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Q60859: Vectored Fonts Not Usable in BASIC PDS 7.00

Article: Q60859
Product(s): See article
Version(s): 7.00 7.10
Operating System(s): MS-DOS
Keyword(s): ENDUSER | SR# S900408-2 bit map | mspl13_basic
Last Modified: 21-SEP-1990

The font files MODERN.FON, SCRIPT.FON, and ROMAN.FON from Microsoft
Windows/286 and Microsoft Windows/386 cannot be used with the
Microsoft BASIC Professional Development System (PDS) version 7.00 or
7.10 font toolbox.

The "Microsoft BASIC 7.0: Language Reference" manual correctly states
on Page 518 that the font toolbox supplied with BASIC PDS 7.00 works
with any standard Windows bitmap .FON file. However, the files
MODERN.FON, SCRIPT.FON, and ROMAN.FON are vectored fonts, not
bitmapped fonts. The BASIC PDS font toolbox will use the rest of the
fonts supplied with Windows/286 or Windows/386 without any problem.

The difference between bitmapped and vectored fonts is that bitmapped
fonts are fixed in size and shape. To get a different-sized font, you
must use a different bitmap for each character. Vectored fonts, also
called scalable or resizeable fonts, are actually made up of
instructions for drawing the different characters. As a result, you
can easily resize the figures.

The same .FON files are supplied with Windows/286 and Windows/386.

The message "Bad Font File" will be generated by the BASIC PDS font
toolbox if it cannot use a specific font.

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