entry pointing to this directory in order that \MetaFont\ can find them. (See section~\ref{environment} for details about the environment variables recognized by \MetaFont.) \item{{\tt MetaFont:bin}:} The most important part of this package are the binary files of the programs for \MetaFont\ and the associated utilities. You should tell the operating system to look for the programs here by adding the installation path to the {\tt PATH} environment variable. A more detailed description about running the programs will be given in the next section~\ref{running}. \item{{\tt MetaFont:config}:} The present implementation of \MetaFont\ is capable of resetting the memory configuration on startup in case the inner settings are too meager for a given task and \MetaFont\ aborts its run with the error message {\tt METAFONT capacity exceeded, sorry...} The configuration setup file {\tt mfmemory.config} contains lines of the form \begin{verbatim} set memmax 65530 % default 30000 set screenheight 200 % default 1024 set % default \end{verbatim} You may change the settings (in decent ranges!) or delete some lines from the file, thus resetting to internal values (given in the `default' column). The environment variable {\tt MFCONFIG} should contain an entry that points to this directory. (See section~\ref{environment} for details about the environment variables recognized by \MetaFont\ and section~\ref{memory} for details about the memory configuration.) \item{{\tt MetaFont:doc}:} At least this directory you have already visited if you are reading this file. Here you find the documentation for \MetaFont~2.71 in both German and English. The \LaTeX\ source files must be present, the {\tt dvi}-output may have been deleted due to space limitations, but you can recreate it with a running \TeX\ installation; no special macros or unusual fonts are necessary for this file. \item{{\tt MetaFont:inputs}:} This directory is for \MetaFont\ programmers and system administrators only. It contains text files necessary for the creation of new or changed base files and the complete Computer Modern font family, the standard for most \TeX\ users. You may add your own font programs here. \MetaFont\ will find them when the environment variable {\tt MFINPUTS} has an entry for this directory. (See section~\ref{environment} for details about the environment variables recognized by \MetaFont.) \item{{\tt MetaFont:pool}:} \MetaFont\ (as well as \TeX) is a \PASCAL\ program, so it has to use a special method of string handling due to restrictions implied by this programming language. The `pool' file {\tt mf.pool} contains all texts and messages \MetaFont\ is willing to print to your screen or the log file. It was automatically generated by {\tt TANGLE} in the process of compilation and should not be deleted or changed in any way. \item{{\tt MetaFont:rexx}:} This directory contains the public domain package `\CallMF' (version~1.0), consisting of three ARexx scripts by Georg He{\ss}mann, Martin Bok\"amper, J\"org H\"ohle, and Ulrich Wisser. It is very useful in connection with He{\ss}mann's Pas\TeX\null. Both the previewer and the printer driver refer to `\CallMF' in case a font is missing at a certain size. The ARexx scripts will create the missing fonts automatically or in batch mode. You will find a documentation of `\CallMF'~\cite{hessmann} in a subdirectory of {\tt rexx}, so no more information about installation and usage of `\CallMF' is given at this place. \end{description} \subsection{Controlling memory sizes} \label{memory} Originally \MetaFont\ (and \TeX) is a \PASCAL\ program not capable of dynamically controlling its memory allocation. Normally to change \MetaFont's memory size you need to recompile the source code with changed internal settings. However, you need no longer fear the ``{\tt ask a wizard to enlarge me}'' message, you can do some wizardry yourself! The present implementation is done with the help of the {\tt Web2C} language converter from the {\mc UNIX} distribution and so it is very convenient to include a special feature for controlling the internal variables at runtime. \MetaFont\ uses an extra path and environment variable {\tt MFCONFIG}. (See section~\ref{environment} for further details on the environment.) The \IniMF\ and \VirMF\ programs will search these directories for a file called {\tt mfmemory.config}, which is expected to contain instructions, one per line, of the form \begin{verbatim} set memmax 100000 set screenheight 400 set scalefactor 2 \end{verbatim} The example file given in the {\tt config} directory `sets' what are my present standard configuration, slightly higher than the internal defaults. Not all settings need to be given in the file. Note that you can't just set everything to the maximum -- that would require more than 8~Giga bytes of Fast{\mc RAM}!