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From: erik@westworld.esd.sgi.com (Erik Fortune)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: X font designer plus more
Message-ID: <1991Apr25.140651.1606@odin.corp.sgi.com>
Date: 25 Apr 91 14:06:51 GMT
References: <9104241718.AA25403@leer.ee.imperial.AC.UK>
Sender: news@odin.corp.sgi.com (Net News)
Reply-To: erik@westworld.esd.sgi.com (Erik Fortune)
Organization: Silicon Graphics Inc.
Lines: 22

In article <9104241718.AA25403@leer.ee.imperial.AC.UK>,
jmf@sig.ee.ic.ac.UK (Janko Mrsic-Flogel) writes:
>This may seem basic, but what is the actual file structue of a
>.snf (X font) file ? Is this structure defined anywhere?
>I known , could you please enlighten me with this much needed knowledge.


Don't try to use .snf!!!! SNF stands for Server Natural 
Format -- it is whatever format a specific server happens
to use.  Many servers use formats other than snf or
formats named "snf" that are not the same as snf from
MIT.   Even "snf" from mit varies depending on the
characteristics of the machine on which you are running.

The BDF (B{inary,itmap}? Distribution Format) is the
portable way to manipulate fonts.   There is documentation
for the BDF format in the X tree.   You might want
to look at the XLFD (X Logical Font Description) documents
also in the X tree which describe a number of the
properties in a BDF file.

-- Erik