Manual: mkfontdir

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 directory.	 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 di‐
       rectory 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 information.

       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 directories 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 di‐
	      rectories only.

       -p     Specify a prefix that is prepended to the encoding file path names  when	they  are  written  to	the  "encod‐
	      ings.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	 de‐
	      fault is to convert relative encoding directories to absolute directories by prepending the current directory.
	      The positioning of this options is significant, as this option only applies to subsequent -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 cre‐
		      ated 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					      mkfontscale 1.2.3						MKFONTDIR(1)