\footnote{If you have that much, I don't believe you!} If you create a standard base file with \IniMF, any change to the configuration {\tt mfmemory.config} will be acceptable for \VirMF\ in connection with this specific base, except changes to {\tt memtop}. This will result in the \MetaFont\ message ``{\tt(Fatal base file error; I'm stymied)},'' indicating that this base was produced with a different \IniMF. Here is a complete list of all parameters allowed in the configuration file, their internal defaults and some rules for their minimum and maximum values: \begin{center} \begin{tabular}{|l|r|r|l|}\hline Setting & Default & Maximum & Purpose\\\hline {\tt memmax} & 30000 & {\tt maxhalfword} & Size of main storage\\ {\tt maxinternal} & 100 & ${}\leq259774$ & Number of internals\\ {\tt bufsize} & 500 & {\tt maxhalfword} & Input characters\\ {\tt errorline} & 72 & {\tt maxhalfword} & Error context width\\ {\tt halferrorline} & 42 & {\tt }'' to introduce your personal system configuration or you keep the internal defaults. Here is a list of the four path environments, their default settings and what \MetaFont\ expects to find in the respective directories. \begin{center} \begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|}\hline Environment & Default setting & Files\\\hline {\tt MFBASES} & {\tt ",MF:bases"} & {\tt *.base} dump files\\ {\tt MFCONFIG} & {\tt ",MF:config"} & {\tt mfmemory.config}\\ {\tt MFINPUTS} & {\tt ",MF:inputs"} & {\tt *.mf} program files\\ {\tt MFPOOL} & {\tt ",MF:pool"} & {\tt mf.pool} string file\\\hline \end{tabular} \end{center} The comma in these defaults denotes the current directory as the first entry, i.e., if you want to search in `{\tt RAM:}' first, you could say \verb/"RAM:,,MF:inputs"/, thus making the current directory the second search path. If the environment variables are not set by the `SetEnv' function call the internal defaults will become active and the current directory is always search first, so you may want to keep them. In case of an error or an interruption, when \MetaFont\ prompts you with a question mark you may answer by typing `{\tt e}' (or `{\tt E}'), thus invoking your text editor. This feature is controlled by the {\tt MFEDIT} environment variable that holds a calling sequence to bring up your preferred system editor in the currently processed file (not necessaryly the file you called \MetaFont\ with) and in the offending line. Specify any program call or script that brings up your editor in file `\verb/%s/' and line `\verb/%d/.' The default setting is as follows, it invokes the {\tt MEmacs} editor provided with the operating system: \begin{verbatim} EDITOR "MEmacs goto %d %s" \end{verbatim} You will find some ARexx scripts suitable for the Cygnus Ed Professional editor in the {\tt rexx} directory. If you want to use them, simply set the environment variable {\tt MFEDIT} to the (string) value \begin{verbatim} "rx MF:rexx/MFEdit.rexx %s %d" \end{verbatim} The second script {\tt NameStruc} should be placed in the {\tt REXX:} directory, because it is called directly from within {\tt MFEdit.rexx}. Also there is an online display feature as described in the `\MetaFont book' by Don Knuth~\cite{knuth.c}. As it makes use of some advanced library functions not present in older versions of the Amiga operating system, it will work only with Amiga{\mc DOS}~2.0 and higher (sorry). To activate this feature, set the environment variable {\tt MFWTERM} to the value {\tt AMITERM} and every proof or smoke mode run will display its results on your screen. \section{Running the programs} \label{running} \subsection{Creating new bases with IniMF} Although there is a {\tt plain.base} file in this package, you may want to create additional base files that include other \MetaFont\ commands than the default set described in the `\MetaFont book'~\cite{knuth.c}. For this purpose there is the \IniMF\ program, capable of creating such binary bases for high-speed inclusion. If you call \IniMF\ from the {\mc CLI} (command line input, the shell) without an argument, it will prompt you with two asterisks, meaning ``\MetaFont\ is all geared up for action, please type a file name to