Microsoft KB Archive/66427

FIX: New Font Does Not Display in Application PSS ID Number: Q66427 Article last modified on 05-07-1994

3.00 3.10

WINDOWS

= SYMPTOMS =

When an application for the Microsoft Windows operating system attempts to load a font created with the Font Editor, the load fails. Attempting to load the font with Control Panel produces an error such as:

Unable to install the font. The font file may be damaged. Check with your font vendor about obtaining a new file.

= CAUSE =

The font was stored in Windows version 3.0 format and either Windows is running in real mode or standard mode, or Windows 3.0 is running in 386 enhanced mode on an 80486-based machine.

This error may occur in Windows 3.1 if the display driver does not support fonts in the Windows 3.0 format. Call GetDeviceCaps(…RC_BIGFONT) to determine a device’s support for such fonts. For example, this error will occur in Windows 3.1 if the monochrome VGA driver (VGAMONO.DRV) is installed because that driver does not support the 3.0 font file format.

= RESOLUTION =

Load the font into the Font Editor and store it in Windows version 2.0 format. Select Save As from the File menu, then specify the file format in the Save File dialog box.

There is a problem in Windows 3.0 that does not allow an 80486-based machine to display fonts in Windows 3.0 format. This problem was corrected in Windows 3.1.

= MORE INFORMATION =

The Font Editor is a tool provided with the Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) used to modify fonts for the Windows environment.

The Windows 3.0 format is designed to support font files larger than 64K. The physical font file contains a character table that has offsets to the bitmaps of all the characters in the font. In a Windows version 2.0 formatted font, this offset is a word; in a Windows version 3.0 formatted font, this offset is a double word. Because Windows uses the extended registers of the 80386 processor to access the character bitmaps in a Windows version 3.0 format font, these fonts are limited to the protected mode of 80386 and faster systems.

In Windows 3.0, the font code in some display drivers treated an 80486-based computer as an 80286-based computer, which precluded using Windows 3.0 format fonts on these systems. This problem was corrected in Windows 3.1.

Additional reference words: 3.00 3.10 486 custom AddFontResource KBCategory: Prg KBSubcategory: GdiFnt

=
================================================================

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1994.