Magnum One/Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso/d15/fonter20.arc/FONTER.DOC

Text File | 1991-07-31 | 14KB | 302 lines

                  Fonter for Windows

                          By
                    George Campbell

                     User's Manual

INTRODUCTION

Fonter was designed to fill a gap in current Windows 3.0 programs.
Since Windows can use and display many fonts, especially with
font scaling software like ATM or FaceLift, it's easy to accumulate
enough fonts that you soon forget what you have.  Even worse, each
company's fonts use a different character set, especially in the
extended ASCII characters.

NOTE: Fonter may not operate properly on systems using the SuperPrint
font scaling program.

Also, creating a notebook containing samples of all your fonts is
a time consuming process, if you use a word processor to do the
job.  So here's Fonter, which does all that and more.

Fonter runs under Windows 3.0 and lets you view and print all the
fonts available for your printer and screen.  You can use the
program in four ways:

        1. As a font viewer, with full access to both a simple
        sample of type for each font, plus an extended ASCII
        character set display, with ASCII codes beside each
        character. View your fonts in sizes from 6 to 36 points.
        NOTE: Printer fonts which lack equivalent screen fonts
        will not appear correctly on the screen, but will print
        correctly. If a font size is not available for the font
        you select, Fonter will print the closest available size.

        NOTE: In this mode, you can also type characters to see
        what they look like.  First, click inside the font sample
        screen, then type your text.  You can use any normal
        editing controls.  It's a good way to see samples of
        characters not shown in the sample.

        2. As a font sample printer, which prints a sample of
        every available font, formatted on an 8.5" X 11" page.
        Again, you can select font sizes from 6 to 36 points.
        NOTE: Fixed size printer fonts can only be printed
        in their default size. Fonter ignores the size you
        choose for these fonts.

        3. As a character set printer.  Fonter will print a
        sheet containing either keyboard characters or the
        complete ASCII character set.  You'll see the ASCII
        code for each character, it's keyboard equivalent, plus
        the character produced in the selected font. This is
        especially valuable for symbol and dingbat fonts. Here
        you're limited to sizes from 6 to 12 points, so all
        characters fit on a single page.

        4. As a font book printer.  Fonter will print a complete
        set of pages showing the character set for your fonts,
        plus the sheet showing all fonts.  This takes a long
        time, but the finished product is worth it.

You can easily see the advantage of using Fonter.  You can print
up a notebook of your fonts, with complete character sets, plus a
single sheet that shows all your fonts at once.

Even better, you can run Fonter, minimize it, then pop it up over
any Windows 3.0 application for quick reference to your fonts.
Once you try it, you'll wonder why Fonter wasn't around long ago.

SHAREWARE INFORMATION

Fonter is a shareware program, with a registration fee of only
$15.00.  If you find it useful to you, please register your copy.
Registered users will receive the latest version of the program,
along with my undying gratitude.

To register, send a check or money order for $15.00 to:

George Campbell
1472 Sixth Street
Los Osos, CA  93402

INSTALLING FONTER

If you're using Windows, you've probably already installed a
number of programs.  If so, you can skip this section.  If not,
read on.

Fonter was written in Microsoft Visual Basic.  To run it, you must
have Microsoft's run-time module file, VBRUN100.DLL, installed in
your Windows directory.  If you don't have a copy of this file,
you'll find it on CompuServe and GEnie and on most BBS systems.
You only need to download it once, since it works with all Visual
Basic .EXE files.

To install Fonter, either create a directory on your hard disk,
then copy FONTER.EXE into that directory, or copy the file into
your Windows directory.

Next, start Windows and bring up the Program Manager, if that's
not your default startup program.  Click on File in the Program
Manager's menu, then click on New and Then on OK.

In the next window, type FONTER, then press the <Tab> key and
enter the full file specification for FONTER.EXE to let Windows
know where the program is.

Click OK and the Fonter icon will appear in the program group that
was active at the time you installed it.  You may have to scroll
to find it, but then you can move it wherever you like.  Just
remember to check the "Save Changes" box when you quit Windows to
preserve the location of the icon.

USING FONTER

Fonter is very, very simple, and takes care of most chores without
any input from you, but there are several items to talk about.

First, start Fonter like any other Windows program.  Just double
click on the icon.  You'll see Fonter's window.

Fonter starts out in Screen Mode, as indicated in the Mode text
box at the upper right of the window.  This mode allows you to view
fonts in the Font Sample box at the bottom right of the screen.

Next, look at the top line of the screen.  You'll see the familiar
control bar, plus a minimize button.  You can minimize Fonter at
any time, then expand it by double clicking on its icon.

Fonters menu bar contains just three commands, Options, Tips and
About. The Tips command lists several menu options which give you
handy tips about using various aspects of Fonter. The About
command displays a box containing my shareware request, plus
copyright information.

If you click the Options menu command, a submenu will drop down.
Here are the commands, from top to bottom, with descriptions of
their functions.

*Screen Display Only -- This command switched Fonter back from
any other mode to the screen mode, the same as when you first
ran the program. You can type text in the sample window, after
first clicking inside the window.

*Print Font List -- This command sets up Fonter to print a sheet
or sheets containing samples of every available printer font for
your current printer. Normally, when you click this command, you
will see a brief description of the command's function.  Just
click OK to activate this mode.  You'll see "Print all Fonts" in
the Mode box. While in this mode, you can set the font size for
printing, using the drop down list under the word "SIZE." The
"FONT" list box is also active, but only affects the font sample
display.

