kinch@uwovax.uwo.ca (08/03/90)
Howdy: Yesterday I asked about GREEK fonts and I got a reply from some nice person at harvard. I found the MF files for the fonts but I could not find the TFM/GF files. No problem, I thought, this will force me to put up our latest version of TeX/WEB/MetaFont (TeX 2.92). Well this was more work than I was counting on and, from the distribution tape we received, it is a good thing that TeX was already running because the build procedures used TANGLE and WEAVE! Oh well .... Still, all SEEMS to be ok save for MetaFont. From my reading of the documentation that I could get a hold of, MetaFont should create a .GF, .TFM and .LOG file for each input .MF file. The .GF and .LIS (VMS) files are created without a hitch but the .TFM files are nowhere to be found. Could some kind soul please tell me what I am doing wrong. There does not seem to be any available option (that is documented anyway) to control the creation of these files. I am at my wits end! Thanx in advance, cheers kinch -- Dave Kinchlea :INTERNET- kinch@hydra.uwo.ca Consultant/System support :BITNET - kinch@uwovax Computing and Communication Services :VOICE - (519)-661-2151-6041 University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada
ahl@technix.oz.au (Tony Landells) (08/05/90)
If you're getting .GF but not a .TFM, then it sounds like you are using a mode that isn't specified to produce fonts. Instead of just running Metafont and saying 'input file;end', you have to say something like '\mode=localfont;input file;end'. By convention, localfont should be setup to produce fonts for your site's normal output device. If you want to see what devices are defined for your site, look in your Metafont "inputs" or "macros" directory for something with a name like "local.mf", which should be the site-specific extensions to the plain base. It's not necessary to understand everything in the file, but you should be able to work out which modes exist (for use in place of 'localfont' in the example above), and which of them actually produce fonts. Hope this helps, Tony.
walter@hpsadle.HP.COM (Walter Coole) (08/07/90)
A general suggestion: get a copy of the METAFONT book, and do the first couple of examples. A more specific suggestion: Verify that you have METAFONT set for fontmaking and for your specific device; as I recall, if you don't you get a "smoke" .gf2601 file, but no tfm. Unlike TeX, METAFONT installation requires a fair amount of customization for your environment, so the most successful strategy is to find a "guru" that is familiar with your environment, ie. CPU, OS, window system, hardcopy device, etc.