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- FONTEDIT Michael J. Mefford
- Command 1988 No.15
-
-
- __________________________________________________________
-
-
- Purpose: Permits modifying/creating EGA or VGA character
- fonts with keyboard or mouse and saving the new
- fonts as .COM files that can be loaded from the
- DOS prompt.
-
- Format: [d:][path]FONTEDIT [filespec]
-
- Remarks: If no font filename and path are supplied as the
- filespec, FONTEDIT uses the currently displayed
- font, beginning with the letter A. Pixels in the
- Edit window are toggled on or off with the space-
- bar or with left and right mouse buttons. The
- highlighted cursor may be moved within the Edit
- window by mouse or with the cursor Arrow keys,
- and it can be "dragged" to adjacent pixels by
- holding down a Shift key or mouse button. Editing
- changes are saved by pressing F4, and an opport-
- unity is provided to supply a missing filename.
- FONTEDIT will supply the requisite .COM extension
- automatically. Esc quits the program.
-
- Pressing F5 copies the original character template
- to the Edit window. New characters to edit can be
- loaded by pressing the appropriate key on the key-
- board, by pressing the the PgUp and PgDn keys,
- (which move in ASCII sequence), or by holding down
- the Alt key while typing the ASCII code on the
- numeric keypad, then releasing Alt. The Tab key
- toggles the cursor between the Edit window and the
- full Character Set window. Highlighted characters
- in the latter can be loaded for editing by pressing
- Enter or one of the mouse buttons.
-
- The F1, F2, and F3 keys affect all characters with-
- in the entire font. F1 (or the Del key) deletes a
- whole row of pixels and is used to shorten the
- height of the character box. The default (and max-
- imum) character box size is 8 pixels wide (this
- cannot be changed) by 14 pixels high (EGA) or 16
- pixels high (VGA). A 43-line EGA font uses a char-
- acter box of 8 by 8 pixels, for example. When F1
- (or Del) is used, confirmation of the deletion is
- required. F2 inserts a blank row of pixels through-
- out the entire font (maximum height permitting),
- and F3 copies each character's current pixel map,
- as, for example, to thicken a serif.
-
- Modified or created fonts are loaded simply by en-
- tering their names at the DOS prompt. Normal oper-
- ation is restored by entering any video-mode command
- for example, MODE CO80 on a color system or MODE
- MONO in monochrome. Applications that reset the
- video mode on entry or when returning from DOS also
- restore the default ROM font and cannot be used suc-
- cessfully with FONTEDIT.
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