man > inimf(1)

MF(1)                                  General Commands Manual                                 MF(1)

NAME
       mf, inimf, mf-nowin - Metafont, a language for font and logo design

SYNOPSIS
       mf [options] [commands]

DESCRIPTION
       Metafont reads the program in the specified files and outputs font rasters (in gf format) and
       font metrics (in tfm format).  The Metafont language is described in The Metafontbook.

       Like TeX, Metafont is normally used with a large body of precompiled macros, and font genera‐
       tion  in  particular  requires  the support of several macro files.  This version of Metafont
       looks at its command line to see what name it was called under.  Both  inimf  and  virmf  are
       symlinks  to  the  mf executable.  When called as inimf (or when the -ini option is given) it
       can be used to precompile macros into a .base file.  When called as virmf  it  will  use  the
       plain base.  When called under any other name, Metafont will use that name as the name of the
       base  to  use.  For example, when called as mf the mf base is used, which is identical to the
       plain base.  Other bases than plain are rarely used.

       The commands given on the command line to the Metafont program are passed to it as the  first
       input  line.   (But  it  is  often easier to type extended arguments as the first input line,
       since UNIX shells tend to gobble up or misinterpret Metafont's favorite symbols,  like  semi‐
       colons, unless you quote them.)  As described in The Metafontbook, that first line should be‐
       gin with a filename, a \controlsequence, or a &basename.

       The normal usage is to say

              mf  '\mode=<printengine>; [mag=magstep(n);]' input  font

       to  start  processing  font.mf.  The single quotes are the best way of keeping the Unix shell
       from misinterpreting the semicolons and from removing the \ character, which is  needed  here
       to keep Metafont from thinking that you want to produce a font called mode.  (Or you can just
       say  mf and give the other stuff on the next line, without quotes.)  Other control sequences,
       such as batchmode (for silent operation) can also appear.  The name font will be  the  ``job‐
       name'', and is used in forming output file names.  If Metafont doesn't get a file name in the
       first  line, the jobname is mfput.  The default extension, .mf, can be overridden by specify‐
       ing an extension explicitly.

       A log of error messages goes into the file jobname.log.  The output files are jobname.tfm and
       jobname.<number>gf, where <number> depends on the resolution and magnification of  the  font.
       The mode in this example is shown generically as <printengine>, a symbolic term for which the
       name  of  an  actual device or, most commonly, the name localfont (see below) must be substi‐
       tuted.  If the mode is not specified or is not valid for your site, Metafont will default  to
       proof  mode  which  produces  large  character  images for use in font design and refinement.
       Proof mode can be recognized by the suffix .2602gf after the jobname.  Examples of proof mode
       output can be found in Computer Modern Typefaces (Volume E  of  Computers  and  Typesetting).
       The  system  of magsteps is identical to the system used by TeX, with values generally in the
       range 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0.  A listing of gf  numbers  for  118-dpi,  240-dpi  and
       300-dpi fonts is shown below.
           MAGSTEP        118 dpi   240 dpi   300 dpi
       mag=magstep(0)     118       240       300
       mag=magstep(0.5)   129       263       329
       mag=magstep(1)     142       288       360
       mag=magstep(2)     170       346       432
       mag=magstep(3)     204       415       518
       mag=magstep(4)     245       498       622
       mag=magstep(5)     294       597       746

       Magnification  can  also  be  specified  not  as a magstep but as an arbitrary value, such as
       1.315, to create special character sizes.

       Before font production can begin, it is necessary to set up the appropriate base files.   The
       minimum  set of components for font production for a given print-engine is the plain.mf macro
       file and the local mode_def file.  The macros in plain.mf can be studied in  an  appendix  to
       the  Metafontbook;  they were developed by Donald E. Knuth, and this file should never be al‐
       tered except when it is officially upgraded.  Each mode_def specification helps  adapt  fonts
       to  a  particular  print-engine.   There is a regular discussion of mode_defs in TUGboat, the
       journal of the TeX Users Group.  The local  ones  in  use  on  this  computer  should  be  in
       modes.mf.

       The e response to Metafont's error-recovery mode invokes the system default editor at the er‐
       roneous  line  of  the source file.  There is an environment variable, MFEDIT, that overrides
       the default editor.  It should contain a string with "%s" indicating where the filename  goes
       and  "%d"  indicating  where  the  decimal  linenumber (if any) goes.  For example, an MFEDIT
       string for the vi editor can be set with the csh command
              setenv MFEDIT "vi +%d %s"

       A convenient file in the library is null.mf, containing nothing.  When mf can't find the file
       it thinks you want to input, it keeps asking you for another  file  name;  responding  `null'
       gets you out of the loop if you don't want to input anything.

ONLINE GRAPHICS OUTPUT
       Metafont  can  use most modern displays, so you can see its output without printing.  Chapter
       23 of The Metafontbook describes what you can do.  This implementation of Metafont uses envi‐
       ronment variables to determine which display device you want to use.  First it  looks  for  a
       variable MFTERM, and then for TERM.  If it can't find either, you get no online output.  Oth‐
       erwise,  the  value  of  the variable determines the device to use: hp2627, sun (for old Sun‐
       View), tek, uniterm (for an Atari ST Tek 4014 emulator), xterm (for either X10 or X11).  Some
       of these devices may not be supported in all Metafont executables; the choice is made at com‐
       pilation time.

