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1999-03-17
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15 March 1999. Michal Necasek (mike@mendelu.cz)
Daniel Hellerstein (danielh@econ.ag.gov)
TTF_text: Create text-banners from TTF fonts.
TTF_text is a free, OS/2 REXX program that will create text banners
(using printable characters).
What's special about TTF_text is that the pattern for the banner
characters is specified using a TTF font name, and point size,
provided by the user. Thus, any TTF font you obtain can
be used as the template for a banner, and the banner can
be just about any size.
1) Installing TTF_text.
a) After obtaining TTF_text, unzip it to an empty temporary directory.
b) Copy RXTTF.DLL to someplace in your LIBPATH (say, x:\OS2\DLL).
c) You can copy TTF_TEXT.CMD to your favorite directory.
d) To assist in demonstrating TTF_text, you can also copy BISQUE.TTF
to this directory.
2) Configuring TTF_text
TTF_text does NOT require additional configuration; but you might want to
set a few parameters. These are in the ttf_text.cmd file (it's a REXX
program) which you can edit with your favorite text editor (for example,
the EPM editor that ships with OS/2).
The parameters are well explained in the file. The more important ones are:
Use_filler_message: instead of a single foreground character, you can use
a "message" as the foreground character(s)
Filler_message: the message to use (if user_filler_message is enabled)
Default_ttfdir: the default "ttf-fonts root directory". TTF_text will look
for ttf fonts here, as well as in the current directory
Outfile: default output file (only used in "prompted" mode). Or, set this
to blank to output to stdout (the screen).
3) Using TTF_text
You can run it just by entering TTF_TEXT at an OS/2 prompt.
You will then prompted for the ttf font-file, the point size,
the message, and whether to use landscape or portrait orientation.
The banner will then be written to the "outfile", or to the screen.
Alternatively, you can provide values on the command line, using the
syntax:
ttf_text ttf_file psize landscape message
where:
ttf_file : the BISQUE.TTF file (a .TTF extension is added, if necessary)
psize : the point size
landscape : portrait orientation. Use 1 for landscape orientation.
message : the text to convert into a banner
For example:
D:\APPS>ttf_text bisque 12 0 Hello
Since "command line mode" always writes to stdout, one useful trick is to
redirect the output to a file (using "> file.out"). For example:
D:\APPS>ttf_text d:\fonts\times.ttfe 26 1 Happy Birthday! > bday.lst
4) Notes
* Caution:
if you get wierd characters ($,[, etc.) in your prompts, it means
you don't have ANSI support installed. See the description of
the use_ansi parameter (in TTF_TEXT.CMD) for the details.
* TTF_text is based on the RxTTF library.
Those interested in using this procedure should look for RXTTF
on hobbes.nmsu.edu.
* TTF_text is in the public domain. Use it at your own risk.
* The "bisque" font, included as an example, is freeware from:
http://members.xoom.com/acidfonts/t.htm
* The "outfile" is appended to -- which makes it easy to to
create rows of big-text characters (by running ttf_text several
times in a row)
* In contrast, redirected output (using > file.ext) will overwrite
a preexisting file.
5) Known bugs
* Some ttf fonts don't work
* At some point sizes, and for some fonts, characters might overlap
* Occassionally the last several columnns will be clipped; adding a space
at the end of the message usually cures that.
6) Future modifications
None planned, but who knows?
If someone wants to write a PM interface, the code is in the public domain (look for
RXTTF.ZIP, on hobbes.nmsu.edu, for details on the rxttf_image procedure).