Info Catalog web2c: Metafont web2c: Initial Metafont

web2c: mf invocation

 
 6.1 'mf' invocation
 ===================
 
 Metafont (usually invoked as 'mf') reads character definitions specified
 in the Metafont programming language, and outputs the corresponding
 font.  This section merely describes the options available in the Web2c
 implementation.  For a complete description of the Metafont language,
 see 'The Metafontbook' (⇒References).
 
    Metafont processes its command line and determines its memory dump
 (base) file in a way exactly analogous to MetaPost and TeX (⇒tex
 invocation, and ⇒Memory dumps).  Synopses:
 
      mf [OPTION]... [MFNAME[.mf]] [MF-COMMANDS]
      mf [OPTION]... \FIRST-LINE
      mf [OPTION]... &BASE ARGS
 
    Most commonly, a Metafont invocation looks like this:
      mf '\mode:=MODE; mag:=MAGNIFICATION; input MFNAME'
 (The single quotes avoid unwanted interpretation by the shell.)
 
    Metafont searches the usual places for the main input file MFNAME
 (⇒(kpathsea)Supported file formats), extending MFNAME with '.mf'
 if necessary.  To see all the relevant paths, set the environment
 variable 'KPATHSEA_DEBUG' to '-1' before running the program.  By
 default, Metafont runs an external program named 'mktexmf' to create any
 nonexistent Metafont source files you input.  You can disable this at
 configure-time or runtime (⇒(kpathsea)mktex configuration).  This
 is mostly for the sake of the EC fonts, which can be generated at any
 size.
 
    Metafont writes the main GF output to the file 'BASEMFNAME.NNNgf',
 where NNN is the font resolution in pixels per inch, and BASEMFNAME is
 the basename of MFNAME, or 'mfput' if no input file was specified.  A GF
 file contains bitmaps of the actual character shapes.  Usually GF files
 are converted immediately to PK files with GFtoPK (⇒gftopk
 invocation), since PK files contain equivalent information, but are
 more compact.  (Metafont output in GF format rather than PK for only
 historical reasons.)
 
    Metafont also usually writes a metric file in TFM format to
 'BASEMFNAME.tfm'.  A TFM file contains character dimensions, kerns, and
 ligatures, and spacing parameters.  TeX reads only this .tfm file, not
 the GF file.
 
    The MODE in the example command above is a name referring to a device
 definition (⇒Modes); for example, 'localfont' or 'ljfour'.  These
 device definitions must generally be precompiled into the base file.  If
 you leave this out, the default is 'proof' mode, as stated in 'The
 Metafontbook', in which Metafont outputs at a resolution of 2602dpi;
 this is usually not what you want.  The remedy is simply to assign a
 different mode--'localfont', for example.
 
    The MAGNIFICATION assignment in the example command above is a
 magnification factor; for example, if the device is 600dpi and you
 specify 'mag:=2', Metafont will produce output at 1200dpi.  Very often,
 the MAGNIFICATION is an expression such as 'magstep(.5)', corresponding
 to a TeX "magstep", which are factors of 1.2 * sqrt(2).
 
    After running Metafont, you can use the font in a TeX document as
 usual.  For example:
      \font\myfont = newfont
      \myfont Now I am typesetting in my new font (minimum hamburgers).
 
    The program accepts the following options, as well as the standard
 '-help' and '-version' (⇒Common options):
 '-[no]-file-line-error'
 '-fmt=FMTNAME'
 '-halt-on-error'
 '-ini'
 '-interaction=STRING'
 '-jobname=STRING'
 '-kpathsea-debug=NUMBER'
 '-[no]parse-first-line'
 '-output-directory'
 '-progname=STRING'
 '-recorder'
 '-translate-file=TCXFILE'
 '-8bit'
      These options are common to TeX, Metafont, and MetaPost.  ⇒
      Common options.
 
 '-mktex=FILETYPE'
 '-no-mktex=FILETYPE'
      Turn on or off the 'mktex' script associated with FILETYPE.  The
      only value that makes sense for FILETYPE is 'mf'.
 

Info Catalog web2c: Metafont web2c: Initial Metafont