Converting a Minidriver to Windows NT

Converting a minidriver to the Windows NT format requires the pfm2ifi.exe, ctt2rle.exe, and ntgpcedt.exe programs (available in the Windows NT DDK) to generate the NTGPC data extensions.

To convert the minidriver:

  1. Open a command window and move to the directory containing the binary files provided with the DDK and run the pfm2ifi.exe program to convert the PFM files you crated with Unitool and generate the files in the IFIMETRICS format.

    The command to convert a .PFM file is:

        pfm2ifi <pathname>.pfm <filename>.ifi [-v]

    The pathname is the path and filename of the .PFM file to be converted. The -v option prints the converted metrics to the standard output device.

  2. Run the ctt2rle.exe program to convert the CTT files you created with Unitool and generate these files in the RLE format.

    The command to convert a .CTT file is:

        ctt2rle <pathname>.ctt

    The pathname is the path and filename of the .CTT file to be converted. The created .RLE file will be written to the same directory as the .CCT file.

  3. Move the newly created .RLE files to your ...\rle directory.

  4. Open the MYDRIVER.RC file with a text editor. Immediately under the 

    RC_TABLES    PRELOAD  MOVEABLE    MYDRIVER.RC
 

    line, add the following line and close the file. 
    RC_TABLES    PRELOAD  MOVEABLE    NT.GPC
 

  5. Run the ntgpcedt.exe program and open your .RC file (MYDRIVER.RC in this example).

  6. Make any appropriate changes to the color calibration data, halftone, and pixel values displayed in the NT GPC Editor dialog box and select Close. Choose Yes in response to the “Save updated NT GPC data to ‘NT.GPC’?” message box and the data is saved to the NT.GPC file for your driver.

  7. Type Build to build the minidriver DLL file. Refer to Setting up the Environment, Creating Your Driver, and Compiling Your Driver for details on the build environment and process.

  8. Test and implement the minidriver. Refer also to “Debugging and Tuning Your Driver” and “Testing Your Driver.”

Note  Sample minidrivers are provided in the Windows DDK to demonstrate the input and output files the minidrivers produce during conversion.