       On some systems, there are two Metafont binaries, mf and mf-nowin.  On those systems  the  mf
       binary supports graphics, while the mf-nowin binary does not.  The mf-nowin binary is used by
       scripts like mktexpk where graphics support is a nuisance rather than something helpful.

OPTIONS
       This version of Metafont understands the following command line options.

       -base base
              Use base as the name of the base to be used, instead of the name by which Metafont was
              called or a %& line.

       -cnf-line string
              Parse string as a texmf.cnf configuration line.  See the Kpathsea manual.

       -file-line-error
              Print error messages in the form file:line:error which is similar to the way many com‐
              pilers format them.

       -no-file-line-error
              Disable printing error messages in the file:line:error style.

       -file-line-error-style
              This is the old name of the -file-line-error option.

       -halt-on-error
              Exit with an error code when an error is encountered during processing.

       -help  Print help message and exit.

       -ini   Be  inimf,  for dumping bases; this is implicitly true if the program is called as in‐
              imf.

       -interaction mode
              Sets the interaction mode.  The mode can be one of batchmode, nonstopmode, scrollmode,
              and errorstopmode.  The meaning of these modes is the same as that of the  correspond‐
              ing commands.

       -jobname name
              Use name for the job name, instead of deriving it from the name of the input file.

       -kpathsea-debug bitmask
              Sets path searching debugging flags according to the bitmask.  See the Kpathsea manual
              for details.

       -maketex fmt
              Enable mktexfmt, where fmt must be mf.

       -no-maketex fmt
              Disable mktexfmt, where fmt must be mf.

       -output-directory directory
              Write output files in directory instead of the current directory.  Look up input files
              in directory first, the along the normal search path.

       -parse-first-line
              If  the  first  line of the main input file begins with %& parse it to look for a dump
              name or a -translate-file option.

       -no-parse-first-line
              Disable parsing of the first line of the main input file.

       -progname name
              Pretend to be program name.  This affects both the format used and the search paths.

       -recorder
              Enable the filename recorder.  This leaves a trace of the files opened for  input  and
              output in a file with extension .fls.

       -translate-file tcxname
              Use the tcxname translation table.

       -version
              Print version information and exit.

ENVIRONMENT
       See the Kpathsearch library documentation (the `Path specifications' node) for the details of
       how  the  environment variables are use when searching.  The kpsewhich utility can be used to
       query the values of the variables.

       If the environment variable TEXMFOUTPUT is set, Metafont attempts to put its output files  in
       it, if they cannot be put in the current directory.  Again, see tex(1).

       MFINPUTS
              Search path for input files.

       MFEDIT Command template for switching to editor.

       MFTERM Determines the online graphics display.  If MFTERM is not set, and DISPLAY is set, the
              Metafont window support for X is used.  (DISPLAY must be set to a valid X server spec‐
              ification, as usual.)  If neither MFTERM nor DISPLAY is set, TERM is used to guess the
              window support to use.

FONT UTILITIES
       A  number  of  utility  programs are available.  The following is a partial list of available
       utilities and their purpose.  Consult your local Metafont guru for details.

       gftopk   Takes a gf file and produces a more tightly packed pk font file.

       gftodvi  Produces proof sheets for fonts.

       gftype   Displays the contents of a gf file in mnemonics and/or images.

       pktype   Mnemonically displays the contents of a pk file.

       mft      Formats a source file as shown in Computer Modern Typefaces.

FILES
       mf.pool
              Encoded text of Metafont's messages.

       *.base Predigested Metafont base files.

       $TEXMFMAIN/metafont/base/plain.mf
              The standard base.

       $TEXMFMAIN/metafont/misc/modes.mf
              The file of mode_defs for your site's various printers

NOTES
       This manual page is not meant to be exhaustive.  The complete documentation for this  version
       of Metafont can be found in the info manual Web2C: A TeX implementation.

BUGS
       On  January  4,  1986  the ``final'' bug in Metafont was discovered and removed.  If an error
       still lurks in the code, Donald E. Knuth promises to pay a finder's fee which  doubles  every
       year to the first person who finds it.  Happy hunting.

SUGGESTED READING
       Donald  E.  Knuth,  The Metafontbook (Volume C of Computers and Typesetting), Addison-Wesley,
       1986, ISBN 0-201-13445-4.
       Donald E. Knuth, Metafont: The Program (Volume D of Computers and Typesetting),  Addison-Wes‐
       ley, 1986, ISBN 0-201-13438-1.
       Donald  E. Knuth, Computer Modern Typefaces (Volume E of Computers and Typesetting), Addison-
       Wesley, 1986, ISBN 0-201-13446-2.
       TUGboat (the journal of the TeX Users Group).

COMMENTS
       Warning: ``Type design can be hazardous to your other interests.  Once you  get  hooked,  you
       will develop intense feelings about letterforms; the medium will intrude on the messages that
       you  read.   And  you  will perpetually be thinking of improvements to the fonts that you see
       everywhere, especially those of your own design.''

SEE ALSO
       gftopk(1), gftodvi(1), gftype(1), mft(1), mpost(1), pltotf(1), tftopl(1).

AUTHORS
       Metafont was designed by Donald E. Knuth, who implemented it using his Web system for  Pascal
       programs.  It was originally ported to Unix by Paul Richards at the University of Illinois at
       Urbana-Champaign.  This page was mostly written by Pierre MacKay.

Web2C 2023                                  6 August 2019                                      MF(1)