Microsoft KB Archive/76535

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MyFont.exe - Creating a Custom Raster Font

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Q76535

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) 3.1

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SUMMARY
MyFont.exe is a sample file that demonstrates how to use the normal linker.

Fonts are stored as resources in resource-only Dynamic-Link Libraries (DLLs). The process of creating a custom font library involves creating new font resources and inserting them into a DLL that has no code. Fonts must be in a resource-only library.

The Windows 3.x Font Editor supports editing raster fonts compatible with Windows versions 2.x and Windows version 3.x.

It is also possible to create a font-resource DLL that does have a code segment, which alleviates the problem of having to use a special linker.

MORE INFORMATION
The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

MyFont.exe

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

"Q119591 How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services" Microsoft used the most current virus detection software available on the date of posting to scan this file for viruses. Once posted, the file is housed on secure servers that prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

Basic Steps (Overview)
I. Create font files using the Font Editor. II. Create a font-resource script. III. Create a dummy code module. IV. Create a module-definition file that describes the fonts. V. Compile and link the sources.

NOTE: Read Chapter 18 of the &quot;Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit Guide to Programming.&quot; The following procedure is very similar.

Step I: Create a Font File

 * 1) Invoke the Font Editor.
 * 2) Open an existing font file (FNT).
 * 3) Edit the cell arrays and attributes of the existing font.
 * 4) Save the new font under a different name.

Note 1: It is not possible to generate a new font from scratch; an existing font file must be edited. A font, VGASYS.fnt, is supplied with the Windows 3.x SDK to provide a font on which to base new fonts.

Note 2: The names of the font formats are deceiving. Windows 3.0-compatible format works only in 386 enhanced mode. Window 2.0-compatible format works in all modes; therefore, it is usually better to save fonts in 2.0 format.

Step II: Create a Font Resource Script
 Create a Resource Script (RC) file.  Add one FONT statement per font file created. For example:      MyFont1 FONT  MYFONT1.FNT MyFont2 FONT MYFONT2.FNT 

Step III: Create a Dummy Code Module

 * 1) Write an assembly language procedure that generates no code.
 * 2) Assemble the code to create an object file (OBJ). (This step may seem unnecessary but it is required; otherwise, the linker will complain because the linker creates an executable that does not have any object files. Creating the dummy code module with its null code segment forces the linker to create the required executable DLL).

The code for the dummy code segment might resemble the following:

  .xlist include cmacros.inc .list

sBegin CODE sEnd  CODE end

Step IV: Create a Module Definition File

 * 1) Add a LIBRARY statement with the font resource title.
 * 2) Add a DESCRIPTION statement that indicates the font characteristics.
 * 3) Add a STUB statement in case the library is invoked from MS-DOS.
 * 4) Add a DATA statement with the NONE attribute.

The DEF file for a font library might resemble the following:

  LIBRARY FONTLIB DESCRIPTION 'FONTRES 133, 96, 72: MyFont, Terminal (7 point)' STUB 'WINSTUB.EXE' DATA NONE NOTE: The DESCRIPTION statement specifies a string that describes the font attributes, and supplies a comment that is displayed by the Windows Control Panel when the font is loaded.

WINSTUB.exe is a small file that prints the message &quot;This application requires Microsoft Windows&quot; if the user tries to run the application under MS-DOS.

The NONE attribute indicates that the library does not require its own automatic data segment.

The description string MUST begin with the FONTRES text so that Windows will know that this is a font resource library.

(See the &quot;Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit Guide to Programming&quot; for more information and examples.)

Step V: Building the Font Resource Library

 * 1) Use MASM to assemble the dummy code into an object file.
 * 2) Use LINK4 to generate the library body.
 * 3) Use RC to insert the font into the library.
 * 4) Rename the font library to have the FON extension.

The following is an sample makefile:

  all: fontlib.exe

fontlib.obj: fontlib.asm masm fontlib.asm;

fontlib.exe: fontlib.mak fontlib.def fontlib.obj \ fontlib.rc fontlib.fnt link4 fontlib.obj, fontlib.exe, NUL, /NOD, fontlib.def rc fontlib.rc        rename fontlib.exe fontlib.fon

Using LINK Instead of LINK4:
Important note: The specification of LINK4 in the sample above is not an error. The standard linkers supplied with Microsoft C version 5.1 and Microsoft C version 6.0 produce error messages when an attempt is made to create an executable file that has no segments. LINK4.EXE is not shipped with the Windows 3.x SDK. However, it is shipped with the Windows 2.x SDK and with the Windows 3.x DDK.

If Steps III, IV, and V of the procedure given above are modified as follows, LINK versions 5.12 and later can be used to create font files:

NEW Step III: Create a Dummy Code Module
Create a code segment in the dummy code module by creating an empty Windows Exit Procedure (WEP). This code might resemble the following:

  .xlist include cmacros.inc .list

sBegin CODE cProc WEP,, parmW EntryCode cBegin WEP cEnd WEP cEnd CODE

end

NEW Step IV: Create a Module Definition File
Modify the DEF file provided above to add the following lines:

  EXETYPE   WINDOWS CODE     MOVEABLE DISCARDABLE EXPORTS  WEP @1 RESIDENTNAME

NEW Step V: Building the Font Resource Library
Modify the makefile to refer to LINK instead of to LINK4.

Using MASM 6.0 Instead of MASM 5.1
If the font file is built using version 6.0 of the Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM), use version 5.3 of the CMACROS.INC file included with MASM instead of version 5.2 of the file included with the Windows SDK.

To access the fonts, use AddFontResource with the DLL name, and RemoveFontResource. Use CreateFont or CreateFontIndirect to retrieve a handle to a font with the specified attributes. Use SelectObject to put the font into a specified DC.

The face name of the font (for example, &quot;System&quot; or &quot;Helv&quot;) can be specified when the font is created using the Font Editor. This same face name is specified as the lpFaceName parameter when calling CreateFont or CreateFontIndirect. The face name can be any name desired.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbfile kbsample kb16bitonly kbFont kbGDI kbSDKWin16

Issue type : kbinfo

Technology : kbAudDeveloper kbWin3xSearch kbSDKSearch kbWinSDKSearch kbWinSDK310