continue.'' \begin{verbatim} > IniMF This is METAFONT, C Version 2.71 (INIMF) ** \end{verbatim} If you follow the concept proposed here, it is very easy to do the next step. Answer the \MetaFont\ prompt with the name of an ``initialization program'' like {\tt plain.inimf} or {\tt cm.inimf} and the rest will be done automatically, resulting in a new base file {\tt plain.base} or {\tt cm.base}. Or you can type in consecutive {\tt input} commands to load multiple files for inclusion in the base file. The last command should be {\tt dump}; this will tell \IniMF\ to create the compressed command file and to terminate. Alternatively you may type a one-liner like \begin{verbatim} > IniMF plain.inimf \end{verbatim} and the results will be exactly the same as above. \subsection{Creating new fonts with VirMF} \label{examples} The production version of \MetaFont\ is called `\VirMF' and is slightly different to \IniMF\null. It is designed for high-speed production runs and is incapable of creating base files, but it can read such command bases. Just like with \IniMF\ you have two possibilities to call \VirMF\null. If you just type its name (and if the operating system knows where to find the program), \MetaFont\ will prompt you for an interactive dialog. \begin{verbatim} > VirMF This is METAFONT, C Version 2.71 ** \end{verbatim} You may answer this prompt with any valid command, assuming `plain' base preloaded as described in the `\MetaFont book'~\cite{knuth.c}. For an easy beginning try the following (quoted from page~31 of the `\MetaFont book'~\cite{knuth.c}). Type `\verb/\relax/'---that's backslash, {\tt r}, {\tt e}, {\tt l}, {\tt a}, {\tt x}---and hit $\langle$return$\rangle$ (or whatever stands for ``end-of-line'' on your keyboard). \MetaFont\ is all geared up for action, ready to make a big font; but you're saying that it's all right to take things easy, since this is going to be a real simple run. The backslash means that \MetaFont\ should not read a file, it should get instructions from the keyboard; the `{\tt relax}' means ``do nothing.'' The machine will respond by typing a single asterisk: `{\tt *}'. This means it's ready to accept instructions (not the name of a file). Type the following, just for fun: \begin{verbatim} drawdot (35,70); showit; \end{verbatim} and $\langle$return$\rangle$---don't forget to type the semicolons along with the other stuff. A more-or-less circular dot should now appear on your screen! And you should also be prompted with another asterisk. Type \begin{verbatim} drawdot (65,70); showit; \end{verbatim} and $\langle$return$\rangle$, to get another dot. (Henceforth we won't keep mentioning the necessity of $\langle$return$\rangle$ing after each line of keyboard input.) Finally, type \begin{verbatim} draw (20,40)..(50,25)..(80,40); showit; shipit; end. \end{verbatim} This draws a curve through three given points, displays the results, ships it to an output file, and stops. \MetaFont\ should respond with `\verb/[0]/', meaning that it has shipped out a character whose number is zero, in the ``font'' just made; and it should also tell you that it has created an output file called `{\tt mfput.2602gf}'. Alternatively you may specify one or more arguments on the command line when calling \VirMF\null. The first argument may be the name of an alternative base file by prepending a \verb/&/ sign (as in \verb/&plain/) and there may be a string of commands that will be executed after the base has been installed. For example, if you want to create a font at a specific resolution, type something like the following: \begin{verbatim} > VirMF &plain "\mode:=previewer; mag:=magstep2; input cmr10" \end{verbatim} You have to type the quotation marks because of the semicolons. They have a special meaning for the Amiga operating system. This command will create the standard text font {\tt cmr10} for the screen previewer at resolution 100~dpi but magnified twice, so the resulting font will get the name {\tt cmr10.144gf} and \MetaFont\ will write the following text to your screen (and into the log file). \begin{verbatim} This is METAFONT, C Version 2.71 (...cmr10.mf (...cmbase.mf) (...roman.mf (...romanu.mf [65] [66] [67] [68] [69] [70] [71] [72] [73] [74] [75] [76] [77] [78] [79] [80] [81] [82] [83] [84] [85] [86] [87] [88] [89] [90]) (...romanl.mf [97] [98] [99] [100] [101] [102] [103] [104] [105] [106] [107] [108] [109] [110] [111] [112] [113] [114] [115] [116] [117] [118] [119] [120] [121] [122]) (...greeku.mf [0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]) (...romand.mf [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] [53] [54] [55] [56] [57]) (...romanp.mf [36] [38] [63] [62]) (...romspl.mf [16] [17] [25] [26] [27] [28]) (...romspu.mf [29] [30] [31]) (...punct.mf [33] [60] [35] [37] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [46] [47] [58] [59] [61] [64] [91] [93] [96]) (...accent.mf [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [32] [94] [95] [125] [126] [127]) (...romlig.mf [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]) (...comlig.mf [34] [45] [92] [123] [124]) ) ) Font metrics written on cmr10.tfm. Output written on cmr10.144gf (128 characters, 7276 bytes). Transcript written on cmr10.log. \end{verbatim} If you know a little bit of the \MetaFont\ language, it should be clear what else you can do here; if you don't, I~recommend that you buy the `\MetaFont book'~\cite{knuth.c} or the second volume of Kopka's series~\cite{kopka.erw}. \subsection{Converting between {\tt gf}- and {\tt pk}-formats} \MetaFont\ (and \TeX) is a highly portable programming system available for a wide variety of computing machines from small systems like the Amiga to ``number crunching monsters.'' Also its binary output is intended to be independent of a special hardware configuration. As in the example run listed in section~\ref{examples}, \MetaFont\ normally produces threefold output files. Typesetting systems like \TeX\ don't know where to put the `ink,' they only want information about the respective sizes of the characters and their positions in a font. These informations are written into the `{\tt tfm}' file ({\tt cmr10.tfm} in the example run) and contain the ``(\TeX) font metric'' information. Printer drivers or screen previewers that read ``device independent files'' produced by \TeX\ or other programs need the actual information about the shapes of the characters they want to display. \MetaFont\ writes the pixel information about every character in a font of type in the socalled ``generic font format'', i.e., it writes a `{\tt gf}' file ({\tt cmr10.144gf} in the example run). The file extension denotes the specific resolution of the produced font in ``dots per inch,'' so you can distinguish between previewer fonts and printer fonts. The ``generic font'' format is very convenient at this place, and even some device driver programs can handle them directly. More often your \TeX\ system will deal with something called the `{\tt pk}' representation of the pixel information. `{\tt pk}' files contain the same information as their `{\tt gf}' counterparts, but in a highly compressed format, so that `{\tt pk}' files are much smaller. The conversion between the two pixel information formats is done by means of two programs, \GFtoPK\ and \PKtoGF\null. You call these programs in the following way \begin{verbatim} > GFtoPK [-v] gffile [pkfile] > PKtoGF [-v] pkfile [gffile] \end{verbatim} The `{\tt -v}' option tells the programs to be a little more `verbose', else you won't see any screen output. The first argument denotes the input file (don't leave the extension out) in the respective format. The optional second argument denotes the output file in the alternative format. If you don't give this second argument, the extension of the input file will be transformed in a standard way to the extension of the output file. The command line \begin{verbatim} > GFtoPK cmr10.144gf \end{verbatim} will transform {\tt cmr10.144gf} to {\tt cmr10.144pk}. You may specify a full path name for the second argument and the output file will be created where you want it. \subsection{Fine control of the fonts with GFtoDVI} This installation of \MetaFont\ knows two special modes `proof' and `smoke,' corresponding to virtual devices with a resolution of 2602~dpi. The program \GFtoDVI\ can produce pretty printed hardcopies of fonts created for these devices. Simply type \begin{verbatim} > GFtoDVI \end{verbatim} and \GFtoDVI\ will prompt you for a {\tt gf}-filename. You may change some internal settings for this run by appending a slash to this filename and \GFtoDVI\ will prompt you for ``special font substitutions,'' i.e., the replacement of `gray' or `black' fonts for a special output device. (See the `\MetaFont book'~\cite{knuth.c} for details.) Like most other programs, \GFtoDVI\ is capable of accepting its arguments directly from the command line input, so you may type \begin{verbatim} > GFtoDVI cmr10.2602gf/ \end{verbatim} and you will be prompted for