MF(1)							      General Commands Manual							     MF(1)

NAME

       mf, mf-nowin, inimf, virmf - 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 semi-
       colons, 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.  Examples of proof mode output can be found in Computer Modern Type-
       faces (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 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 without 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 similar 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 processing.

       -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  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 directory.  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
       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.   (DIS-
	      PLAY must be set to a valid X server specification, as usual.)  If neither MFTERM nor DISPLAY is set, TERM is used to guess the win-
	      dow 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 documentation 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 Typesetting), Addison-Wesley, 1986, ISBN 0-201-13445-4.
       Donald E. Knuth, Metafont: The Program (Volume D of Computers 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
       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 2012							   1 March 2011 							     MF(1)