Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!apple.com!cep
From: cep@apple.com (Christopher Pettus)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Font Menus
Message-ID: <2452@internal.Apple.COM>
Date: 22 Jun 89 18:23:03 GMT
Sender: usenet@Apple.COM
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.
Lines: 24
References:<19728@cup.portal.com> <14032@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>

In article <14032@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> isle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Ken 
Hancock) writes:
> Quick question, probably not so quick answer:
> How does one have a Font menu show the fonts in their
> own typeface?  Claris' MacWrite II does it without
> any noticable delay.  Suitcase II does it, but
> takes quite a long time to build it.

The basic algorithm is to write a replacement MDEF which "knows" 
that the names of the items in it are font names.  The MDEF then goes 
through drawing the font name in the font to which the name corresponds.  
The problem is that this is very, very slow, since the font manager has to 
suck in and handle each individual font; in a system with a large number 
of fonts, this can take forever.  Therefore, it makes sense to build a 
bitmap which contains the screen image for the menu, and just blit that 
onto the screen when it's time to draw.  I assume that's what MacWrite II 
does.

-- Christopher Pettus                   | "Ganesha Said: 'Done!  The very 
   Network Systems Development          | day I was born I made my first
   Apple Computer, Inc.                 | mistake, and by that path have
   cep@apple.com   {nsc, sun}!apple!cep | I sought wisdom ever since.'"
   AppleLink: PETTUS.C                  | - The Mahabharata
   (408) 974-0004                       |   I: A Mine of Jewels and Gems