*Print Character Set -- this command lets you print a sheet containing
samples of the character set for the current font. Like the previous
command, this one opens a box which describes the command's function.
Again, click OK to activate the mode. The Mode box will reflect the
current mode at all times.  In this mode, you can set FONT and SIZE,
in their respective drop-down list boxes.  If you don't do this,
the program will default to 12-point Courier. In order to keep the
entire character set on a single sheet, you're limited to font\
sizes between 6 and 12 points.  Notice the "CHARACTER SET" buttons
at the bottom left of the Fonter Window.  Click either of these to
tell Fonter whether to print just the keyboard characters or the
full ASCII and extended ASCII character set.

*Print Font Book -- This command prints a complete set of
character set sheets for your printer, plus the Font list sheet
described above.  You'll see a message box, which can't be turned
off, then when you click OK, the process begins.  NOTE: On my
HP LaserJet II, with a 25-Mhz machine and about 100 fonts, this
process took over seven hours, so run this one at night or
sometime when you don't need your system.  If you need to cancel
the operation, just click with the hourglass over the EXIT button.
The program will abort at the end of the next font.

*Display Message Boxes -- This command toggles back and forth between
displaying the message boxes for the two previous commands. If it's
checked, the boxes will display.  Click on it to remove the
check if you'd rather skip the message boxes. The Font Book
message box will appear each time you give that command, just to
make sure you recognize the long time it takes to run. At some
point, you'll probably want to turn this off as a default.  To do
this, go back to the Program Manager, click once on the Fonter
icon, then click File and Properties in Program manager.  In the
Command Line box, add a space and the letter N to the end of the
line.  Don't forget the space!  From then on, Fonter will start up
with this command unchecked.

*Display ASCII Number List -- This command in the Options menu
toggles the screen display of ASCII characters in the Font Sample
box.  If it's checked the entire character set will appear in the
Font Sample box for the current font. You can scroll down to view
the ASCII code for each character.  If it's not checked, you'll
just see a brief sample of the font's appearance.  Note that
displaying the ASCII code list takes some time each time you
change fonts, so you may want to leave this option unchecked most
of the time. Also, the CHARACTER SET buttons control how much of
the ASCII code is displayed.

*Make Current Font Default -- On some systems, the font at the top
of Fonter's list of fonts will not be appropriate as the generic
font for titles and labels on printouts. This is especially true
for users with dot matrix printers.  For this reason, you may use
this command to make any font on the list the default labeling
font.  If your printouts don't look right, or the font used for
labels looks odd, then select a generic font, such as Courier or
Helvetica or another font, then click on this command.  NOTE:
Selecting a font in this way will not affect your font choice on
other options, so you can continue to use the program as usual.
Try printing a font list without choosing a default font.  If
things look OK, then you can ignore this command.

*Run Control Panel - Printers -- This command runs the Windows
Control Panel, opening the Printer Setup window. Use it if you
need to change printers or alter the setup of your current
printer.  When you're done, click OK or Cancel in the printer
setup window, then click OK in the Return to Fonter message box.

*Exit -- Another way to quit Fonter.

SELECTING A FONT

To select a font name in Fonter, just click the list box arrow
under the FONT box.  You'll see a drop-down list.  You can scroll
through the list with the mouse and the scroll bar, or type the first
letter of your font for faster action. If several fonts begin with
the same letter, just continue pressing the letter until your
desired font appears.

Similarly, you can choose a size for your font in the FONT SIZE box
to the right of the FONT box.  However, you must use the mouse and
scroll through this box.  As soon as you choose a font, it will
appear in the sample box.  If you have checked the Display ASCII
Number List option, you'll have to wait a few seconds while Fonter
composes the list.  REMEMBER: you can type your own characters in the
Sample window as well.  Just click in the window, then type as you
wish.

PRINTING WITH FONTER

If fonter is in either the "Print All Fonts" or "Print Character
Set" modes, as shown in the Mode box, you can print by clicking
the START button.  The "Print Font Book" option does not require
this step, since it begins printing as soon as you click OK in the
message box. You'll see the familiar hourglass mouse pointer, and
won't be able to do anything else until it's gone.

BE PATIENT!

Printing either the character chart or the font sample sheets takes
some time. This is especially true if you're using ATM or have tons
and tons of fonts. The font sample sheets take an especially long
time, since Fonter has to load each font.  Also, remember again
that printing a font book can take HOURS!

YOUR MACHINE IS NOT LOCKED UP!

The process can take several minutes, but the results are worth
it.

Once the pages go to the Print Manager or other spooler, the
arrow pointer will return and you may either select another font
or option or exit the program.

EXITING FONTER

To quit Fonter, just click the EXIT button. You can quit anytime
the arrow cursor is visible, even if your pages haven't emerged
from the printer.  You can also click the EXIT button with the
Hourglass cursor during printing.  You'll exit at the end of the
current routine.  What you can't do is just shut it off during the
printing process.  This is a flaw in Visual Basic, but one I'm
working on for a future version.

CAUTION:  Don't quit Fonter by rebooting your computer.  If you
do, or indeed, quit Windows itself by rebooting, you'll leave a
huge swap file in your Windows directory.  If this should happen,
delete the file before restarting Windows.  This isn't a Fonter
thing, but is in Windows itself.

REMEMBER:  BE PATIENT DURING PRINTING!

THANKS for trying Fonter.  Remember--if you like this program,
or any other shareware program, you have a responsibility to
register your copy.  That's what keeps us shareware programmers
in business, after all.

George Campbell
1472 Sixth Street
Los Osos, CA  93402
CIS ID: 71571,222
GEnie: G.CAMPBELL
MCIMAIL: GCAMPBELL

Fonter is copyright 1991, by George Campbell.  All rights
reserved.