Public Information About TrueType Fonts for Developers

• Microsoft Windows versions 3.1, 3.11

SUMMARY

This article provides information on how to obtain public information about TrueType fonts, specifications, and developer issues.

MORE INFORMATION

The files TTSPEC1.ZIP, TTSPEC2.ZIP, TTSPEC3.ZIP, TTFDUMP.ZIP, TTFNAME.ZIP, TT-WIN.ZIP, EMBEDDIN.ZIP, TT-TALK.ZIP, and LUCIDA.ZIP are available from the following sources:

• CompuServe. Type GO MSDR to go to the developer relations forum.



• Internet anonymous FTP. The address for Internet is 137.39.1.9. The files are in the VENDOR\MICROSOFT directory.

TrueType Developer Information Files

1. The TrueType specifications are as follows:

   TTSPEC1.ZIP
   TTSPEC2.ZIP
   TTSPEC3.ZIP

   These three compressed files contain "TrueType Font Files Specifications," a 400-page book that details how to construct a TrueType font from scratch (or how to build a tool to do so), the TrueType programming language, and the complete format of each subtable contained in the .TTF file (including illustrations). These documents are stored in Word for Windows 2.0 format and require Windows 3.1 to be printed. Refer to the README.DOC (in TTSPEC1.ZIP) for printing instructions. These files require 2.5 MB of disk space after decompression.



2. TTFDUMP.ZIP, when decompressed, translates the contents of a TrueType font into a readable format. It allows you to translate the entire font or just specific subtables. This tool, combined with the specifications above, allows very effective debugging and/or exploration of any TrueType font.



3. TTFNAME.ZIP contains sample C source code on how to parse the contents of a TrueType font. This particular example opens the file and locates the font name contained within the "name" table. This compressed .ZIP file also contains many useful included files that have predefined structures set up for the internal tables of a TrueType font file. This code may be useful for developers who want to parse the TrueType data stream returned by the GetFontData API function in Windows 3.1.



4. TT-WIN.ZIP contains a 31-page Word for Windows 2.0 document that is targeted at the Windows developer who is interested in learning about some of the capabilities TrueType adds to Windows 3.1. This file contains many illustrations.



5. EMBEDDIN.ZIP contains a text file that describes all the information necessary for a Windows developer to add TrueType font embedding capabilities to his or her application. Font embedding allows the application to bundle the TrueType fonts that were used in that document and transport it to another platform where the document can be viewed or printed correctly.



6. TT-TALK.ZIP contains the TrueType Technical Talks 1 and 2. These text files describe some of the things that are happening with TrueType "behind the scenes" in Windows 3.1. The first document walks through all the steps that occur from when a user first presses a key on the keyboard until that character appears on the screen (scaling, hinting, drop-out control, caching, and blting). The second talk describes one of the unique features of TrueType called nonlinear scaling, which allows the font vendor to overcome some of the physical limitations of low-resolution output devices.



7. LUCIDA.ZIP contains a text file with useful typographic information on the 22 Lucida fonts that are included in the Microsoft TrueType Font Pack for Windows. It gives pointers on line layout, mixing and matching fonts in the family, and a brief history of each font. This information was written by the designers of the fonts, Chuck Bigelow & Kris Holmes.

Additional query words: 3.10 3.11 ddk sdk

Keywords :
Version : WINDOWS:3.1,3.11
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :