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NAME
     mf, inimf, virmf - Metafont, a language for  font  and  logo
     design

SYNOPSIS
     mf [options] [commands]

DESCRIPTION
     This manual page is not meant to be  exhaustive.   The  com-
     plete  documentation for this version of TeX can be found in
     the info file or manual Web2C: A TeX implementation.

     Metafont reads the program in the specified files  and  out-
     puts  font  rasters  (in gf format) and font metrics (in tfm
     format).   The  Metafont  language  is  described   in   The
     Metafontbook.

     Like TeX, Metafont is normally used with  a  large  body  of
     precompiled   macros,  and  font  generation  in  particular
     requires the support of several macro files.   This  version
     of  Metafont  looks  at its command line to see what name it
     was called under.  Both inimf and virmf are symlinks to  the
     mf  executable.   When  called  as  inimf (or when the --ini
     option is given) it can be used to precompile macros into  a
     .base  file.   When  called  as  virmf it will use the plain
     base.  When called under any other name, Metafont  will  use
     that  name  as  the  name of the base to use.   For example,
     when called as mf the mf base is used, which is identical to
     the plain base.  Other bases than plain are rarely used.

     The commands given on the command line to the Metafont  pro-
     gram  are  passed to it as the first input line.  (But it is
     often easier to type extended arguments as the  first  input
     line,  since  UNIX  shells tend to gobble up or misinterpret
     Metafont's favorite symbols,  like  semicolons,  unless  you
     quote  them.)   As described in The Metafontbook, that first
     line should begin with a filename, a \controlsequence, or  a
     &basename.

     The normal usage is to say

          mf   '\mode=<printengine>;  [mag=magstep(n);]'   input
          font

     to start processing font.mf.  The single quotes are the best
     way of keeping the Unix shell from misinterpreting the semi-
     colons and from removing the \ character,  which  is  needed
     here to keep Metafont from thinking that you want to produce
     a font called mode.  (Or you can just say mf  and  give  the
     other stuff on the next line, without quotes.) Other control
     sequences, such as batchmode (for silent operation) can also
     appear.   The name font will be the ``jobname'', and is used
     in forming output file names.  If  Metafont  doesn't  get  a
     file  name  in  the  first  line, the jobname is mfput.  The
     default extension, .mf, can be overridden by  specifying  an
     extension explicitly.

     A log of error messages goes into the file jobname.log.  The
     output  files  are jobname.tfm and jobname.<number>gf, where
     <number> depends on the resolution and magnification of  the
     font.   The  mode  in  this  example is shown generically as
     <printengine>, a symbolic term for  which  the  name  of  an
     actual  device  or,  most  commonly, the name localfont (see
     below) must be substituted. If the mode is not specified  or
     is  not  valid for your site, Metafont will default to proof
     mode which produces large character images for use  in  font
     design  and refinement.  Proof mode can be recognized by the
     suffix .2602gf after the jobname.  Examples  of  proof  mode
     output  can  be found in Computer Modern Typefaces (Volume E
     of Computers and Typesetting).  The system  of  magsteps  is
     identical  to  the system used by TeX, with values generally
     in the range 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0.  A listing  of
     gf  numbers  for 118-dpi, 240-dpi and 300-dpi fonts is shown
     below.
                MAGSTEP        118 dpi   240 dpi   300 dpi
            mag=magstep(0)       118       240       300
            mag=magstep(0.5)     129       263       329
            mag=magstep(1)       142       288       360
            mag=magstep(2)       170       346       432
            mag=magstep(3)       204       415       518
            mag=magstep(4)       245       498       622
            mag=magstep(5)       294       597       746

     Magnification can also be specified not as a magstep but  as
     an arbitrary value, such as 1.315, to create special charac-
     ter sizes.

     Before font production can begin, it is necessary to set  up
     the  appropriate  base files.  The minimum set of components
     for font production for a given print-engine is the plain.mf
     macro  file  and  the  local  mode_def  file.  The macros in
     plain.mf can be studied in an appendix to the  Metafontbook;
     they were developed by Donald E. Knuth, and this file should
     never be altered except  when  it  is  officially  upgraded.
     Each  mode_def specification helps adapt fonts to a particu-
     lar  print-engine.   There  is  a  regular   discussion   of
     mode_defs  in  TUGboat,  the journal of the TeX Users Group.
     The local  ones  in  use  on  this  computer  should  be  in
     modes.mf.

     The e response to Metafont's error-recovery mode invokes the
     system  default  editor  at the erroneous line of the source
     file.  There is an environment variable, MFEDIT, that  over-
     rides  the  default editor.  It should contain a string with
     "%s" indicating where the filename goes and "%d"  indicating
     where the decimal linenumber (if any) goes.  For example, an
     MFEDIT string for the vi editor can be set with the csh com-
     mand
          setenv MFEDIT "/usr/ucb/vi +%d %s"

     A convenient file in  the  library  is  null.mf,  containing
     nothing.   When mf can't find the file it thinks you want to
     input, it keeps asking you for another file name; responding
     `null'  gets  you out of the loop if you don't want to input
     anything.