further input. \subsection{Pretty printed font listings with MFT} Another special feature of this implementation is the \MFT\ program that transforms ordinary \MetaFont\ program source files into \TeX\ input files for formatted output of the source listing. The only command line argument necessary is the name of a `{\tt mf}'-file containing (parts of) a \MetaFont\ program. You may influence the working of \MFT\ by applying other formats than the {\tt plain.mft}. It is fun to play with other settings and options. \begin{verbatim} > MFT file[.mf] [-cs] [change[.ch]] [style[.mft]] \end{verbatim} \subsection{Analyzing {\tt gf}- and {\tt pk}-files} The last two programs in this distribution are for font testing purposes. They will provide you with textual information about the contents of the pixel files in `generic' and `compressed' format. \begin{verbatim} > GFtype [-m] [-i] gffile > PKtype pkfile \end{verbatim} The two options for \GFtype\ mean ``Mnemonic output'' and ``pIxel output'' respectively. This will add more information to the output, especially the outline of the characters in the form of {\mc ASCII} `pictures' for fine control of what \MetaFont\ produces. \section{For further reading} \label{bibliography} Here is a short list of literature related to \MetaFont\ and its companions. You should refer to these books when you seek for detailed information about programming in the \MetaFont\ language. Also you may find very interesting stuff about the history of \TeX\ and \MetaFont\ since 1978, typesetting on computers in general, and the literate programming discipline used for the development of ``Computers \& Typesetting.'' \begin{thebibliography}{99} \bibitem{hessmann} Georg He{\ss}mann et.~al., {\language=1 ARexx Unterst\"utzung f\"ur \MetaFont, Dokumentation zur Version 1.0}, Description of the `\CallMF' package by Georg He{\ss}mann, Martin Bok\"amper, J\"org H\"ohle, and Ulrich Wisser for use with the Pas\TeX\ system, included in this Amiga implementation. \bibitem{knuth.a} Donald E. Knuth, Computers \& Typesetting~A: The \TeX book, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 19th printing, June 1990. This is {\em the\/} reference manual for all users of the \TeX\ system. It describes the \TeX\ language in all levels of detail. \bibitem{knuth.b} Donald E. Knuth, Computers \& Typesetting~B: \TeX: The Program, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, fourth printing, February 1992. This 600~page book contains the lavishly documented and annotated source code for the \TeX\ program, written in the {\tt WEB} language. \bibitem{knuth.c} Donald E. Knuth, Computers \& Typesetting~C: The \MetaFont book, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, fourth printing, June 1990. This is {\em the\/} reference manual for all users of the \MetaFont\ system. It describes the \MetaFont\ language in all levels of detail. \bibitem{knuth.d} Donald E. Knuth, Computers \& Typesetting~D: \MetaFont: The Program, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, fourth printing, February 1992. This 566~page book contains the lavishly documented and annotated source code for the \MetaFont\ program, written in the {\tt WEB} language. \bibitem{knuth.e} Donald E. Knuth, Computers \& Typesetting~E: Computer Modern Typefaces, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, first printing, Mai 1986. This book contains specimen of all characters found in the Computer Modern font family, closely related to the appearance of all \TeX nical documents. \bibitem{knuth.lit} Donald E. Knuth, Literate Programming, Center for the Study of Language and Information, first printing, 1992. This is a collection of texts by Knuth related to the ``literate programming discipline,'' applied to the highest extend in the \TeX\ and \MetaFont\ programs. Also it contains the errorlog for \TeX~82 (until September 20, 1991). \bibitem{kopka.ein} Helmut Kopka, {\language=1 \LaTeX--Eine Einf\"uhrung}, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, fourth printing, 1992. This is the first volume of the two-part series for German \LaTeX\ users. It seems to be more popular than the reference manual by Leslie Lamport. \bibitem{kopka.erw} Helmut Kopka, {\language=1 \LaTeX--Erweiterungsm\"oglichkeiten mit einer Einf\"uhrung in \MetaFont}, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, third printing, 1992. This is the second volume of the two-part series for German \LaTeX\ users. It contains an introduction to \MetaFont\ and an