Modifying Font files for DeskMate Q&A Write

    This is an ASCII file.  View it in DM Text (printed line width 75) or 
DMQ&A Write (ASCII import, set page width to 80 and margins to 5 and 80).

    This is based on the file IBMPRO.FNT (available from SYMANTEC'S BBS,
1-408-973-9598, download and unzip FONTS.ZIP)  

    IBMPRO.FNT is written for the IBM ProPrinter, ProPrinter II, XL, and
X24.  Many printers that use IBM ProPrinter emulation may not use the 
exact same codes, my Toshiba P321SL is a good example.  Although Double
Strike, Overscore, Compressed and others were usable, many others like
Double Wide, Double High, Italics and Prestige Elite were not. It seems
Toshiba's IBM ProPrinter emulation is not exact.

    Therefore I examined IBMPRO.FNT to determine how to modify it for my
printer.  The first step is to determine what printer fonts your printer 
is capable of, then determine which of those you want to use. After that,
look in your printer manual for the Decimal codes for those fonts.  Make a
list like the following example:

Italics on              27, 126, 73, 0, 1, 1
Italics off             27, 126, 73, 0, 1, 0
8 Lines per inch        27, 48
6 Lines per inch        27, 50
Superscript on          27, 83, 0
Superscript off         27, 84

    Next make sure the codes are workable by using the *Printer* embedded
codes in DMQ&A Write (see the manual).  In particular you need to know the
code to turn a font on and the code to turn it off.  Also when combining
fonts like Double High with Double Wide with Unidirectional with Courier10
LQ you may have to have the codes in a certain order for them to work.

    After you have your list sorted out and a copy of IBMPRO.FNT, make a
working copy of IBMPRO.FNT.  Load your working copy into DMQ&A Write using
ASCII import and print a hard copy.  Exit w/o saving.

    The file is comprised of separate sections for the various fonts as
described below:

The font starts with a "happy face" (DM Text won't display and DMQ&A Write
displays as a box) represented by ASCII code 01.   
Next comes 40 spaces for the font description.  
Next comes 4 spaces for an abbreviated name. 
Next comes a space.  
Next comes 38 spaces for the Printer description.  
Next comes 75 spaces for the on code.
Next comes 75 spaces for the off code.
Next comes a tricky part.  This section has a total of 11 spaces           
    beginning with one of two things depending on what the font is.  If    
    the font doesn't affect spacing (like Overscore) an E is at the        
    beginning of this section.  If the font affects spacing like           
    Compressed or Double Wide the pitch number is at the beginning of this
    section.
Next comes another "happy face".
Next comes 266 spaces.

The next font starts immediately after the first.

    Look at the printed copy and you will see how this is laid out.  Look
for fonts that are usable with your printer without changes.  You can
change the other fonts that are not currently usable to suit your own
needs.

    When you are ready to modify the file, load DMQ&A Write, go to F6,
select Preferences and set Default Export Type to ASCII without CR, press
OK.  Go to F2, Page Setup and set Page Length and Top and Bottom Margins 
to 0, press OK.  Put your cursor in the insert mode so you don't change
the file spacing.  Open your working copy using ASCII import.  Overwrite
any descriptions or codes as necessary.  If you need to delete anything
overwrite with the spacebar to avoid changing the spacing.  An example
follows:


Double Strike                           DblS IBM ProPrinter, XL, X24, II
        27, 71
       27, 72
      E          
                                                         
                                                                           
                                                                           
                                                        
Overscore         
                     Over IBM ProPrinter X24, II  II            27, 95, 1
                                                               27, 95, 0   
                                                              E          
 
               

The Double strike was changed to Italics:


Italics                                 ITAL IBM ProPrinter, XL, X24, II
        27, 126, 73, 0, 1, 1                                               
       27, 126, 73, 0, 1, 0                                                
      E           



                                                        
Overscore
                     Over IBM ProPrinter X24, II  II            27, 95, 1
                                                               27, 95, 0
                                                              E          



    When through making changes, Export to ASCII with F2.  Use any name
you want for the file but the suffix has to be .FNT.  Now choose  F5 and
Assign Fonts.  Try it out and if it works, great.  If not go over your
codes and make sure you made no mistakes with spacing.

    Things to remember:

    The file has no carriage returns (it is one gigantic line) if you put 
a carriage return in it, it won't work.
    Total number of spaces for each font is 512.
    The spacing MUST be adhered to.  Disturb the spacing and the file is
unusable.

    This sounds alot more complicated than it really is.  Once you look at
it becomes alot clearer.

    After modifying IBMPRO.FNT for my Toshiba printer I'm now able to
easily use the following fonts directly from DMQ&A Write:

8 Lines per inch
Overscore
Subscript
Italics
Superscript
Courier10L
Prestige Elite12L
Double High10
Double High12
Double High17
Single High Double Wide10
Single High Double Wide12
Single High Double Wide17
Double High Double Wide10
Double High Double Wide12
Double High Double Wide17
Proportional
Compressed