ONLINE GRAPHICS OUTPUT
     Metafont can use most modern displays, so you  can  see  its
     output  without  printing.   Chapter  23 of The Metafontbook
     describes what you can do.  This implementation of  Metafont
     uses environment variables to determine which display device
     you want to use.  First it looks for a variable MFTERM,  and
     then  for  TERM.  If it can't find either, you get no online
     output.  Otherwise, the value of the variable determines the
     device  to use:  hp2627, sun (for old SunView), tek, uniterm
     (for an Atari ST Tek 4014 emulator), xterm (for  either  X10
     or  X11).  Some of these devices may not be supported in all
     Metafont executables; the  choice  is  made  at  compilation
     time.

OPTIONS
     This version of Metafont understands the  following  command
     line options.

     --base base
          Use base as the name of the base to be used, instead of
          the name by which Metafont was called or a %& line.

     --help
          Print help message and exit.

     --ini
          Be inimf, for dumping bases; this is implicitly true if
          the program is called as inimf.

     --interaction mode
          Sets the interaction mode.  The  mode  can  be  one  of
          batchmode,  nonstopmode, scrollmode, and errorstopmode.
          The meaning of these modes is the same as that  of  the
          corresponding commands.

     --kpathsea-debug bitmask
          Sets path searching debugging flags  according  to  the
          bitmask.  See the Kpathsea manual for details.

     --maketex fmt
          Enable mktexfmt, where fmt must be mf.

     --no-maketex fmt
          Disable mktexfmt, where fmt must be mf.

     --progname name
          Pretend to be program name.  This affects both the for-
          mat used and the search paths.

     --translate-file tcxname
          Use the tcxname translation table.

     --version
          Print version information and exit.

ENVIRONMENT
     See the Kpathsearch library documentation (the `Path specif-
     ications' node) for the details of how the environment vari-
     ables are use when searching.  The kpsewhich utility can  be
     used to query the values of the variables.

     If the environment variable  TEXMFOUTPUT  is  set,  Metafont
     attempts  to  put  its output files in it, if they cannot be
     put in the current directory.  Again, see tex(1).

     MFINPUTS
          Search path for input and openin files.

     MFEDIT
          Command template for switching to editor.

     MFTERM
          Determines the online graphics display.  If  MFTERM  is
          not  set,  and DISPLAY is set, the Metafont window sup-
          port for X is used.  (DISPLAY must be set to a valid  X
          server specification, as usual.)  If neither MFTERM nor
          DISPLAY is set, TERM is used to guess the  window  sup-
          port to use.

FONT UTILITIES
     A number of utility programs are available.   The  following
     is  a partial list of available utilities and their purpose.
     Consult your local Metafont guru for details.

     gftopk   Takes a gf file and produces a more tightly  packed
              pk font file.

     gftodvi  Produces proof sheets for fonts.

     gftype   Displays the contents of a  gf  file  in  mnemonics
              and/or images.

     pktype   Mnemonically displays the contents of a pk file.

     mft      Formats a source file as shown in  Computer  Modern
              Typefaces.

FILES
     mf.pool
          Encoded text of Metafont's messages.

     *.base
          Predigested Metafont base files.

     $TEXMFMAIN/metafont/base/plain.mf
          The standard base.

     $TEXMFMAIN/metafont/misc/modes.mf
          The file of mode_defs for your site's various printers

SUGGESTED READING
     Donald E. Knuth, The Metafontbook (Volume C of Computers and
     Typesetting), Addison-Wesley, 1986, ISBN 0-201-13445-4.
     Donald E. Knuth, Metafont: The Program (Volume D of  Comput-
     ers  and  Typesetting),  Addison-Wesley,  1986,  ISBN 0-201-
     13438-1.
     Donald E. Knuth, Computer Modern Typefaces (Volume E of Com-
     puters  and  Typesetting), Addison-Wesley, 1986, ISBN 0-201-
     13446-2.
     TUGboat (the journal of the TeX Users Group).

COMMENTS
     Warning: ``Type  design  can  be  hazardous  to  your  other
     interests.   Once  you  get hooked, you will develop intense
     feelings about letterforms; the medium will intrude  on  the
     messages  that you read.  And you will perpetually be think-
     ing of improvements to the fonts that  you  see  everywhere,
     especially those of your own design.''

SEE ALSO
     gftopk(1),   gftodvi(1),   gftype(1),   mft(1),   pltotf(1),
     tftopl(1).

BUGS
     On January  4,  1986  the  ``final''  bug  in  Metafont  was
     discovered and removed. If an error still lurks in the code,
     Donald E. Knuth promises to pay a finder's fee which doubles
     every year to the first person who finds it.  Happy hunting.

AUTHORS
     Metafont was designed by Donald E. Knuth, who implemented it
     using his Web system for Pascal programs.  It was originally
     ported to Unix by Paul Richards at the University  of  Illi-
     nois  at  Urbana-Champaign.  This page was mostly written by
     Pierre MacKay.

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