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Q84224: Public Information About TrueType Fonts for Developers

Article: Q84224
Product(s): Microsoft Windows 95.x Retail Product
Version(s): WINDOWS:3.1,3.11
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 29-NOV-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows versions 3.1, 3.11 
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SUMMARY
=======

This article provides information on how to obtain public information about
TrueType fonts, specifications, and developer issues.

MORE INFORMATION
================

The files TTSPEC1.ZIP, TTSPEC2.ZIP, TTSPEC3.ZIP, TTFDUMP.ZIP, TTFNAME.ZIP,
TT-WIN.ZIP, EMBEDDIN.ZIP, TT-TALK.ZIP, and LUCIDA.ZIP are available from the
following sources:

- CompuServe. Type "GO MSDR" (without the quotation marks) to go to the
  developer relations forum.

- Internet anonymous FTP. The address for Internet is 137.39.1.9. The files are
  in the VENDOR\MICROSOFT directory.

These files can be downloaded and then decompressed with PKUNZIP.EXE.

TrueType Developer Information Files
------------------------------------

1. The TrueType specifications are as follows:

  TTSPEC1.ZIP
  TTSPEC2.ZIP
  TTSPEC3.ZIP

  These three compressed files contain "TrueType Font Files Specifications," a
  400-page book that details how to construct a TrueType font from scratch (or
  how to build a tool to do so), the TrueType programming language, and the
  complete format of each subtable contained in the .TTF file (including
  illustrations). These documents are stored in Word for Windows 2.0 format and
  require Windows 3.1 to be printed. Refer to the README.DOC (in TTSPEC1.ZIP)
  for printing instructions. These files require 2.5 MB of disk space after
  decompression.

2. TTFDUMP.ZIP, when decompressed, translates the contents of a TrueType font
  into a readable format. It allows you to translate the entire font or just
  specific subtables. This tool, combined with the specifications above, allows
  very effective debugging and/or exploration of any TrueType font.

3. TTFNAME.ZIP contains sample C source code on how to parse the contents of a
  TrueType font. This particular example opens the file and locates the font
  name contained within the "name" table. This compressed .ZIP file also
  contains many useful included files that have predefined structures set up
  for the internal tables of a TrueType font file. This code may be useful for
  developers who want to parse the TrueType data stream returned by the
  GetFontData API function in Windows 3.1.

4. TT-WIN.ZIP contains a 31-page Word for Windows 2.0 document that is targeted
  at the Windows developer who is interested in learning about some of the
  capabilities TrueType adds to Windows 3.1. This file contains many
  illustrations.

5. EMBEDDIN.ZIP contains a text file that describes all the information
  necessary for a Windows developer to add TrueType font embedding capabilities
  to his or her application. Font embedding allows the application to bundle
  the TrueType fonts that were used in that document and transport it to
  another platform where the document can be viewed or printed correctly.

6. TT-TALK.ZIP contains the TrueType Technical Talks 1 and 2. These text files
  describe some of the things that are happening with TrueType "behind the
  scenes" in Windows 3.1. The first document walks through all the steps that
  occur from when a user first presses a key on the keyboard until that
  character appears on the screen (scaling, hinting, drop-out control, caching,
  and blting). The second talk describes one of the unique features of TrueType
  called nonlinear scaling, which allows the font vendor to overcome some of
  the physical limitations of low-resolution output devices.

7. LUCIDA.ZIP contains a text file with useful typographic information on the 22
  Lucida fonts that are included in the Microsoft TrueType Font Pack for
  Windows. It gives pointers on line layout, mixing and matching fonts in the
  family, and a brief history of each font. This information was written by the
  designers of the fonts, Chuck Bigelow & Kris Holmes.


Additional query words: 3.10 3.11 ddk sdk

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbWin3xSearch kbZNotKeyword3 kbWin310 kbWin311
Version           : WINDOWS:3.1,3.11

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