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Working with tables


Using TrueEdit to create TrueType GX fonts means adding and editing new tables. The operations described in this section apply throughout TrueEdit, whether you are adding glyph effects, position effects, language and script support, or other tables.

Adding a new table

To add a new table to the font:

  1. Choose New Table from the File menu, or press Command-N.


  2. The New Table dialog box appears.
  3. Choose a table type from the popup menu.

  4. The menu shows all of the table types TrueEdit knows how to add in support of QuickDraw GX effects. (Chapter VI: Other tables describes some additional non-GX tables you can add with TrueEdit.)
  5. The menu lists short phrases which summarize the purpose of each effect; you don't have to remember the tag for each table. (Unfortunately, the menu is not alphabetized, and the phrases don't quite match the full names for the tables.)
  6. Once you have chosen a menu item, TrueEdit shows the four-letter tag for the corresponding table at the bottom of the dialog box.
  7. If you want to add a table that doesn't appear on the menu, choose Other (the last item on the popup). The Other Tag dialog box appears. Enter the table's four-letter tag and click OK.


  8. The table tag is shown at the bottom of the New Table dialog box.

    [!]You will probably have to use the Hex Editor, described in Other tables, to edit any table which doesn't appear on the New Table popup.

  9. Click OK in the New Table dialog box.
  10. The new table tag appears in the Tables window. If other tables are necessary to properly support the table you have added, they are also automatically added.

Opening a table

There are three ways to open a table for editing:

When you open a table, its contents are shown in a dedicated editor window or dialog box. Each table type has its own editor:



Many editors operate in similar ways, as described in the rest of this manual.

This dedicated-editor approach is similar to that taken by the Apple development tool ResEdit. But unlike ResEdit, TrueEdit does not allow its users to add editors for new tags.

If you open a table and the editor window simply shows hexadecimal numbers, then TrueEdit does not have a specific editor for that table.


This window is the Hex Editor; Chapter VI: Other Tables provides some suggestions on how to use this editor. You can open the Hex Editor for any table, even if a dedicated editor exists, by holding down the Option key as you open the table.

Coverage of dedicated editors

Developing fonts for QuickDraw GX can be broken down into several steps, each of which involves several tables. This manual is organized according to these steps.

Here's a guide to what tables TrueEdit supports, and where they are covered in this manual. Note that some tables are discussed in several chapters.

Glyph Effects

Position effects

Language and script support

Font identification

System requirements

Non-GX tables

Editing a table

The operational details of TrueEdit's dedicated editors vary from editor to editor. Specific instructions are included in the later chapters of this manual. This section introduces two general operations common to several editors.

Adding a new entry

Many tables (cmap, mort, lcar, just to name a few) themselves consist of a number of entries or subtables. Although editors may differ, most let you choose Add Entry from the Edit menu (or press Command-A) to add a new entry.

Editing an entry

The entries within a table can be edited; again, the exact details depend on the editor. To edit an entry, choose Edit Entry from the Edit menu, press Command-E, or double-click the entry in the editor window.

Managing tables

The standard Macintosh editing commands -- Cut, Copy , Paste, and Clear -- are available on the Edit menu. You can use these commands to remove tables from a font, to copy tables from one font to another, and to edit the contents of tables.


[!]The Undo command is not implemented in TrueEdit 2.0.

Removing tables

To remove a table from the font:

  1. Select the table entry in the font's Tables window.
  2. Choose Clear from the Edit menu, or press the Delete key on the keyboard.

Copying tables between fonts

You can use the Copy and Paste commands on the Edit menu to move tables between fonts.

[!]Remember that many of the tables in a TrueType GX font have important interdependencies. As discussed in TrueType GX Fundamentals, failure to keep track of these links can lead to a corrupt font.

TrueEdit source tables

Many TrueEdit editors use source tables ('TRnn') as part of the editing process. These tables are not official TrueType GX tables, but they are required within TrueEdit for editing the font. A complete list of TrueEdit's source tables appears in Appendix C.

[!]TrueEdit automatically deletes the appropriate source tables when you delete the effects they support, but it does not cut, copy, and paste them automatically. It also does not warn you if you delete a source table directly, even though this renders part of your font uneditable.

However, you should remove the source tables (by deleting them in TrueEdit) before you ship the finished font. Keep a reference copy of the font with the source tables intact, for future revisions and development.

These cautions also apply to the 'clas' table.


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Arleigh Movitz (movitz@apple.com)
Dave Opstad (opstad@apple.com)
Kristian Walsh (walsh.k@euro.apple.com)