Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!microsoft!roberth
From: roberth@microsoft.UUCP (Robert HESS)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: Looking for a mono-spaced "Shaston 8" font
Message-ID: <51095@microsoft.UUCP>
Date: 28 Feb 90 15:40:06 GMT
References: <9002201852.AA29628@alw.nih.gov> <38853@apple.Apple.COM>
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA
Lines: 50

Doug Ashbrook writes:
>In his review of TML Pascal II in the Winter issue (i.e., the final
>one :-( ) of Call -A.P.P.L.E., Robert Hess wrote:
>
>     "Using a font editor, I have created my own font that is quite
>     similar to Shaston, but all characters are the same width."

To which David Lyons responds:
>I don't see why this is necessary...look up SetFontFlags in the
>QuickDraw II chapter of Toolbox Reference, Volume 2, and you'll see
>there is a bit to make QuickDraw draw everything with the width of the
>"M" (and another bit to make it use the width of the "0" instead, I
>believe).

David,

Thats what you get for being a programmer, most users can't modify the
code of the program they are using to utilize this feature. :->

In the above mentioned situation, I designed my font to be used with
TML's Pascal II compiler, because they didn't provide the capability
that you point out for implementing a fixed-pitch font. I *hate* coding
in a proportional font, and as shipped, the only way to do this with
their compiler, is to use the standard courier font, which I hate even
more :->

But even so, there are reasons why you would rather have a font that is
designed to be displayed at a fixed width. Take the 'i' character for
example. Many proportional fonts will not have any serif's on it, thus
making it as thin as possible. If you force this to be as wide as an
'M', or '0', this will cause too much white-space to surround the
character, and make it look improperly balanced in a word.

Hopefully, the (rumorware) System 6.0 will try to incorporate the new
Royal font technology that the Mac System 7.0 will use. I have seen some
of this in use here with PM, and am quite excited about its capabilities.


For others interested in this font:

I will try to remember to clean it up a little this weekend and binscii
it onto comp.binaries.apple2. (FYI: I used FontAsm to create this font)

 __________________________________________________________________________
     #####   ####### |	  Robert B. Hess, Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA
    ######  #######  |-----------------------------------------------------
   ####### #######   |	roberth@microsof.uu.net
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