This work describes some methods which may be used to provide additional fonts for the VARKON® parametric CAD and CAD development system. It gives a brief overview of the built-in VARKON font editor, describes the format used by VARKON for its font files, and describes a method used to translate and arrange the data from the Hershey glyphs (the "Hershey fonts") for use with VARKON.
The section A Collection of Fonts for VARKON contains, as its name suggests, the font files themselves. Please note that the font files derived from the Hershey data, while freely usable and redistributable, still contain the Hershey data and are subject to the same simple conditions imposed on the original Holzmann USENET distribution of these data. For further information on this, please see the Holzmann USENET Hershey Glyph Distribution Cover Statement.
A "character" is an abstract entity. The character "A" is the same whether it is typed on a typewriter in very plain form, printed in an elaborate Black Letter typeface, written calligraphically, or spoken aloud.
A "glyph" is an individual, separable, part of writing (UnicodeTM 12). For VARKON and ordinary western language use, a glyph may be considered simply as the graphical representation of a character. (There can be exceptions. A ligature (e.g., "fi" joined together for printing) is a glyph encompassing two or more characters.) For some nonwestern languages, the correspondence between glyphs and characters can be quite complex.
The term "character" is often used when "glyph" is meant. I'm sure I will as well.
A "typeface" is a characteristic style for a set of glyphs.
A "font" is a collection of glyphs of a certain typeface, usually arranged for convenient use (put into trays if made of type metal, arranged in ASCII or other sequence if made of bits). I believe (but haven't checked the references on this) that with traditional metal type a "font" was a collection of type of a particular size. Computer usage blurs this, as it allows glyphs to be scaled to many sizes. The VARKON fonts are size-independent.
The modern computer vernacular tends to use "font" when "typeface" is meant; I know I'll do this too.
The Unicode Consortium. The Unicode Standard: Worldwide Character Encoding. Version 1.0, Volume 1. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 1991.
Here's a GNU® zipped, GNU tarred "tarball" of this document and all of its subsidiary documents and files: affv-0.0.tar.gz
The data for the Hershey Glyphs (or "Hershey Fonts"), including both the original USENET distribution and the transformed data in these VARKON fonts, may be redistributed and used freely under its original terms as specified in the Holzmann USENET Hershey Glyph Distribution Cover Statement. The distribution here complies with these terms. I assert no additional rights or conditions on the use of the transformed data. The text of the "Holzmann USENET Hershey Glyph Distribution Cover Statement" may be Copyright 1986 by Peter Holzmann. Its own terms require its redistribution with the Hershey data. The distribution of these data and this text here is subject to all of the disclaimers of warranty and liability noted herein.
All other portions of this document are copyright © 2003 by David M. MacMillan.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify copyrighted portions of this document (other than the portions the copyright of which is owned by Peter Holzmann and/or James Hurt, which are freely redistributable under their own terms) under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License."
Note: Those portions of this document which are in the public domain, if any, may be copied freely. The distribution of these public domain portions is subject to all of the disclaimers of warranty and liability noted herein.
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