MKFONTDIR(1)                General Commands Manual               MKFONTDIR(1)



NAME
       mkfontdir - create an index of X font files in a directory

SYNOPSIS
       mkfontdir  [-n]  [-x  suffix]  [-r] [-p prefix] [-e encoding-directory-
       name] ...  [--] [directory-name ... ]

DESCRIPTION
       For each directory argument, mkfontdir reads all of the font  files  in
       the  directory searching for properties named "FONT", or (failing that)
       the name of the file stripped of its suffix.  These  are  converted  to
       lower case and used as font names, and, along with the name of the font
       file, are written out to the file "fonts.dir" in the directory.  The  X
       server and font server use "fonts.dir" to find font files.

       The  kinds  of  font  files  read  by mkfontdir depend on configuration
       parameters, but typically include  PCF  (suffix  ".pcf"),  SNF  (suffix
       ".snf") and BDF (suffix ".bdf").  If a font exists in multiple formats,
       mkfontdir will first choose PCF, then SNF and finally BDF.

       The first line of fonts.dir gives the number of fonts in the file.  The
       remaining lines list the fonts themselves, one per line, in two fields.
       First is the name of the font file, followed by a space and the name of
       the font.

SCALABLE FONTS
       Because scalable font files do not usually include the X font name, the
       file "fonts.scale" can be used to name the scalable fonts in the direc-
       tory.   The  fonts  listed  in it are copied to fonts.dir by mkfontdir.
       "fonts.scale" has the same format as the "fonts.dir" file, and  can  be
       created with the mkfontscale(1) program.

FONT NAME ALIASES
       The  file "fonts.alias", which can be put in any directory of the font-
       path, is used to map new names to existing fonts, and should be  edited
       by  hand.   The  format is two white-space separated columns, the first
       containing aliases and the second containing font-name patterns.  Lines
       beginning with "!" are comment lines and are ignored.

       If  neither  the  alias  nor the value specifies the size fields of the
       font name, this is a scalable alias.  A font  name  of  any  size  that
       matches this alias will be mapped to the same size of the font that the
       alias resolves to.

       When a font alias is used, the name it references is  searched  for  in
       the  normal  manner, looking through each font directory in turn.  This
       means that the aliases need not mention fonts in the same directory  as
       the alias file.

       To  embed white space in either name, simply enclose it in double-quote
       marks; to embed double-quote marks (or any  other  character),  precede
       them with back-slash:

       "magic-alias with spaces"     "\"font name\" with quotes"
       regular-alias            fixed

       If  the  string "FILE_NAMES_ALIASES" stands alone on a line, each file-
       name in the directory (stripped of its suffix) will be used as an alias
       for that font.

ENCODING FILES
       The  option  -e can be used to specify a directory with encoding files.
       Every such directory is scanned for encoding files, the list  of  which
       is  then  written  to  an "encodings.dir" file in every font directory.
       The "encodings.dir" file is used by the server to find encoding  infor-
       mation.

       The  "encodings.dir"  file has the same format as "fonts.dir".  It maps
       encoding names (strings of the form CHARSET_REGISTRY-CHARSET_ENCODING )
       to encoding file names.

OPTIONS
       The following options are supported:

       -e     Specify  a  directory  containing encoding files.  The -e option
              may be specified multiple times, and all the specified  directo-
              ries  will be read.  The order of the entries is significant, as
              encodings found in earlier directories override those  in  later
              ones;  encoding files in the same directory are discriminated by
              preferring compressed versions.

       -n     do not scan for fonts, do not write font directory files.   This
              option is useful when generating encoding directories only.

       -p     Specify  a  prefix  that  is prepended to the encoding file path
              names when they are written to the  "encodings.dir"  file.   The
              prefix  is  prepended  as-is.   If a `/' is required between the
              prefix and the path names, it must  be  supplied  explicitly  as
              part of the prefix.

       -r     Keep  non-absolute  encoding  directories in their relative form
              when writing the "encodings.dir" file.  The default is  to  con-
              vert  relative  encoding  directories to absolute directories by
              prepending the  current  directory.   The  positioning  of  this
              options  is  significant,  as this option only applies to subse-
              quent -e options.

       -x suffix
              Ignore fonts files of type suffix.

       --     End options.

FILES
       fonts.dir      List of fonts in the directory and the  files  they  are
                      stored  in.  Created by mkfontdir.  Read by the X server
                      and font server each time the  font  path  is  set  (see
                      xset(1)).

       fonts.scale    List  of  scalable fonts in the directory.  Contents are
                      copied to fonts.dir by mkfontdir.   Can be created  with
                      mkfontscale(1).

       fonts.alias    List  of  font  name  aliases.  Read by the X server and
                      font  server  each  time  the  font  path  is  set  (see
                      xset(1)).

       encodings.dir  List  of  known  encodings and the files they are stored
                      in.  Created by mkfontdir.  Read by  the  X  server  and
                      font  server each time a font with an unknown charset is
                      opened.

SEE ALSO
       X(7), Xserver(1), mkfontscale(1), xfs(1), xset(1)



X Version 11                    mkfontdir 1.0.7                   MKFONTDIR(1)