introduction to literate programming in {\tt WEB} and {\tt CWEB}. \end{thebibliography} \section{History} This Amiga port of \MetaFont~2.71 is based in part on the complete \TeX\ and \MetaFont\ system supplied by Edmund Mergl on Fish Library Disks 611--616. Starting with \MetaFont~2.7 from this implementation, I~introduced a lot of modifications and enhancements. The major difference between the version by Edmund Mergl and my own is that now \MetaFont\ is a complete stand-alone package, relying totally on self-contained source files and utilities. (See section~\ref{source}.) From the beginning I did all my programming on the Amiga with the {\mc SAS/C} development system. The latest version~6.3 of this fine compiler is fully {\mc ANSI} compatible, so it detected a list of omissions in style and speech when recompiling the source code. A major cleanup of the extra files for {\mc C}, i.e., the introduction of prototypes and the correction of casting problems, was necessary. As soon as version~2.7 was running, it was compared with the famous Amiga port by Stefan Becker from Fish Library Disk~486 and proved to be much slower, so some improvements seemed to be necessary to compete with this system as well. The tightest sections of the ``inner loop'' of \MetaFont\ were recoded in assembly lanugage for 68020~Motorola processors. This resulted in an overall speedup of about twenty to thirty percent compared to the non-optimized version and of about five to eight percent compared with the optimized version by Stefan Becker. Running the {\mc TRAP} test proved the correctness of the implementation, so the major part was done very fast. The test routine by Donald Knuth was very convenient to find the last nasty bug in my own part (had something to do with a variable `\verb/be_careful/'). But visual tests both with my own \MetaFont\ and with Stefan Becker's port showed problems with the online display. Neither the implementation by Stefan Becker nor by Edmund Mergl worked in accordance with the `\MetaFont book'~\cite{knuth.c}. Especially the test routine {\tt 6test.mf} provided for the Computer Modern font family caused some rethinking. (An example of this test can be found on page~192 of~\cite{knuth.c}.) Finally a revised version of {\tt amiga.c} was up and running, using some advanced functions for drawing on screen. The online display requires version~2 of the Amiga operating system. Adapting some ideas by David Crooke implemented in his Amiga port of \TeX~3.141, I introduced a revised path search algorithm and the possibility to use runtime-definable memory sizes with \MetaFont\null. (See section~\ref{memory} for details about the memory configuration.) In September~1993 the first step to version~2.71 was done with the errata sheets provided by Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. All changes concerning the new version were implemented in the change file. Finally in October~1993 I got hold of the official version~2.71\footnote{by anonymous ftp from the Stuttgart server {\tt ftp.uni-stuttgart.de (129.69.8.13)}}, which replaced the old system completely. It included a new {\tt plain.mf} base program and a whole new {\mc TRAP} test. The last change made to this implementation was the introduction of a really {\mc BIG} version of \MetaFont\ (and of \TeX~3.1415 by the way) by increasing {\tt max\_quarterword} to 32,767 (32~Kilo quarterwords) and {\tt max\_halfword} to 1,073,741,823 (1~Giga memwords), so now nobody will ever exceed the maximum setting for the main memory (you would have to have 8~Giga bytes of free memory!). Everybody seems to think that `262,142' is the maximum value for {\tt memmax}, although this value holds for 36~bit words only. This {\mc C} implementation works on the basis of ``64~bit words,'' i.e., a halfword is defined as {\bf long int}, so the very much higher value may be used. \section{Source code} \label{source} This package is the ``\MetaFont\ user's kit,'' so no source code for the actual programs is provided with it (there is a directory of the complete Computer Modern font library, but this is a different kind of source code). A~``developer's kit'' is available from the implementor on request. If you would like to have the complete source code, send a self-addressed envelope and 10~Deutsche Mark (or 10~US~Dollars) to the address on the cover of this documentation, and you will receive the latest version on disk together with all necessary tools for re-compilation and future bug fixes. \end{document}